1. In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was signed into law, creating the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and allowing the settlers of each territory to vote on whether they wanted slavery to be legal. This would eventually lead to the bloody conflict of Bleeding Kansas, as anti-slavery and pro-slavery factions fought for control of the territory.

2. In 1917, John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. While this may not seem like a Kansas-specific event, JFK had an important connection to the state: his family owned a ranch near Alma, Kansas, where they would often visit and spend time.

3. In 1933, a massive tornado struck the town of Salina, Kansas, causing extensive damage and killing 6 people. The tornado was part of a larger outbreak that swept across the Midwest, causing widespread destruction.

4. In 1958, the Kansas City A's baseball team played their first game at Municipal Stadium. The team had recently moved from Philadelphia and would eventually become the Oakland A's, but for a time they were a beloved part of Kansas City sports history.

5. In 2015, an EF4 tornado hit the town of Wimberley, Texas, killing 11 people and causing extensive damage. While this event did not take place in Kansas, it had a profound impact on the state's weather community, as it was one of the first tornadoes recorded using a new type of Doppler radar system that was developed by the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma. The system, known as phased array radar, allows meteorologists to see storms in unprecedented detail and has since been deployed across the country, including in Kansas.