1. In 1856, Iowa's first telegraph line was established, linking the cities of Dubuque and Davenport. This allowed for faster communication and helped to spur growth throughout the state.

2. On May 5, 1895, baseball legend Cap Anson managed his last game for the Chicago Colts (now the Chicago Cubs) against the St. Louis Browns. Anson was born in Marshalltown, Iowa in 1852 and is credited with popularizing the sport of baseball in the United States.

3. In 1924, a tornado ripped through the town of Lorimor, Iowa, killing six people and destroying much of the town. The tornado was part of a larger outbreak that affected several states in the midwestern United States.

4. On May 5, 1949, the first round-the-world flight by a commercial airline started with a flight from San Francisco to Honolulu. The airline, Pan American World Airways (Pan Am), had its headquarters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

5. In 1961, the Freedom Riders – a group of civil rights activists who challenged segregation laws in the southern United States – were en route to Jackson, Mississippi when their bus was firebombed outside of Anniston, Alabama. Among the Freedom Riders was James Peck, a white civil rights activist from Des Moines, Iowa.