1. In 1864, the Sand Creek massacre occurred in southeastern Colorado, which is now a part of Kansas. Hundreds of unarmed members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes were killed by the U.S. Army. This event was a major incident in the long conflict between Native Americans and settlers in the region.

2. In 1872, the first land-grant college in Kansas, Kansas State Agricultural College (now Kansas State University) was established in Manhattan, Kansas. Today, it is a major research and teaching institution, offering over 250 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

3. In 1952, the world's first atomic-powered airplane, the NB-36H, made its first flight from Wichita, Kansas. The aircraft was equipped with a nuclear reactor to power the engines, but it was never put into active service.

4. In 2005, the Kansas Jayhawks football team defeated the Missouri Tigers in the Border War rivalry game, 24-14. This was the 113th meeting between the two teams, and the win clinched the Big 12 North division title for the Jayhawks, their first since 1995.

5. In 2013, the black-footed ferret was reintroduced into the wild for the first time in Kansas. The species had been declared extinct until a small population was discovered in Wyoming in the late 1970s. Since then, efforts have been made to breed and reintroduce the animals to their historic range.