1. In 1838, the state of Missouri forcibly removed thousands of Cherokee from their homes in Georgia and sent them on a forced march to Oklahoma, known as the Trail of Tears. Many Cherokee died along the way, and the event is still remembered as a dark moment in Missouri's history.

2. October 30, 1888, saw the birth of novelist and journalist Hamlin Garland in West Salem, Wisconsin. Garland is best known for his realist fiction set in the American Midwest, including the novel "Main-Travelled Roads."

3. In 1904, Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, a notorious bank robber and murderer, was born in Adairsville, Georgia. Floyd was responsible for a number of high-profile crimes throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and was killed in a shootout with police in 1934.

4. October 30, 1938, was the night of Orson Welles' famous radio broadcast of "The War of the Worlds," in which he presented the story as a series of news bulletins about a Martian invasion of Earth. Many listeners believed the broadcast to be real and panicked, with some even fleeing their homes.

5. On October 30, 1985, a devastating tornado swept through the town of Park Hills, Missouri, killing one person and causing millions of dollars in damage. The tornado was part of a larger outbreak that hit the Midwest that day, causing widespread damage and loss of life in several states.