1. On September 2, 1856, the Battle of Fort Titus occurred in Douglas County, Kansas during the Bleeding Kansas era. This conflict was one of the many violent clashes between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions that marked the period leading up to the Civil War.

2. In 1870, the state's first agricultural experiment station was established at Kansas State University in Manhattan. This station was the precursor to the modern research and extension programs that support Kansas agriculture today.

3. On September 2, 1922, the Topeka State Journal reported that Kansan Louis Volland had invented a new type of aerial bomb that could be dropped from a plane and explode on impact. Volland's invention was reportedly inspired by his experiences as a soldier in World War I.

4. In 1945, the University of Kansas welcomed its first post-war class of students. Many returning veterans took advantage of the G.I. Bill to pursue higher education, and KU saw a significant increase in enrollment during this period.

5. On September 2, 1961, NASA astronaut Joe Engle, a native of Chapman, Kansas, set a new world altitude record of 314,750 feet during a test flight of the X-15 rocket plane. Engle would go on to fly two space shuttle missions in the 1980s.