1. In 1845, the first issue of the Missouri Republican, a daily newspaper in St. Louis, was published. This paper remains in operation today as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

2. On September 27, 1864, Confederate guerrilla leader William Quantrill was killed by Union troops in Louisville, Kentucky. Quantrill was notorious for leading a raid on Lawrence, Kansas in August 1863 that resulted in the deaths of over 150 men and boys.

3. In 1954, the University of Missouri's flagship campus in Columbia became the first US public university to have a nuclear reactor on its campus. The reactor was used for research and training purposes until it was decommissioned in 1995.

4. On September 27, 1944, the Battleship Missouri was launched at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The Missouri played a significant role in US military history, including serving as the site of the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, ending World War II.

5. In 2007, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis was designated a national park. The 630-foot-tall arch, designed by architect Eero Saarinen, is an iconic symbol of both St. Louis and the United States. It was completed in 1965 and is the tallest monument in the US.