1. On September 30, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation designating Iowa as the 29th state to adopt his Emancipation Proclamation, which had taken effect on January 1 of that year. The proclamation declared all slaves in rebel territory "forever free," and though it was initially met with resistance in some parts of Iowa, its implementation ultimately played a pivotal role in ending slavery in the United States.

2. In 1916, a devastating tornado tore through the town of Pomeroy, Iowa, killing 9 people and injuring dozens more. The tornado, which was classified as an F4 on the Fujita scale, also destroyed multiple homes and buildings, including the town's school and Methodist church. Today, a historical marker in Pomeroy commemorates the lives lost in the disaster.

3. On September 30, 1922, the Iowa State football team defeated Drake University 13-7 in the first ever game at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames. The stadium, which was originally named after an African American Iowa State football player who died from injuries sustained in a game against the University of Minnesota in 1923, is still in use today and has undergone several renovations and expansions over the years.

4. In 1962, the first televised U.S. Senate debate took place in Iowa between Republican incumbent Bourke Hickenlooper and Democratic challenger Harold Hughes. The debate was carried live on a single Iowa television station, and drew a record-breaking audience of 85 percent of the state's TV viewers. Hughes went on to win the election, and the success of the debate helped establish the importance of televised debates in modern political campaigns.

5. On September 30, 2004, Iowa became the first state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage. The landmark decision came as a result of a ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court, which found that the state's ban on gay marriage violated the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution. The ruling paved the way for other states to follow suit in the fight for marriage equality.