Today in Kansas History
Cities in Kansas: Kansas City - Wichita
Historical Events
Results 1 - 65 of 65
1854-05-30 - Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed Missouri Compromise opens north slavery
1854-05-30 - Territories of Kansas & Nebraska created
1855-03-24 - Manhattan Kansas founded as New Boston Kansas
1856-05-21 - Lawrence Kansas captured, sacked by pro-slavery forces
1856-05-24 - Pottawatomie Massacre took place in Kansas
1860-07-09 - Temperature hits 115°F in Ft Scott & 112°F in Topeka Kansas
1860-07-19 - 1st railroad reaches Kansas
1861-01-29 - Kansas becomes 34th state
1863-10-06 - Battle at Baxter Springs Kansas
1864-10-21 - Battle of Westport, MO (Kansas City)
1864-10-25 - Battle of Marais Des Cygnes River, Kansas (Mine Creek)
1874-12-08 - Jesse James gang takes train at Muncie Kansas
1877-09-05 - Southern blacks led by Pap Singleton settle in Kansas
1879-05-30 - An F4 tornado strikes Irving, Kansas, killing 18 and injuring 60.
1881-02-19 - Kansas becomes 1st state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages
1881-04-16 - In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
1889-03-02 - Kansas passes 1st US antitrust
1889-03-09 - Kansas passes 1st general antitrust law in US
1891-03-10 - Almon Strowger, an undertaker in Topeka, Kansas, patents the strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.
1892-10-05 - Dalton Gang ends in shoot-out in Coffeville, Kansas bank holdup
1897-06-24 - Hail injures 26 in Topeka Kansas
1900-01-29 - American League organized in Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee & Minneapolis
1905-02-13 - -40°F (-40°C) Lebanon, Kansas (state record)
1906-02-01 - 1st federal penitentiary building completed, Leavenworth, Kansas
1907-01-23 - Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes 1st Native American US senator
1912-11-05 - Arizona, Kansas & Wisconsin vote for female suffrage
1913-03-13 - Kansas legislature approved censorship of motion pictures
1914-05-16 - American Horseshoe Pitchers Assn organizes in Kansas City
1916-05-20 - Codell, Kansas hit by tornado (also on same date in 1917 & 1918)
1918-03-11 - First confirmed cases of the Spanish Flu are observed at Fort Riley, Kansas.
1919-03-18 - Order of DeMolay forms in Kansas City
1922-05-10 - WHB-AM in Kansas City MO begins radio transmissions
1929-03-04 - Charles Curtis (R-Kansas) becomes 1st native American VP
1933-06-17 - Kansas City Massacre: 1 FBI agent, 4 cops & 1 gangster killed by mob
1936-07-24 - 121°F (49°C), near Alton, Kansas (state record)
1936-10-02 - 1st alcohol power plant forms, Atchison, Kansas
1941-05-31 - -June 1) 32.0 cm rain falls on Burlington Kansas (state record)
1941-06-01 - 12.59" (31.98 cm) rainfall, Burlington Kansas (state 24-hr record)
1949-06-09 - Mrs Georgia Neese Clark of Kansas becomes 1st woman treasurer of US
1949-10-16 - WDAF TV channel 4 in Kansas City, MO (NBC) begins broadcasting
1951-06-23 - Most expensive US hailstorm ($1.5M crop damage & $14M property-Kansas)
1953-08-01 - KMBC TV channel 9 in Kansas City, MO (MET/ABC) begins broadcasting
1953-09-27 - KCMO (now KCTV) TV channel 5 in Kansas City, MO (CBS) begins
1954-11-04 - Philadelphia A's move to Kansas City
1954-11-08 - AL approves Philadelphia A's move to Kansas City
1955-05-25 - Series of 19 twisters destroy Udall Kansas & most of Blackwell Okla
1958-11-11 - AL announces Kansas City will play AL record 52 night games in 1959
1959-11-15 - Four members of the Herbert Clutter Family are murdered at their farm outside Holcomb, Kansas.
1961-03-29 - KCPT TV channel 19 in Kansas City, MO (PBS) begins broadcasting
1964-02-23 - Charlie Finley signs a 4 year lease to keep A's in Kansas City
1964-09-17 - Beatles are paid a then record $150,000 for a concert (Kansas)
1966-06-08 - Topeka, Kansas is devastated by a tornado that registers as an "F5" on the Fujita Scale: the first to exceed US$100 million in damages. Sixteen people are killed, hundreds more injured, and thousands of homes damaged or destroyed.
1967-09-09 - Debra Dene Barnes (Kansas), 20, crowned 40th Miss America 1968
1967-11-13 - NL owners OK AL expansion to Seattle & Kansas City
1970-01-11 - Superbowl IV: KC Chiefs beat Minn Vikings, 23-7 in New Orleans Superbowl MVP: Len Dawson, Kansas City, QB
1973-03-24 - Harley Race beats Dory Funk Jr in Kansas City, to become NWA champ
1978-06-28 - UNICEF chooses rock group Kansas as ambassadors of goodwill
1985-09-29 - Deron Cherry, Kansas City vs Seattle, has 4 interceptions!
1991-02-22 - Kelli McCarty, 21, (Kansas), crowned 40th Miss USA
1991-04-26 - 23 killed in Kansas & Okla by tornadoes
1993-07-02 - Kansas Royals rename stadium Ewing Kaufman Stadium after founder
1995-08-15 - Keylee Sue Sanders, 18, of Kansas, crowned 13th Miss Teen USA
1996-09-14 - Tara Dawn Holland (Kansas), 23, crowned 70th Miss America 1997
2000-11-07 - The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration discovers one of the country's largest LSD labs inside a converted military missile silo in Wamego, Kansas.
2007-05-04 - Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by a 1.7m wide EF-5 tornado.
Famous Birthdays
Results 1 - 53 of 53
1841-03-07 - William Rockhill Nelson, founder of The Kansas City Star and patron of Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (d. 1915)
1880-03-12 - House Peters, England, silent film actor (Kansas Territory)
1884-03-16 - Harrison Ford, Kansas City, Missouri, silent screen actor (Rubber Tires, Vanity Fair, Love In High Gear)
1887-11-06 - Walter Johnson, Kansas, Wash Senator pitcher (1907-27) (414-218)
1890-10-01 - Alice Joyce, Kansas City MO, actress (Song O' My Heart)
1894-06-15 - Robert Russell Bennett, Kansas City, composer/arranger (Oklahoma!)
1897-11-14 - John Steuart Curry, US painter/lithographer (Baptism in Kansas)
1898-01-03 - ZaSu Pitts, Parsons Kansas, actress (Life With Father, Dames)
1901-02-22 - Charles E Whittaker, Kansas, US Supreme Court justice (1957-62)
1915-11-23 - Ellen Drew, [Terry Ray], Kansas City Mo, actress (Isle of Dead)
1915-12-05 - Carl Donnell "Kansas" Fields, drummer
1916-10-17 - Robert Lowery, Kansas City MO, actor (Murder Over NY)
1923-07-22 - Robert J Dole, (Sen-R Kansas, 1969-95)/presidential candidate (R-1996)
1925-02-20 - Robert Altman, Kansas City MO, director (Nashville, M*A*S*H)
1928-07-20 - Jan Meyers, (Rep-R-Kansas, 1985- )
1928-12-20 - Jack Christiansen, Kansas, NFL hall of famer defensive back (Lions)
1929-01-06 - Wilbert Harrison, R & B singer (Kansas City)
1929-11-15 - Edward Asner, KC Kansas, actor (Mary Tyler Moore Show, Lou Grant)
1932-07-29 - Nancy Landon Kassebaum, (Sen-R-Kansas, 1979- )
1935-04-13 - Lyle Waggoner, KC Kansas, actor (Carol Burnette Show, Wonder Woman)
1936-07-05 - Shirley Knight, Goessei Kansas, actress (Endless Love, Secrets)
1937-05-14 - Dick Howser, shortstop (Kansas City A's), manager (KC Royals)
1941-10-04 - Lori Saunders, Kansas City Mo (Petticoat Junction, Dusty Trails)
1942-03-28 - Samuel Ramey, Colby Kansas, bass (La Scala)
1942-07-08 - Janice Pennington, Kansas, playmate (May 1971)/model (Price is Right)
1943-11-26 - Jan Stenerud, Norway, NFL place kicker (Kansas City Chiefs)
1948-08-04 - James C Slattery, (Rep-D-Kansas, 1983- )
1949-06-14 - Rochelle Firestone, Kansas City MO, actress (Hellhole)
1949-09-18 - Kerry Livgren, Kansas, rock guitarist (Kansas)
1949-10-07 - Dave Hope, rock bassist (Kansas)
1950-02-04 - Philip Ehart, rock drummer (Kansas)
1951-06-15 - Steve Walsh, American singer (Kansas)
1951-07-09 - Chris Cooper, Kansas City MO, actor (Thousand Pieces of Gold, Matewan)
1951-07-18 - Bruce Alan Lietzke, Kansas City KS, PGA golfer (1978 Canadian Open)
1951-07-23 - Edie McClurg, Kansas City MO, actress (Cinderella-1985, Hogan Family)
1955-10-30 - Shanna Reed, KC Kansas, actress (Major Dad, Mirrors)
1959-07-19 - Terri Treas, KC Kansas, actress (Hannah-7 Brides for 7 Brothers)
1960-02-19 - Vicki Lynn Lasseter Iola Kansas, playmate (Feb, 1981)
1964-02-18 - Matt Dillon, New Rochelle NY, actor (Flamingo Kid, Tex, Kansas)
1964-04-16 - Robert Kelker-Kelly, Wichita Kansas, (Bo-Days of our Live)
1965-01-06 - Jose Dejesus, US baseball pitcher (Kansas City Royals)
1966-09-12 - Darren E Burrows, Kansas, actor (Ed Chigliak-Northern Exposure)
1967-11-01 - Steve Fritz, Salina Kansas, decathlete
1967-11-08 - Kim Dugger, Wichita Kansas, Miss Kansas-America (1991)
1968-03-26 - Edward Kaminski, KC Kansas, javelin thrower
1970-10-06 - Darren Oliver, Kansas city MO, pitcher (Texas Rangers)
1970-10-12 - Amy Beth Keller, Great Bend Kansas, Miss America (Kansas-Top 10-1996)
1971-10-16 - Kathryn J Taylor, Miss USA-Kansas (1997)
1972-10-02 - Tara Dawn Holland, Overland Park Kansas, Miss America (1997)
1974-07-23 - Maurice Greene, KC Kansas, 100m runner
1975-07-13 - Danielle Boatwright, Kansas, Miss USA (Kansas-2nd-1996)
1978-01-25 - Mandy Carraway, Miss Kansas Teen USA (1996)
1979-03-22 - Mariah Leanne Bergmann, Miss Kansas Teen USA (1997)
Famous Deaths
Results 1 - 3 of 3
1946-10-29 - John S Curry, US painter (Baptism in Kansas), dies
1967-12-07 - House Peters, silent film actor (Kansas Territory), dies at 87
1987-10-12 - Alfred M Landon, former Kansas Gov, dies at his Topeka home at 100
