1. On August 17, 1860, the Leavenworth Constitution was adopted by the Kansas Constitutional Convention in Leavenworth, Kansas. The constitution was proposed as a rebuttal to the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution and attempted to pave the way for Kansas to be admitted to the United States as a free state.

2. Amelia Earhart, the famous aviator and Kansas native, was born on August 17, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. Earhart set numerous aviation records in her career, the most famous of which was her attempted flight around the world in 1937, during which she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean.

3. On August 17, 1905, the KU Jayhawks football team played their first game in Lawrence, Kansas against a team from Central College. The Jayhawks won the game 22-10, marking the beginning of a long tradition of KU football.

4. In 1887, on August 17, the Caldwell County courthouse was burned down during a raid by outlaw Frank James and his gang. James, the brother of infamous outlaw Jesse James, led the raid as part of a pattern of revenge against the legal system that prosecuted his brother.

5. On August 17, 1966, a devastating F5 tornado touched down in Topeka, Kansas, killing 16 people and injuring over 500. The tornado remains one of the deadliest and most destructive in Kansas history, and the scars of the storm can still be seen in some parts of the city today.