1. On February 16, 1916, Iowa Governor George W. Clarke signed a bill that established the Iowa State Highway Commission, making Iowa the first state in the country to have a centralized agency responsible for establishing a statewide highway system.

2. In 1933, the Iowa Hawkeyes basketball team defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers 48-42, capping off an undefeated conference season and earning their first Big Ten championship.

3. On February 16, 1959, the Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team defeated the Missouri Tigers 87-79 in a historic triple-overtime game. The victory helped Iowa State secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

4. In 2008, Cedar Rapids experienced its worst flood in history, causing significant damage to the city's infrastructure and leaving thousands of residents displaced. The Cedar Rapids Gazette documented the flood and its aftermath with a Pulitzer Prize-winning series of articles.

5. On February 16, 2016, Iowa hosted the first presidential caucuses of the 2016 election cycle, which saw historic levels of voter turnout and a surprising victory for Republican candidate Ted Cruz. The caucuses were also notable for causing controversy over the use of a vote-counting app that experienced technical difficulties.