1. On February 6, 1843, the Iowa Territory was created by an act of the United States Congress. It included all of present-day Iowa, much of Minnesota, and parts of South Dakota, North Dakota, and Nebraska.

2. In 1899, the Iowa State Capitol building opened its doors to the public for the first time. The building is located in Des Moines and has a dome that is 275 feet above the ground.

3. On February 6, 1967, the Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 99-88 in what is considered one of the greatest games in Iowa history. Iowa forward Ron Norman scored 52 points, still the single-game scoring record for the Hawkeyes.

4. In 1995, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported the first case in the United States of a person infected with the hantavirus who had not had direct contact with rodents. The victim was thought to have contracted the virus from deer mice droppings in his home.

5. On February 6, 2016, the Iowa caucuses were held as part of the 2016 United States presidential election. The caucuses are the first contest in the presidential nomination process, and that year, they proved to be a surprise upset for the favored candidate, Hillary Clinton, as Senator Bernie Sanders narrowly won the Democratic vote.