1. In 1846, Iowa became the 29th state in the United States. The Iowa Territory had been established in 1838 and had a population of approximately 43,000 people.

2. On January 12, 1857, the University of Iowa was founded. It was the first public university in the state and the first institution of higher education in the nation to admit men and women on an equal basis.

3. In 1976, the temperature in Waterloo, Iowa dropped to -34 degrees Fahrenheit, the coldest temperature ever recorded in the state. Many schools and businesses closed due to the extreme weather.

4. On January 12, 1993, a blizzard hit Iowa, dumping over 20 inches of snow and causing widespread power outages. The storm caused over $110 million in damages and was one of the worst winter storms in Iowa's history.

5. On January 12, 2015, former Iowa Governor and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as the Secretary of Agriculture for a second tenure. Vilsack served in this role from 2009 to 2017, making him the longest-serving agriculture secretary since Orville Freeman.