1. In 1889, South Dakota was admitted as the 40th state of the United States. The state was originally part of the Dakota Territory, which was divided into North and South Dakota upon statehood.

2. On March 28, 1919, the South Dakota House of Representatives approved a bill to establish the state's first law school at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. The law school opened the following year and has since become one of the top law schools in the country.

3. In 1943, the U.S. Army Air Forces established a training base for B-17 bomber crews near Rapid City, South Dakota. The base, known as Rapid City Army Air Base, trained thousands of airmen during World War II.

4. On March 28, 1986, South Dakota Governor Bill Janklow signed a bill making the Black Hills mountain goat the official state animal. The mountain goat is highly adapted to living in the steep, rocky terrain of the Black Hills.

5. In 2002, the Crazy Horse Memorial sculpture in the Black Hills reached a major milestone when the face of the statue was completed. The sculpture, which depicts Lakota leader Crazy Horse on horseback, is still being worked on and is expected to be one of the largest sculptures in the world when it is completed.