1. In 1954, the Bonneville Power Administration began construction on the John Day Dam on the Columbia River. The dam was completed in 1972 and generates hydroelectric power for the region.

2. In 1860, the Oregonian newspaper published a report on the discovery of gold in southern Oregon, which sparked a gold rush in the area.

3. In 1843, a group of pioneers known as the Great Migration arrived in Oregon by wagon train, helping to establish the Oregon Trail as a major route for westward expansion.

4. In 1923, the Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood was dedicated by President Warren G. Harding. The lodge is now a popular skiing and hiking destination.

5. In 1985, the body of actress Karen Silkwood was found in her car on a highway near Crescent, Oregon. Silkwood had been a union activist at the Kerr-McGee nuclear plant in Oklahoma and was believed to have been killed in retaliation for exposing safety violations at the plant.