1) In 1894, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in favor of a woman's right to vote in school board elections, making Iowa one of the first states to grant women this right.
2) On October 20, 1939, the Iowa State Capitol building in Des Moines was officially dedicated after three years of construction.
3) In 1999, the University of Iowa's football stadium, Kinnick Stadium, was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
4) On this day in 1869, the Union Pacific Railroad was completed in Iowa, linking it to the western part of the United States and helping to boost the state's economy.
5) Iowa native and astronaut Peggy Whitson launched aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on October 20, 2007, becoming the first woman to command the International Space Station.