Iowa History Center

Join IHC and the Women’s and Gender Studies program for the Women in America Lecture. Guest Sara Egge will be discussing women suffrage in Iowa and the Midwest. The lecture is tomorrow at 1 pm in Hubbell Hall.

Join IHC for Iowa History Trivia Night! Come in groups of 4 for pizza, popcorn, and a Kahoot to test your knowledge. Winners receive $50 gift cards per player, $25 for second place winners, and $10 for third place. The game begins at 7 in Blackbox in the Kent Campus Center.

Come on out to our event tonight featuring Dr. Linda Clemmons in “Dakota in Exile: Stories of Trauma and Survival in Davenport, Iowa.” Reception begins at 6 p.m., with the event starting at 7 p.m. Both will be held in Hubbell Hall in the Kent Campus Center.

Did you know that Iowa is the leading producer of pork in the US, claiming more than twice the number of pigs as the next closest state? Iowa’s pig population at any given time is over 20 million, whereas Iowa has a human population of just over 3 million.

In 1973, a rare Iowa April blizzard hit the state April 8-10th. Snowfall totals of 14+ inches were reported across a majority of Eastern Iowa, with Belle Plaine reporting 20.3 inches. Accompanying the snow were wind gusts of 65 mph or higher in spots.

The name “Iowa” comes from the Ayuxwa (English spelling: Ioway) Indians who lived on the territory.

The first Euro-American settler in Iowa was likely Julien Dubuque, a French-Canadian man who arrived at the lead mines near modern-day Dubuque in 1787.

On June 27, 1931, a boy in Spencer, IA dropped a sparkler into a stack of fireworks for sale. What ensued was a fire that destroyed 80 businesses and 40 homes causing $2 million in damage. This incident garnered national attention leading to firework bans in Iowa and other states

On March 25, 1914, Norman Borlaug was born in Cresco, IA. He was an agronomist and a key component of the worldwide Green Revolution.

Massive crowd at #SimpsonCollege tonight for @IaHistoryCenter event with Gerry Berry ’68 the last man to fly a helicopter out during the Fall of Saigon. #FromSimpsontoSaigon

Make sure to come out to Hubbell Hall in Kent Campus Center at Simpson College tonight for “From Simpson to Saigon,” to hear a Simpson alum share his experiences in Vietnam. Reception starts at 6 pm followed by the program at 7 pm.

When the Civil War began, Iowa had a population of roughly a mere 675,000. Despite this, 76,534 Iowan men served in the Union, which gave Iowa the highest percentage of men aged 15-40 fighting for the Union

Congrats to the winners last night at @IaHistoryCenter trivia night. It was such a fun time and everyone should come next year.

Did you know that an 1839 border dispute nearly sparked fighting between the states of Iowa and Missouri? Militias gathered at the border, but ultimately fighting was evaded, and the bloodless dispute was coined the “Honey War.”

Reminder that tonight at 7 pm in Black Box, we will be having Iowa History Trivia in the Black Box Theater. Bring teams of up to four and a phone or laptop to play. Top three teams get amazon shopping sprees for EACH team member!

RAGBRAI, which recently announced it will be stopping right here in Indianola, is the longest (~468 miles), largest (20,000+ participants) and oldest (since 1973) bicycle tour event in the world, traversing the state of Iowa annually.

Professor Timm will be teaching a course entitled, “History of Iowa” T4 of this semester here at Simpson. If you are looking for an extra course and want to learn more about the history of the state, make sure to enroll

When Iowa became a state in 1846, its capital was Iowa City. A mere 11 years later the more centrally located Des Moines became the state’s capital and has remained so ever since

Last Friday, Kim Reynolds became the state of Iowa’s first elected female governor