February 24, 1905 – Opening in 1904, the new SUI Armory/Gymnasium hosts its first Hawkeye men’s basketball game. Iowa beats Grinnell 24-17.

The SUI Athletic Pavilion was located west of Old Capitol – just east of Iowa Field. This large red-brick building opened up a multitude of possibilities for SUI. It housed the men’s gymnasium where the Hawkeyes played basketball, classrooms, and an armory for SUI-related Armed Services (ROTC). Outside to the east was a large open field for military exercises, and to the north were several tennis courts.

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This Day In History is an Our Iowa Heritage blog series that offers you a little bit of Iowa trivia from a large selection of stories on our website. Subscribe to this FREE blog and you’ll get a new email from us daily. Click to learn more.

February 23, 1976 – The United States Postal Service – in celebration of America’s Bicentennial Celebration – issues a 50-state sheet of commemorative postage stamps that feature the 50 state flags.

Lots of famous folks have Iowa connections, with a small handful of them having been pictured on U.S. postage stamps! The only prerequisite, sadly, is that you have to be deceased. Take a look at these famous Iowans who made their mark in the world, and here, in one place, is the complete list of U.S. commemorative postage stamps featuring events and locations with Iowa-based themes!

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This Day In History is an Our Iowa Heritage blog series that offers you a little bit of Iowa trivia from a large selection of stories on our website. Subscribe to this FREE blog and you’ll get a new email from us daily. Click to learn more.

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Clark + Clark + Cole = Equality in Education. Did you know that the Iowa Supreme Court outlawed segregated schools in 1868 – eighty-six years before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Brown v. Board of Education in 1954? Thanks to Muscatine’s Alexander Clark and his 12-year-old daughter Susan, working alongside Judge Chester C. Cole, the color barrier was broken, placing the Hawkeye State on the cutting edge of the civil rights movement.

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Visit our Black History Month page…

Our Picture Of The Week is an Our Iowa Heritage blog series that offers you a little bit of Iowa trivia from a large selection of stories on our website. Subscribe to this FREE blog and you’ll get a new email from us daily. Click to learn more.