Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 8, 1930, Doreen Wilber was born in Rutland. Wilber captured the gold medal in archery at the Munich Summer Olympics. Wilber, the first Iowa woman to win gold, picked up a hobby inadvertently and went on to win Olympic Gold. Born in Rutland and a 1948 graduate of Jefferson High School, Wilber took up archery after her husband, Paul “Skeeter” Wilber, accepted a bow and arrow set as payment for auto repairs at his shop. With only Skeeter to teach

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 8, 1911, Frederick Louis Maytag II was born. President and Chairman of the Maytag Company, founder of Maytag Dairy Farms, and Iowa State Senator, “Fred II” also established the Fred Maytag Family Foundation during a life balancing a wide array of interests and business acumen. Born to Elmer “E.H.” Maytag, son of Maytag Industries founder Frederick Louis Maytag I, Fred II left Iowa for educational opportunities at the Culver Military Academy and

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 8, 1937, early iconic Iowa catch wrestler and coach of the state’s first-ever high school wrestling champions of Cedar Rapids, Washington, Martin “Farmer” Burns, died. A true hall-of-famer in early wrestling, Burns left a legacy of legendary proportions. Born in a rural Cedar County, Iowa, log cabin in 1861, while the American Civil War raged, Burns showed a talent for wrestling at an early age. According to legend, Burns won fifteen cents at e

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 8, 1968, Hawkeye Quarterback Matt Rodgers was born. Known for his fierce determination, exceptional leadership, and unforgettable plays, Rodgers was a cornerstone of the Hawkeyes' success in the early '90s. As Iowa's starting quarterback from 1990-1991, he led the team to two consecutive 10-win seasons and back-to-back New Year’s Day bowl games. A second-generation Hawkeye and son of back-to-back men’s basketball team MVP Jimmy Rodgers, Matt ar

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 7, 2016, legendary Iowa hooper John Johnson passed away. A prolific scorer who played the game with fluid grace, Johnson left a legacy of excellence on the hardwood for the Hawkeyes. Johnson, born October 18, 1947, in Carthage, Mississippi, played high school basketball at Messmer High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a senior, he helped lead Messmer to the Wisconsin state title in 1966. After attending Northwest College in Wyoming, Johnson

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 7, 1989, Dr. Tom Davis’s ninth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes went on the road for a top-10 showdown with sixth-ranked North Carolina. Roy Marble hit a controversial game-winning free throw after officials seemingly mixed up the correct shooter to lift Iowa to a 98-97 win. A red-hot Hawkeye hoops squad entered the contest with a 12-1 record. Featuring the all-time great Iowa duo of Marble, BJ Armstrong, and Ed Horton, Iowa came into the game fresh off a

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 7, 1902, former Iowa Governor Leslie M. Shaw became the United States Secretary of the Treasury during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt. Hardheaded, logical, and shrewd, Shaw helped guide American fiscal policy during the early 1900s. Born in Vermont, Shaw dreamed of moving west to get a college education and become a landowner. Shaw worked on his father’s farm to save a few hundred dollars before heading west to attend Cornel

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 7, 1950, at 2:06 a.m., the first calls came in reporting one of the worst fires in Iowa’s history at the St. Elizabeth’s mental health facility on the Mercy Hospital campus in Davenport. As the flames raged, 41 women lost their lives as the structure burned. Operated by the Sisters of Mercy, Mother Mary Borromeo Johnson started the facility in 1869. In 1893, St. Elizabeth’s opened to provide mental health services for Iowans. As a psychiatric t

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 6, 1855, a bill was introduced in the Iowa legislature to create a state geological survey, an essential step in formalizing the scientific study of Iowa’s land, minerals, and natural resources. Iowa achieved statehood in 1846, becoming the 29th state. The territory had filled rapidly with settlers drawn by cheap land and the promise of rich soil, yet these newcomers knew remarkably little about what lay beneath their feet. Rumors circulated a

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 6, 1942, an important Iowa advocate of women’s education, suffrage, and general equality, Eleanor Elizabeth Gordon, died. A Unitarian minister of the “Iowa Sisterhood,” Gordon lived a life dedicated to breaking glass ceilings for Iowa’s women. Born just across the river from Keokuk in 1852, Eleanor Elizabeth Gordon learned and spent time with her good friend and future “Iowa Sisterhood” member, Mary Safford. She credited the reading and debate

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 6, 1984, Lorri Bauman set the NCAA record for most field goals in a game when she hit 27 shots while Drake beat Missouri State. The first woman in NCAA history to score 3,000 points, Bauman starred at Des Moines East before setting a bunch of records for her hometown Drake Bulldogs. Starting in the Salvation Army League of Des Moines at age 10, Bauman’s abilities stood out from a young age. Bauman arrived at East High School in the late 1970s r

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 6, 1933, McDonald's CEO Fred Turner was born in Des Moines. Credited with massively expanding McDonald's through introducing new meals and setting service standards for the company, Turner went from burger flipper to man in charge. Born in Iowa’s capital city, Turner attended Dowling Catholic High School before finding his way to Drake University. Turner earned his degree in 1954 and served in the US Army for the next two years. After discharge

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 5, 1914, future Superman George Reeves was born in Woolstock. Best known for his work as the Man of Steel in the 1950s era Superman television series, Reeves captured the imaginations of people throughout the country as the first ‘Man of Steel.’ Born to newlyweds George Keefer and Helen Lescher in the rural Wright County town of Woolstock, Reeves moved to Kentucky with his mother at a young age when his parents separated. Eventually relocating

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 5, 1961, American Olympic sprint kayaker Curt Bader was born in Bloomfield. Sprint kayaking became a full Olympic discipline at the 1936 Berlin Games. Throughout the mid-20th century, European nations dominated the sport, winning around 90% of medals at major international competitions. American kayakers faced steep challenges breaking into this European-dominated arena. The sport's technical complexity required years of dedicated training, wi

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 5, 1983, Iowa men’s basketball played the team’s first game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. With 15,245 in attendance, a last-second shot that appeared to fall through the net was waved off by officials, and Iowa lost to Michigan State, 61-59, in the first basketball game ever played at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. For nearly six decades, Iowa basketball teams had played in the Iowa Field House, a facility dating to 1926 that featured steel balconies, poor a

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 5, 1934, a controversial last-second shot forced overtime in a rivalry game between Nile Kinnick’s Adel HS and Dallas Center HS. Inspired by the local fallout from the closely contested game, Elmer Foster ended up inventing the Fair-Play Scoreboard. Foster, physics teacher and Dallas Center superintendent, found himself surrounded after a hotly contested rivalry game with Adel in January 1934. The contest came down to the final basket, and anar

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 4, 1923, Duane Ellett was born. Ellett was the man behind the popular WHO-TV Des Moines program “The Floppy Show.” Duane and Floppy endeared themselves to Iowans on the popular children’s show from 1957 to 1987. Ellett, a U.S. Army veteran of World War II, attended Drake University. Initially interested in studying law, a journalism class led to a job with WHO Radio in 1947. Developing various entertainment skills, including ventriloquism, Elle

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 4, 1965, MLB pitcher Kevin Wickander was born in Fort Dodge. Wickander spent seven seasons in the major leagues, pitching for Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, and Milwaukee. Wickander's path to professional baseball took him far from Iowa. His family moved to Arizona, where he attended Cortez High School in Phoenix, just ten miles from what would become his college home. He later admitted he had never heard of Grand Canyon University until three

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 4, 1885, Dr. William Grant made medical history by successfully removing an inflamed appendix from 22-year-old Mary Gartside. At the time, the procedure was almost unheard of, as appendicitis was typically fatal due to a lack of treatment options. Dr. Grant, a self-taught surgeon with a bold approach to medicine, recognized that Mary’s condition was critical and decided to attempt a groundbreaking operation. With no precedent to follow, he reli

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 4, 1904, the Iowa State Capitol building in Des Moines caught fire. Resulting from work to convert gaslights to electricity, the fire swept through the chambers of the Iowa Supreme Court and the Iowa House of Representatives. Although workers completed initial construction on the iconic five-domed Capitol building gracing the eastern bank of the Des Moines River in 1886, by the early 1900s, upgrades necessitated a new phase of construction. The

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 3, 1990, the Northern Iowa Panthers beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 77-74 in men’s basketball in front of a record crowd of 22,797 in the UNI Dome. Eldon Miller’s Panthers upset 20th-ranked Iowa after storming back from down five with under three minutes to play in the game. The Panthers entered the 1989-90 campaign as a team on the rise. Paced by key contributors Troy Muilenberg, Cedrick McCullough, and Steve Phyfe, the Panthers stormed out to a 5-0 st

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 3, 1970, the Iowa Fieldhouse rocked as the Hawkeyes beat no. 17 Purdue 94-88 in front of a packed house. Coach Ralph Miller’s Hawkeyes went on to go 14-0 in the Big 10 to claim the school’s most recent outright conference title. The season started rocky for the Hawks as the team went 3-4 out of the gate. However, the high-powered Hawkeye offense proved ready for the Big 10. Led by a nucleus of players known as the "Six Pack" – John Johnson, Cha

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 3, 1983, the Iowa Hawkeye wrestlers officially opened Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Over 8,000 fans packed the new facility to watch the Hawkeyes demolish Oklahoma 35-7. The arena's namesake never saw the building completed. Roy J. Carver, a Muscatine industrialist, donated $9.2 million to the University of Iowa before he died in 1981. His generosity extended far beyond athletics, funding medical research, scholarships, and educational programs across

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 3, 1859, the Palo Alto County seat was officially established at Paoli. Within sixteen years, the county seat would move to Emmetsburg, and Paoli would vanish from Iowa maps, remembered only as a curious footnote in frontier history. Palo Alto County took its name from the first significant battle of the Mexican-American War, fought on May 8, 1846, near present-day Brownsville, Texas. General Zachary Taylor led approximately 2,300 American tro

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 3, 1856, the crowds cheered in -20-degree temperatures to celebrate the arrival of the railroad in Iowa’s (then) capital city of Iowa City. The culmination of years of hoping and planning, the arrival of the railroad in Johnson County represents an important moment of connection for the Hawkeye state. Early attempts at improving transportation in Iowa ranged from the failed Des Moines Lock & Navigation Co. to the ‘Calico Railroad' project’s dem

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 2, 1981, Sioux City West and NBA basketball player Kirk Hinrich was born. Iowa’s Mr. Basketball in 1999, the Wolverine star went on to help Kansas to back-to-back NCAA Final Four appearances before going No. 7 in the NBA Draft to the Chicago Bulls. Born into a basketball family, Hinrich played for his father, Jim, at Sioux City West. The Wolverines went 82-9 over Hinrich’s four-year career, capturing a state championship during his senior year.

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 2, 1812, Augustus Caesar (AC) Dodge was born. One of Iowa’s first Senators, a key participant in one of the region’s most significant military campaigns against Indigenous residents, and the delegate to introduce the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Dodge’s legacy represents the times he lived in. Born the son of a Colonel of the Michigan Militia, eventual Territorial Governor of Wisconsin, and namesake of Fort Dodge, Iowa, Henry Dodge, AC Dodge, grew up

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 2, 2013, long-time University of Iowa athletic trainer and travel coordinator John Streif retired. Streif left a legacy of compassionately caring for Hawkeye athletes while making sure they were ready to play and got where they needed to go. Born in Manchester, Iowa, Strief attended the University of Iowa and graduated in 1970. After a brief stint as the assistant athletic trainer at West Point Military Academy and several summers working with

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 2, 1884, IMT (Iowa Mutual Tornado, Cyclone, and Windstorm Insurance Association) of West Union wrote the company’s first policy. Now based in West Des Moines, IMT continues to represent a pioneering influence in the insurance industry. Founded by J.B. Herriman in 1884, IMT wrote its first policy for Dr. Lorenzo Dutton. Soon after, many others started taking policies with IMT, and by 1885, the company officially boasted a book of over $1 million

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 2, 2021, Iowa State captured the most significant bowl win in program history with a 34-17 victory over Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl. The pinnacle of the Matt Campbell era of Cyclone football, the win capped a season that saw Iowa State rise as high as 8th in the national rankings. Between 1996 and 2015, Iowa State endured 18 losing seasons in 20 years. When Matt Campbell arrived from Toledo in 2016, he inherited a team coming off a 3-9 season. Ca