1945: Hostilities in World War II ended when Japan told the Allies it would surrender. Formal surrender documents were signed on the USS Missouri, an American battleship, on Sept. 2, 1945. The battleship was docked in Tokyo Bay. Known as the "Mighty Mo," she is now docked behind the sunken USS Arizona and is a museum in Honolulu, Hawaii at Pearl Harbor.

1821: Missouri entered the Union as the twenty-fourth state. Named after the Native American people who originally inhabited the land, Missouri was acquired by the U.S. as part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. At that time, the territory's occupants were mainly French settlers. After the War of 1812, American settlers poured into the region.