Omaha, Nebraska

:For other uses, see Omaha (disambiguation).

History

Omaha was founded in the summer of 1854 by land speculators from Council Bluffs, months after the Kansas-Nebraska Act created the Nebraska Territory. Later that year, Omaha was chosen as the territorial capital for Nebraska. Omaha was chosen as the eastern terminus of America's first transcontinental railroad in 1862 with the passage of the Pacific Railroad Act. This ensured that Omaha would become a major transportation center for the entire country in the years to come. The loss of the capital to Lincoln in 1867 did not slow Omaha's growth in the decades to come.

Related Topics:
1854 - Kansas-Nebraska Act - Nebraska Territory - First transcontinental railroad - 1862 - Pacific Railroad Act - Lincoln - 1867

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Omaha's growth was accelerated in the 1880s by the rapid development of the meatpacking industry in South Omaha; in the 1880s, Omaha was the fastest-growing city in the United States. Thousands of immigrants from central and southern Europe came to Omaha to work in the stockyards and slaughterhouses, creating Omaha's original ethnic neighborhoods in South Omaha.

Related Topics:
Meatpacking - South Omaha - Europe

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The Trans-Mississippi Exposition was held in Omaha from June 1 to November 1, 1898. The exposition drew over 2 million visitors and involved construction of attractions spanning over 100 city blocks including a shipworthy lagoon, bridges and magnificent, though temporary, buildings constructed of plaster and horsehair.

Related Topics:
Trans-Mississippi Exposition - June 1 - November 1 - 1898 - Lagoon - Bridges - Buildings

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A devastating tornado ripped through Omaha in 1913 and has become known as the Easter Sunday tornado.

Related Topics:
1913 - Easter Sunday tornado

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A low point in Omaha's history was the Omaha Race Riot of 1919, which occurred in September 1919 after a black man was arrested for raping a white woman. This incident was dramatized by playwright Max Sparber and produced by the Blue Barn Theatre in 1998 at the Douglas County Courthouse, the site of the riot.

Related Topics:
Omaha Race Riot of 1919 - 1919 - Max Sparber - Blue Barn Theatre

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The Enola Gay and Bock's Car were two of 536 B-29s manufactured at the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Factory in Omaha, Neb. near the end of World War II.

Related Topics:
Enola Gay - Bock's Car - B-29 - Glenn L. Martin - World War II

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The Omaha Stockyards was the world's largest livestock processing center during the 1960's having taken over that distinction from Chicago's Union Stockyards in the late 1950?s. As improved truck and boxcar refrigeration capabilities encouraged the slaughtering process to move closer to feedlots, all centralized stockyard activity declined and the Omaha Stockyards were closed in 1999.

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The Omaha Tornado of 1975 is another grim day in Omaha's past. An F4 tornado ripped through neighborhoods along South 72nd Street on May 6, 1975, killing 3 and injuring 133. In terms of damage, it was the most costly tornado in American history to that date, with damage estimates between $250 million and $500 million.

Related Topics:
Omaha Tornado of 1975 - F4 - Tornado - May 6 - 1975

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U.S. President Gerald Ford (born Leslie Lynch King) was born in Omaha; however, he only spent his early childhood there. After his parents divorced, his mother remarried a man from Grand Rapids, Michigan and, consequently, Gerald grew up there. Omaha was also the birthplace of Malcolm X, but his family moved to Milwaukee when he was one year old.

Related Topics:
Gerald Ford - Grand Rapids, Michigan - Malcolm X - Milwaukee

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Omaha Beach is not in Omaha, but was an Allied WWII code name for a beach in Normandy.

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