Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857. It is located on, and named after, the Des Moines River, which likely was adapted from the early French name, Rivière des Moines, meaning "River of the Monks". The city's population was 214,133 as of the 2020 census. The six-county metropolitan area is ranked 83rd in terms of population in the United States with 699,292 residents according to the 2019 estimate by the United States Census Bureau, and is the largest metropolitan area fully located within the state.
Terry Edward Branstad is an American politician and former diplomat. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979 before serving as governor of Iowa from 1983 to 1999 and again from 2011 to 2017. Branstad served as the United States Ambassador to China from 2017 to 2020 under President Donald Trump.
Hy-Vee, Inc. is an employee-owned chain of supermarkets in the Midwestern and Southern United States, with more than 280 locations in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and soon Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. Hy-Vee was founded in 1930 by Charles Hyde and David Vredenburg in Beaconsfield, Iowa, in a small brick building known as the Beaconsfield Supply Store, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Des Moines Register is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa.
Clark R. Mollenhoff was a Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist, an attorney who served as Presidential Special Counsel, and a columnist for The Des Moines Register.
Des Moines University (DMU) is a private medical school in Des Moines, Iowa. Founded in 1898, Des Moines University is the second oldest osteopathic medical school and the fifteenth largest medical school in the United States. DMU's three colleges – the College of Osteopathic Medicine, College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery, and College of Health Sciences – offer nine academic degrees, including master’s and doctorate degrees.
Robert Wood Johnson I was an American industrialist. He was also one of the three brothers who founded Johnson & Johnson.
Carl Robert Byoir was an influential practitioner in the field of public relations. He created and organized one of the world's largest public relations firms in 1930.
Dahl's Foods was a grocery store chain headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa that had multiple locations in central Iowa between its founding in 1931 and its demise in 2015.
Proudfoot & Bird was an American architectural firm that designed many buildings throughout the Midwest region of the United States. Originally established in 1882, it remains active through its several successors, and since 2017 has been known as BBS Architects | Engineers.
Frederick Henry Dyer served as a drummer boy in the Union Army during the American Civil War. After the war, he wrote A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion – a complete record of every regiment formed under the Union Army, their histories, and the battles they fought in – taking forty years to compile.
Steven Leath is an American academic administrator. He was president of Iowa State University from 2012 to 2017, when he became president of Auburn University. He resigned from his position at Auburn in 2019.
MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center, formally called Mercy Medical Center – Des Moines, is a not-for-profit Catholic hospital located in Des Moines, Iowa. MercyOne Des Moines was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1893 and is the longest continually operating hospital in Des Moines. MercyOne is a member of MercyOne Network, a partnership of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) and Trinity Health. MercyOne Des Moines is one of the largest employers in the state of Iowa with more than 5,300 employees, and 800 physicians and allied health associates. The main campus boasts a 656-bed acute care facility.
Gwendolyn Wilson Fowler was an African-American pharmacist, the first black woman licensed in Iowa. She also became the first African-American woman from Iowa to serve in the United States Foreign Service, when she was posted to Vietnam in the 1950s. She was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1987.
Joseph Aloysius Roseman, Sr. was an American golf professional, golf course architect, and inventor of golf course mowing equipment. He designed at least 50 golf courses and made alterations on over 100 more. Roseman had two starts in golf majors – the 1919 and the 1920 PGA Championship.
John Fletcher Ankeny is best known as the founder of Ankeny, Iowa. He was the oldest child of Joseph and Harriet Giese Ankeny. He was born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania on May 6, 1824 on the farm owned by his father and his grandfather, Peter Ankeny. Peter was the one of the founders of Somerset, Pennsylvania. When Ankeny was seven years old, his father moved the family from Somerset, Pennsylvania to Millersburg, Ohio.
Frederick Shelton Hubbell is an American attorney, businessman, and politician. He was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Iowa in the 2018 election. Before running for office, Hubbell served as Chair of the Younkers retail department stores in the 1980s and President of Equitable of Iowa. He served as Acting Director of the Department of Economic Development of Iowa and as Chair of the Iowa Power Fund in the 2000s.
Carl Weeks (1876–1962) was an American businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist best known for founding pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies including Weeks & Leo Co., Inc. Carl and his wife Edith built Salisbury House in Des Moines, IA.
Russell Community School District was a school district headquartered in Russell, Iowa. It operated two schools: Russell Elementary School and Russell Jr./Sr. High School.
On July 18, 2018, University of Iowa student Mollie Cecilia Tibbetts disappeared while jogging near her home in Brooklyn, Iowa. A month later, police identified 24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera as a suspect in connection with the disappearance; surveillance footage showed Rivera's car following Tibbetts on her jog. Rivera led police to the body of Tibbetts in a Poweshiek County cornfield on August 21. He was charged with first-degree murder. On May 28, 2021, Rivera was found guilty of first-degree murder. On August 30, 2021, Rivera was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
