[10] Notable cultural institutions include the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Old Market, Durham Museum, Lauritzen Gardens, and annual College World Series.

Between July 30 and August 3, 1804, members of the expedition, including Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, met with Oto and Missouria tribal leaders at the Council Bluff at a point about 20 mi (32 km) north of present-day Omaha.

Before it was legal to claim land in Indian Country, William D. Brown operated the Lone Tree Ferry that brought settlers from Council Bluffs, Iowa to the area that became Omaha.

The Governor of Nebraska had to call in U.S. Army troops from nearby Fort Omaha to protect strikebreakers for the Burlington Railroad, bringing along Gatling guns and a cannon for defense.

[51] The city's labor and management clashed in bitter strikes, racial tension escalated as blacks were hired as strikebreakers, and ethnic strife broke out.

[53] The civil rights movement in Omaha has roots that extend back to 1912, when the first chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People west of the Mississippi River was founded in the city.

The Glenn L. Martin Company operated a factory there in the 1940s that produced 521 B-29 Superfortresses, including the Enola Gay and Bockscar used in the atomic bombing of Japan in World War II.

[63] Creighton University hosted the DePorres Club, an early civil rights group whose use of sit-in strategies for integration of public facilities predated the national movement.

[64] Following the development of the Glenn L. Martin Company bomber manufacturing plant in Bellevue at the beginning of World War II, the relocation of the Strategic Air Command to the Omaha suburb in 1948 provided a major economic boost to the area.

Much of the push toward preservation came after Omaha gained the notorious designation of having, in 1989, demolished the largest-ever National Register historic district in the United States, a record that still stands as of 2013.

MFS, backed by Kiewit Corporation CEO Walter Scott Jr. and Warren Buffett, purchased UUNET, one of the largest Internet backbones in the world, for $2 billion in 1996.

[96] There are no consolidated city-counties in the area; the City of Omaha studied the possibility extensively through 2003 and concluded, "The City of Omaha and Douglas County should merge into a municipal county, work to commence immediately, and that functional consolidations begin immediately in as many departments as possible, including but not limited to parks, fleet management, facilities management, local planning, purchasing and personnel.

[105] Omaha, due to its latitude of 41.26˚ N and location far from moderating bodies of water or mountain ranges, displays a hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfa).

Based on 30-year averages obtained from NOAA's National Climatic Data Center for the months of December, January and February, Weather Channel ranked Omaha the 5th coldest major U.S. city as of 2014.

By the 1950s, at the same time large-scale restructuring of the railroads, the meatpacking industry and other sectors caused widespread job losses and unemployment, Omaha reportedly had more illicit gambling than any other city in the nation.

[142][143] Czechs had a strong political and cultural voice in Omaha,[144] and were involved in a variety of trades and businesses, including banks, wholesale houses, and funeral homes.

The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, one of the nation's premier urban artist colonies, was founded in Omaha in 1981,[178] and the Durham Museum is accredited with the Smithsonian Institution for traveling exhibits.

Lauritzen Gardens features 100 acres (40 ha) with a variety of landscaping, and the new Kenefick Park recognizes Union Pacific Railroad's long history in Omaha.

[193] Omaha's rich history in rhythm and blues, and jazz gave rise to a number of influential bands, including Anna Mae Winburn's Cotton Club Boys and Lloyd Hunter's Seranaders.

Rock and roll pioneer Wynonie Harris, jazz great Preston Love, drummer Buddy Miles, and Luigi Waites are among the city's homegrown talent.

[194][195] Contemporary music groups either in or originally from Omaha include Mannheim Steamroller, Bright Eyes, The Faint, Cursive, Azure Ray, Tilly and the Wall, and 311.

Long-time bastion Houston Alexander, a one-time graffiti artist and professional Mixed Martial Arts competitor, is a local hip-hop radio show host.

Internationally renowned composer Antonín Dvořák wrote his Ninth ("New World") Symphony in 1893 based on his impressions of the region after visiting Omaha's robust Czech community.

Omaha has almost one hundred individual properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Bank of Florence, Holy Family Church, the Christian Specht Building and the Joslyn Castle.

[204] Locally designated landmarks, including residential, commercial, religious, educational, agricultural and socially significant locations across the city, honor Omaha's cultural legacy and important history.

[210] The Omaha Sports Commission is a quasi-governmental nonprofit organization that coordinates much of the professional and amateur athletic activity in the city, including the 2008, 2012 and 2016 US Olympic Swimming Team Trials and the building of a new stadium in North Downtown.

[220] During its championship run in the inaugural PVF season, Omaha and the Supernovas became the league's shining star, hosting 134,969 fans across the 15 matches held at the CHI Health Center.

[244] In 2011, Nebraska lawmakers moved Offutt Air Force Base and the town of Bellevue—an area with a large minority population—out of the Omaha-based 2nd district and shifted in the Republican-heavy Omaha suburbs in Sarpy County.

[248] After a contentious period of uncertainty, in 2007 the Nebraska Legislature approved a plan to create a learning community for Omaha-area school districts with a central administrative board.

Offutt Air Force Base continues to serve as a military airbase; it is at the southern edge of Bellevue, which in turn lies immediately south of Omaha.