The 'Show Me State' expression may have began in 1899 when Congressman
Willard Duncan Vandiver stated, "I'm from Missouri and you've got to
show me."
The first successful parachute jump to be made from a moving airplane was
made by Captain Berry at St. Louis, in 1912.
The most destructive tornado on record occurred in Annapolis. In 3 hours,
it tore through the town on March 18, 1925 leaving a 980-foot wide trail of
demolished buildings, uprooted trees, and overturned cars. It left 823
people dead and almost 3,000 injured.
At the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, Richard Blechyden, served tea with
ice and invented iced tea.
Also, at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, the ice cream cone was
invented. An ice cream vendor ran out of cups and asked a waffle vendor to
help by rolling up waffles to hold ice cream.
Missouri ties with Tennessee as the most neighborly state in the union,
bordered by 8 states.
The state animal is the Mule.
St. Louis; is also called, "The Gateway to the West" and
"Home of the Blues".
Warsaw holds the state record for the low temperature of -40 degrees on
February 13, 1905.
Warsaw holds the state record for the high temperature recorded, 118
degrees on July 14, 1954.
State bird--native Bluebird March 30, 1927
State insect--honey bee July 3, 1985
Mozarkite was adopted as the official state rock on July 21, 1967, by the
74th General Assembly.
On July 21, 1967, the mineral galena was adopted as the official mineral
of Missouri.
The crinoid became the state's official fossil on June 16, 1989, after a
group of Lee's Summit school students worked through the legislative process
to promote it as a state symbol.
On June 20, 1955, the flowering dogwood (Cornus Florida L.) became
Missouri's official tree.
The "Missouri Waltz" became the state song under an act adopted
by the General Assembly on June 30, 1949
The present Capitol completed in 1917 and occupied the following year is
the third Capitol in Jefferson City and the sixth in Missouri history. The
first seat of state government was housed in the Mansion House, Third and
Vine Streets, St. Louis; the second was in the Missouri Hotel, Maine and
Morgan Streets, also in St. Louis. St. Charles was designated as temporary
capital of the state in 1821 and remained the seat of government until 1826
when Jefferson City became the permanent capital city.
The first Capitol in Jefferson City burned in 1837 and a second structure
completed in 1840 burned when the dome was struck by lightning on February
5, 1911.
Kansas City has more miles of boulevards than Paris and more fountains
than any city except Rome.
Kansas City has more miles of freeway per capita than any metro area with
more than 1 million residents.
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial consists of the Gateway Arch, the
Museum of Westward Expansion, and St. Louis' Old Courthouse. During a
nationwide competition in 1947-48, architect Eero Saarinen's inspired design
for a 630-foot stainless steel arch was chosen as a perfect monument to the
spirit of the western pioneers. Construction of the Arch began in 1963 and
was completed on October 28, 1965.
The Arch has foundations sunken 60 feet into the ground, and is built to
withstand earthquakes and high winds. It sways up to one inch in a 20 mph
wind, and is built to sway up to 18 inches.
Saint Louis University received a formal charter from the state of
Missouri in 1832, making it the oldest University west of the Mississippi.
In 1889, Aunt Jemima pancake flour, invented at St. Joseph, Missouri, was
the first self-rising flour for pancakes and the first ready-mix food ever
to be introduced commercially.
The tallest man in documented medical history was Robert Pershing Wadlow
from St. Louis. He was 8 feet, 11.1 inches tall
Creve Coeur's name means broken heart in French, comes from nearby Creve
Coeur Lake. Legend has it that an Indian princess fell in love with a French
fur trapper, but the love was not returned. According to the story, she then
leapt from a ledge overlooking Creve Coeur Lake; the lake then formed itself
into a broken heart.
The most powerful earthquake to strike the United States occurred in 1811,
centered in New Madrid, Missouri. The quake shook more than one million
square miles, and was felt as far as 1,000 miles away.
Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis, Missouri is the largest beer
producing plant in the nation.
During Abraham Lincoln's campaign for the presidency, a dyed-in-the-wool
Democrat named Valentine Tapley from Pike County, Missouri, swore that he
would never shave again if Abe were elected. Tapley kept his word and his
chin whiskers went unshorn from November 1860 until he died in 1910,
attaining a length of twelve feet six inches.
President Harry S. Truman was born in Independence in 1884.
The first train of the Atlantic-Pacific Railway, which became the St.Louis-San
Francisco Railway, or "Frisco," arrived in 1870.
Callaway County was organized on November 25, 1820 and named for Captain
James Callaway who was killed in a fight with Indians near Loutre Creek.
Missouri was named after a tribe called Missouri Indians; meaning
"town of the large canoes"
Situated within a day’s drive of 50% of the U.S. population, Branson and
the Tri-Lakes area serves up to 65,000 visitors daily. Branson has been a
"rubber tire" destination with the vast majority of tourists
arriving by vehicles, RVs and tour buses. Branson has also become one of
America’s top motor coach vacation destinations with an estimated 4,000
buses arriving each year.
Charleston holds the Dogwood-Azalea Festival annually on the 3rd weekend
of April. "Charleston becomes a blooming wonderland."
Jefferson City, Missouri, the state's capital, was named for Thomas
Jefferson, the third President of the United States.
Missouri's oldest community, Saint Genevieve, was founded as early as
1735.
In 1812 Missouri was organized as a territory and later admitted the 24th
state of the Union on August 10, 1821.
In 1865 Missouri became the first slave state to free its slaves.
Hermann, Missouri is a storybook German village with a rich wine-making
and riverboat history that is proudly displayed in area museums. Built in
1836 as the "New Fatherland" for German settlers, the town has
achieved national recognition because of its quality wines and distinctive
heritage.
Auguste Chouteau founded Saint Louis in 1764.
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls, writer of Little House on the Prairie grew up in
Missouri.
"Madonna of the Trail" monument in Lexington tells the story of
the brave women who helped conquer the west and is one of 12 placed in every
state crossed by the National Old Trails Road, the route of early settlers
from Maryland to California.
Soybeans bring in the most cash for Missourians as a crop.
Missouri Day is the third Wednesday in October.
On Sucker Day in Nixa, Missouri, school closes officially and the little
town swells to a throng of 15,000 hungry folks. All craving a taste of the
much maligned but delicious bottom dweller fish loathed by almost everyone
else.
Point of highest elevation: Taum Sauk Mountain, 540 meters (1,772 feet)