Missouri History Today

It was "Black Tuesday" in St. Louis. A cloud of thick smoke covered downtown. The streetlights had to be turned on and traffic was snarled because motorists couldn't see where they were going.

The University of Missouri played its first football game against another school—Washington University in St. Louis.

President Teddy Roosevelt was visiting the World's Fair on this day. He met with Geronimo and was entertained by Will Rogers.

Governor Fletcher called out the militia to search for Missouri's most notorious outlaw. Samuel Hildebrand and his men had recently plundered Farmington and were known responsible for at least thirty murders. Hildebrand turned bushwhacker after Union vigilantes killed his brother.

Reported birthday of the "King of Ragtime," Scott Joplin. When a musician's work is still popular a century after his death, he did it right.

The Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy opened in Rolla. It is now the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Mid-Missouri's winter storm of 2006 began and lasted through December 1. The Columbia Regional Airport received over 15 inches of snow.

Lewis and Clark were struggling to get upstream. On this day they passed the area of New Madrid going toward Cape Girardeau.

Astronomer Edwin Hubble was born today in Marshfield. Hubble discovered that the universe is expanding as well as ways to measure its speed. He discovered that almost every “star” that had been observed was actually a galaxy containing millions of stars. 

A fire destroyed the Missouri Building at the World's Fair two weeks before it was to close. Most of the treasures inside were saved. The U.S. Marines rushed in to save the bell that Missourians had bought with their donations for the USS Missouri.