April 27, 1865
The Nation's worst maritime disaster happened on the Mississippi a fair piece south of Cape Girardeau.
April 26, 1921
The oldest radio station west of the Mississippi began audio broadcasting. This St. Louis University station claims to be the second oldest station in America. It actually began operating in 1912 but only broadcast in Morse code. WEW stands for We Enlighten the World.
April 23, 1819
On this date the newspaper, Missouri Intelligencer and Boonslick Advertiser became the first to be printed west of St. Louis. This was important because of the town's (Franklin's) place near the head of the Santa Fe Trail.
April 22, 1944
Millionaire balloonist and adventurer Steve Fossett was born on this day. In 1968, he received an MBA from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis, where he was a longtime member of the Board of Trustees.
April 21, 1870
The first train from St. Louis reached Springfield. This took sixteen years of construction because of the interruptions due to the Civil War.
April 20, 1861
Southern sympathizers captured the U.S. Arsenal at Liberty, MO. This created more tension at the arsenal at St. Louis and therefore was a contributing factor leading to the St. Louis Massacre.
April 19, 1878
On this date telephone service came to St. Louis for the first time. The new phone company had twelve original customers. It also came to Hannibal in 1878.
April 18, 1880
Known by old timers as "the day that Marshfield blew away," an F-4 tornado struck Marshfield and killed 99. 100 more were injured.