On January 1, 2000, Missourians survived the Y2K (Year 2000) scare. Millions of anxious people around the state waited to see if electronics would shut down at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2000.
Missouri History
On December 31, 1997, Steve Fossett took off in a hot air balloon from Busch Stadium on this day. The trip ended a few days later in Russia, establishing a new distance record.
On December 30, 1858, Ralph Waldo Emerson was warmly welcomed on a cold night in St. Louis. He was giving a lecture on “The Anglo-Saxon.”
On December 29, 1901, the first Battleship Missouri was launched with a bottle of vintage Missouri wine.
On December 28, 1982, Arthur Bryant dies at the age of 80, working at the restaurant he made famous until the end. Bryant wasn’t from Kansas City, but he certainly helped make Kansas City barbecue famous.
On December 27, 1908, A. Ross Hill was named President of the University of Missouri on this date. He was responsible for much of the university’s growth, including building the “White Campus” and expanding the Extension Division, the Graduate Program, and the College of Education.
On December 25, 1925, a string of lights at Country Club Plaza is lit, paving the way for a Christmas tradition that continues today. One of the most magical places in Missouri is Country Club Plaza in Kansas City at Christmas. The annual tradition brings thousands of people to the shopping center in the weeks leading up to the holiday. But it started small, with just a strand of lights over the doorway of the Mill Creek Building and a few random Christmas trees.
On December 24, 1872, a 20˚ below zero temperature was recorded for St. Louis.
December 23, 1929, is the birthday of bowling legend Dick Weber. Weber moved to Florissant in 1955 when St. Louis was the epicenter of bowling competitions, and he joined the famous Budweiser bowling team. Along with Don Carter, Weber was a star in a city of sports stars in the late ’50s and early ’60s. He won Bowler of the Year honors in 1961, 1963, and 1965 while also racking up 26 Pro Bowling Association tournament titles, as bowling became a widely watched spectator sport in person and on television.
On December 22, 1945, the busiest day in the history of St. Louis Union Station. Train stations across the country were packed with soldiers returning home from World War II. On busy days, more than 100,000 travelers would make their way through Union Station, but this day was especially busy, as travelers reported lines of people at every door and hardly any floor space available for standing.
On December 21, 2005, Tippy the Terrible Terrapin was looking for a new home in Springfield. The very friendly reptile had outlived his human family and he was adopted by the Wonders of Wildlife Museum in Springfield.
There’s a 65-acre resort where kids and adults can learn to ski on bunny hills or intermediate slopes. Find fifteen total runs, three black diamond runs, and parks for trick skiers and snowboarders.
On December 20, 1820, Missouri imposed a $1.00 “bachelor tax” on unmarried men between 21 and 50 years old.
On December 19, 1984, the Callaway Nuclear Power Plant went into operation. Missouri’s first and only nuclear power plant had been debated for years before ground was broken in September of 1975. Even after the facility got the necessary approval following the federal government’s evaluation process, it was nearly a decade before it began operating near Fulton in Callaway County.
December 18, 1921, is the Birthday of St. Louis’s most famous waiter, “Mickey” Garagiola. In the 1940s, he worked at Oldani’s (Now Mamma’s) on the Hill when a chef, Terry Lane, messed up a ravioli order. Mickey tasted them anyway and declared that, with some seasoning, they would be a hit. Toasted ravioli was born as a St. Louis tradition.
On December 17, 2018, a hunter from Barton County was sentenced to watch Disney’s Bambi repeatedly during his year-long prison sentence after being convicted of killing hundreds of deer illegally.
On December 16, 1927, the doors opened to what became the most popular ballroom in Kansas City. The El Torreon was at 31st and Gillham Plaza.
On December 15, 1965, the Gemini 6A blasted off from Cape Kennedy in Florida. Walter Schirra and Thomas Stafford were the astronauts on board the spacecraft, which had been manufactured in St. Louis at McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. McDonnell had won the contract to build the space vehicles, making St. Louis ground zero for America’s human spaceflight program.
On December 14, 1818, Lincoln, Montgomery, and Pike Counties were established today.
December 13, 1913, is the birthday of St. Louis boxer Archie Moore. He scored 131 knockouts in 27 years and held the heavyweight title from 1952 to 1962.
On December 12, 1957, The McDonnell Douglas Voodoo established the speed record for airplanes at 1,207.6 mph.
On December 11, 2012, state officials announced that there were now one hundred and eight commercial wineries operating in Missouri.
On December 10, 1980, the first Braggin’ Rights basketball game is held in St. Louis between the Mizzou Tigers and the University of Illinois Fighting Illini. Although the teams have a rivalry dating back to 1932, things escalated a notch when the annual matchup between the two squads moved to a neutral site midway between the two campuses.
On December 9, 1878, Joseph Pulitzer buys the St. Louis Dispatch for $2,500. Pulitzer arrived in the city penniless as a teen, and he took jobs such as waiter and reporter. After becoming disillusioned with politics, all before the age of 30, Pulitzer bought the newspaper at a sheriff’s sale, then immediately merged it with the St. Louis Post, to create the Post-Dispatch.
On December 8, 2011 Albert Pujols left St. Louis Cardinals to play for the Angles and the Dodgers. He returned to the Cardinals in 2021, where he hit his 700th homerun and won Comeback Player of the Year for the National League.
On December 7, 1914, Barnes Hospital opened in St. Louis and admitted 26 patients. Later that year Children’s Hospital and the Washington University Medical School moved nearby and thus began the present medical complex.
On December 6, 1982, over 10,000 homes were under water in the areas of Fenton and Pacific. The Meramec River was out of its banks and even closed Interstate 44 in St. Louis County.
On December 5, 1994 the International Arms Reduction Treaty goes into force. Minuteman missile silos across the state of Missouri were decommissioned after the treaty, signed in 1991, between the United States and Russia went into effect.
On December 4, 2009, Up in the Air with George Clooney hits the big screen, with St. Louis as the backdrop. For several weeks, the only thing that people in St. Louis were talking about was where George Clooney was spotted that day.
