The wonderful main library on Olive in St. Louis opened on this date.
St. Louis
Our picks include a film festival, an ice carnival, and a dance group performing to songs by the Beatles.
A fireworks factory exploded on the grounds of Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis. Neighbors and fans had complained for years that it wasn’t good to have an explosives factory next to a stadium.
Street lights burned all day in St. Louis because the smoke was so bad. The Depression was causing everyone to burn wood and cheap coal.
The very first telegraph was sent to St. Louis. It was sent to the Missouri Republican newspaper from Louisville.
Written ballots rather than oral voting was officially required now for all St. Louis elections.
Birthday of St. Louis prizefighter, Henry Armstrong who scored 152 victories and held championship titles in three weight divisions at the same time.
A small plane flew through the legs of the Gateway Arch for the seventh time. This was the first one to do so at night.
The Post-Dispatch reported that the unclaimed body of a man had been standing in the window of a St. Louis mortuary for 27 years. They were displaying him to demonstrate the skill of their embalming.
Theodore Roosevelt became the first President to fly. He came to Aviation Field in St. Louis for the experience. His pilot was Arch Hoxsey.
Here’s the quick scoop on Germans in Missouri, by the numbers. (Years are numbers, too!)
Miss Day, a fourteen-year-old girl from St. Louis, became St. Louis’s first girl to ascend in a balloon. Mr. S. Hobart took her on a ten-mile trip.
The Polyhymnia Society was established in St. Louis and performed its first orchestra concert.
Geh und erforschel (go and explore) Missouri’s German Heritage with a new book by W. Arthur Mehrhoff and published by Missouri Life Inc.
On this day all schools, theaters, and public places in St. Louis were closed because of the deadly Spanish Flu.
St. Louis man designs bespoke leather boots for the discerning customer.
The first passenger train ran between St. Louis and Kansas City.
Mob leader, Anthony Giordono, (Tony G.) had just died and on this day a car bomb exploded on I-55 in St. Louis setting off the last big crime family war in St. Louis.
Captain Thomas Scott Baldwin made St. Louis’s first extensive flight in an airplane with his plane, the Red Devil. In his flight, Captain Baldwin flew under the Eads Bridge and the McKinley Bridge, much to the delight of spectators.
Going with the Flow. With the help of the current, Lewis and Clark were speeding down the river toward St. Louis. On this night they stopped and camped again in what is today, Missouri. They were just south of the Missouri-Iowa border.
Reports were printed in St. Louis about the Lexington Band. This mid-Missouri band was returning home from a week of playing at a fair and had their pay with them. The band feared a holdup so they armed themselves. The James gang stopped the train but, seeing so many armed men, decided to leave.
This was the birthday of René-Auguste Chouteau. His father abandoned the family and poor Auguste would probably never amount to anything. But by age 14 he had founded the city of St. Louis and became one of the most influential men in history.
Mark your calendars for the Life Outside Festival held September 21, 2019 in St. Vincent County Park in St. Louis County.
Minnie Walden, a “pretty blonde of 18,” became the first woman to win a bicycle race in the United States. The one mile race through North St. Louis garnered two prizes, a sweater and a diamond ring.
Civil Rights activist, Roy Wilkins was born. He lived and worked in St. Louis and Kansas City.
On this date St. Louis City and County separated and became politically independent from each other.
Plans were announced on this day for a lavish new theater in St. Louis. The Fox Theatre would be the second largest in the world.
R. Buckminster Fuller designed something he called a geodesic dome and placed one in the Missouri Botanical Garden. Calling this one a “Climatron” he explained that it would last for a while but was not a permanent structure. It has been there now for over 50 years and seems able to stand for many more.
George Eyser had a good day at the Olympic Games in St. Louis. He won gold in the parallel bars and rope climb and tied for gold in the vault. He won silver on the pommel horse and the all-around. He took the bronze medal on the horizontal bars.