St. Louis

St. Louis residents were finding eels in their sinks. The water commissioner said that eels and minnows could easily pass through the filters when they were young and then would grow while they lived in the settling basins. 

Alan Shepard became the first American to go into space. His Mercury capsule is one of twenty spaceships to be built in St. Louis by McDonnell-Douglas.  

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.

Birthday of sportscaster and analyst, Joe Buck from St. Louis.

Birthday of comedian, Cedric the Entertainer from Jefferson City and Berkeley, MO.

The first train from St. Louis reached Springfield. This took sixteen years of construction because of the interruptions due to the Civil War.

Charles Dickens arrived in St. Louis for a five-day visit. He seemed to like the people, hotels, etc. but commented, "It is very hot, lies among great rivers, and has vast tracts of undrained swampy land around it..."

To test the market for professional baseball, a team of professional players played an amateur all-star team in St. Louis, winning 15 to 0.

St. Louis steelworker Sonny Liston had only been boxing for eight months when, on this date, he won the Golden Gloves heavyweight crown.