St. Louis

The first mayor in the U.S. to have an automobile got his new car on this date. St. Louis Mayor Rolla Wells was challenged to a race with the police departments new scorcher wagon.

The famous steamboat race between the Natchez and the Robert E. Lee began in New Orleans on this date, at 5 PM. It was a 1200 mile upstream race to St. Louis, and the record of 3 days, 18 hours, and about 20 minutes still stands for commercial boats.

The tornado struck St. Louis and left 118 people dead. It was one of the most deadly and destructive tornadoes in US history. It hit the Eads bridge, among a number of other historic places, and caused more than ten million dollars (not adjusted for inflation) in damage. 

Phoebe Couzins became Missouri's first woman law school graduate (Washington University in St. Louis). In 1887 she became the first female US Marshall in the country's history. She was also on the Board of Directors for the World's Fair.

C.H. Laessig died on this day. Early in 1905, he opened the first gas station in the United States at 418 South Teresa in St. Louis.

On this night, fireman Phelim O'Toole became a legend. The Southern Hotel was on fire and about a dozen people were trapped beyond the reach of ladders.

The Missouri Pacific Railroad was chartered. It was created to "… extend from St. Louis via Jefferson City, to the western boundary of Missouri, and thence to the Pacific Ocean."

Elm Farm Ollie became the first cow to fly in an airplane. She took off from Bismarck, Missouri and flew to St. Louis.

On this date, Hiram Leffingwell presented his plans for a huge city park west of Kingshighway in St. Louis.

“By the time I got done mixing and mastering everything that we started, it got done in 2017, so we put two albums out in the same year,” Joe says. “The reason these records got divided the way they did is that there were a handful of themes that seemed like they belonged over on this side and a handful that belonged on that side.”