Missouri Trivia (Kansas City, St. Louis, St. Joseph: hotel, house, construction)

[Versatile]

Missouri Facts and Trivia
Missouri is known as the "Show Me State".

The 'Show Me State' expression may have began in 1899 when Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver stated, "I'm from Missouri and you've got to show me."

The first successful parachute jump to be made from a moving airplane was made by Captain Berry at St. Louis, in 1912.

The most destructive tornado on record occurred in Annapolis. In 3 hours, it tore through the town on March 18, 1925 leaving a 980-foot wide trail of demolished buildings, uprooted trees, and overturned cars. It left 823 people dead and almost 3,000 injured.

At the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, Richard Blechyden, served tea with ice and invented iced tea.

Also, at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, the ice cream cone was invented. An ice cream vendor ran out of cups and asked a waffle vendor to help by rolling up waffles to hold ice cream.

Missouri ties with Tennessee as the most neighborly state in the union, bordered by 8 states.

The state animal is the Mule.

St. Louis; is also called, "The Gateway to the West" and "Home of the Blues".

Warsaw holds the state record for the low temperature of -40 degrees on February 13, 1905.

Warsaw holds the state record for the high temperature recorded, 118 degrees on July 14, 1954.

State bird--native Bluebird March 30, 1927

State insect--honey bee July 3, 1985

Mozarkite was adopted as the official state rock on July 21, 1967, by the 74th General Assembly.

On July 21, 1967, the mineral galena was adopted as the official mineral of Missouri.

The crinoid became the state's official fossil on June 16, 1989, after a group of Lee's Summit school students worked through the legislative process to promote it as a state symbol.

On June 20, 1955, the flowering dogwood (Cornus Florida L.) became Missouri's official tree.

The "Missouri Waltz" became the state song under an act adopted by the General Assembly on June 30, 1949

The present Capitol completed in 1917 and occupied the following year is the third Capitol in Jefferson City and the sixth in Missouri history. The first seat of state government was housed in the Mansion House, Third and Vine Streets, St. Louis; the second was in the Missouri Hotel, Maine and Morgan Streets, also in St. Louis. St. Charles was designated as temporary capital of the state in 1821 and remained the seat of government until 1826 when Jefferson City became the permanent capital city.

The first Capitol in Jefferson City burned in 1837 and a second structure completed in 1840 burned when the dome was struck by lightning on February 5, 1911.

Kansas City has more miles of boulevards than Paris and more fountains than any city except Rome.

Kansas City has more miles of freeway per capita than any metro area with more than 1 million residents.

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial consists of the Gateway Arch, the Museum of Westward Expansion, and St. Louis' Old Courthouse. During a nationwide competition in 1947-48, architect Eero Saarinen's inspired design for a 630-foot stainless steel arch was chosen as a perfect monument to the spirit of the western pioneers. Construction of the Arch began in 1963 and was completed on October 28, 1965.
The Arch has foundations sunken 60 feet into the ground, and is built to withstand earthquakes and high winds. It sways up to one inch in a 20 mph wind, and is built to sway up to 18 inches.

Saint Louis University received a formal charter from the state of Missouri in 1832, making it the oldest University west of the Mississippi.

In 1889, Aunt Jemima pancake flour, invented at St. Joseph, Missouri, was the first self-rising flour for pancakes and the first ready-mix food ever to be introduced commercially.

The tallest man in documented medical history was Robert Pershing Wadlow from St. Louis. He was 8 feet, 11.1 inches tall

Creve Coeur's name means broken heart in French, comes from nearby Creve Coeur Lake. Legend has it that an Indian princess fell in love with a French fur trapper, but the love was not returned. According to the story, she then leapt from a ledge overlooking Creve Coeur Lake; the lake then formed itself into a broken heart.

The most powerful earthquake to strike the United States occurred in 1811, centered in New Madrid, Missouri. The quake shook more than one million square miles, and was felt as far as 1,000 miles away.

Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis, Missouri is the largest beer producing plant in the nation.

During Abraham Lincoln's campaign for the presidency, a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat named Valentine Tapley from Pike County, Missouri, swore that he would never shave again if Abe were elected. Tapley kept his word and his chin whiskers went unshorn from November 1860 until he died in 1910, attaining a length of twelve feet six inches.

President Harry S. Truman was born in Lamar, May 8, 1884.

The first train of the Atlantic-Pacific Railway, which became the St.Louis-San Francisco Railway, or "Frisco," arrived in 1870.

Callaway County was organized on November 25, 1820 and named for Captain James Callaway who was killed in a fight with Indians near Loutre Creek.

Missouri was named after a tribe called Missouri Indians; meaning "town of the large canoes"

Situated within a day’s drive of 50% of the U.S. population, Branson and the Tri-Lakes area serves up to 65,000 visitors daily. Branson has been a "rubber tire" destination with the vast majority of tourists arriving by vehicles, RVs and tour buses. Branson has also become one of America’s top motor coach vacation destinations with an estimated 4,000 buses arriving each year.

Charleston holds the Dogwood-Azalea Festival annually on the 3rd weekend of April. "Charleston becomes a blooming wonderland."

Jefferson City, Missouri, the state's capital, was named for Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States.

Missouri's oldest community, Saint Genevieve, was founded as early as 1735.

In 1812 Missouri was organized as a territory and later admitted the 24th state of the Union on August 10, 1821.

In 1865 Missouri became the first slave state to free its slaves.

Hermann, Missouri is a storybook German village with a rich wine-making and riverboat history that is proudly displayed in area museums. Built in 1836 as the "New Fatherland" for German settlers, the town has achieved national recognition because of its quality wines and distinctive heritage.

Auguste Chouteau founded Saint Louis in 1764.

Laura Elizabeth Ingalls, writer of Little House on the Prairie grew up in Missouri.

"Madonna of the Trail" monument in Lexington tells the story of the brave women who helped conquer the west and is one of 12 placed in every state crossed by the National Old Trails Road, the route of early settlers from Maryland to California.

Soybeans bring in the most cash for Missourians as a crop.

Missouri Day is the third Wednesday in October.

On Sucker Day in Nixa, Missouri, school closes officially and the little town swells to a throng of 15,000 hungry folks. All craving a taste of the much maligned but delicious bottom dweller fish loathed by almost everyone else.

Point of highest elevation: Taum Sauk Mountain, 540 meters (1,772 feet)

State folk dance: square dance

State musical instrument: fiddle

I disagree on the Show Me State explanation. The way i was taught in school was: The term came from when the west was getting settled and so many came up the river thru Mo(before the state was formed); they needed supplies to continue westward and along with the good people came the crooks and slick types as well. Many people were broke as well by the time they arrived in this area and tried by whatever means they could think of to get supplies. The store keepers and locals got tired of the constant throng of people trying to get to them. They had heard every good story in the world and the bottom line of it all was "Show me the money" and it went on to just be "Show Me". That is what i was taught in 8th grade anyway.

[Marie'sBees]

I thought this would be a good thread to add this to, my apologies if this is the 967th time this has been posted.

The Missouri State Flag

Our flag's story


Missouri State Archives
For nearly a century after achieving statehood, Missouri did not have an official flag. The idea for a flag originated in 1908, when the Daughters of the American Revolution formed a committee to look into designing a state flag. The head of the committee was Mrs. Marie Elizabeth Oliver, wife of Senator Robert Burett Oliver, and a resident of Cape Girardeau. Mrs. Oliver eventually designed the flag herself, and on March 17, 1909, a bill supporting the design was introduced to the Missouri Senate.
It turned out that Mrs. Oliver's design was not the only one being considered by the General Assembly—a second design had been introduced by Dr. G.H. Holcomb. The "Holcomb flag" was opposed by many who felt it resembled too closely the United States flag, and did not symbolize much of Missouri itself. His design did not contain the coat-of-arms, and included nothing that indicated state sovereignty.
Mrs. Oliver's design showed originality, and though simply designed, contained many messages. It took three years and several attempts before the bill for the "Oliver flag" was finally passed. On March 22, 1913, Governor Elliot Major signed the bill into law, and made the Oliver flag the official state flag of Missouri.
Our flag's meaning

The Oliver flag embraced national pride, and at the same time expressed characteristics of Missouri and Missourians. The three large stripes were symbolic of the people of the state—the blue stripe represented vigilance, permanency, and justice, the red represented valor, and the white stripe symbolized purity. The Missouri coat-of-arms appeared in the center of the flag, signifying both Missouri's independence as a state, and its place as a part of the whole United States. Having the coat-of-arms in the center of the national colors represents Missouri, as she is—the geographical center of the nation. By mingling the state coat-of-arms with the national colors of red, white, and blue, the flag signified the harmony existing between the two. Twenty-four stars surrounded the coat-of-arms, representative of Missouri's position as the 24th state admitted to the Union.
The Great Seal of the State of Missouri, the basis of the coat-of-arms, has many special meanings of its own. Robert Wells, who was a lawyer, state legislator and a judge, designed it. The seal shows, by its helmet and buckled belt, that although Missouri is a strong state, it wants to be free to handle its own problems. The grizzly bears signify the size and strength of the state and the courage of her people. The new crescent moon was included to remind us that we can make our future better; it was also a special heraldic symbol pointing out that Missouri was the second state formed out of the Louisiana Purchase. The larger star, rising into a group of 23 stars, was to remind people that Missouri became the 24th state only after solving many difficult problems. The helmet was designed to show the power of the people of the state. Finally, there are two mottoes. "United We Stand, Divided We Fall" tells us how important it is to support the whole United States. "Salus populi suprema lex esto" is Latin which means, "Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law." That reminds us our state government functions to help better our lives.
Our flag is restored

In 1961, Allen Oliver gave the State of Missouri his mother's original flag. It was on public display until the flag began to split and tear due to age, at which point it was put into a storage vault. In 1988, on the flag's 75th birthday, Secretary of State Roy Blunt challenged Missouri elementary students to help raise funds to restore the flag. Thanks to these students, the flag has been restored and is on display at the James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center in Jefferson City.

[Versatile]

Thanks, I had not ever in my lifetime even seen anything about our state flag.

[Marie'sBees]

So this is the 967th time this has been posted. Sorry about that, I didn't mean to hijack your thread.

[Versatile]

You didn't hijack anything at all. Your post fit's in quite properly.
I will keep that apology around though! lol

[ShadowCaver]

Interesting version of "Show Me State" origins there Versatile! lol, that is good.
For a quite good in-depth article about the phrase & motto is at: The Big Apple: I’m from Missouri—Show Me (summary)

ps: sorry - but being an etymological geek, love this stuff!