Missouri Trivia & Tidbits - Page 15

Looking for Missouri trivia? Try our list Missouri little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Early in Missouri history, Potosi (pop. 2,662) lost by one vote to St. Charles when legislators chose the latter to be the territory’s first temporary capital.

first appeared: 10/28/2001

In 1990, the center of the nation’s population was about 10 miles northwest of Steelville (pop. 1,429).

first appeared: 10/21/2001

Missouri has more than 47,000 military personnel within its borders, with some 34,000 serving in Reserve and National Guard units.

first appeared: 10/14/2001

On March 5, 1946, Winston Churchill coined the phrase “Iron Curtain” during a speech he made in Fulton (pop.12, 128).

first appeared: 10/7/2001

Outlaws Frank and Jesse James stole an estimated $265,000 in their 15-year career. About $60,000 was from the first bank they robbed in Liberty (pop. 26,232) in 1866.

first appeared: 9/30/2001

With 2,500 members, the Kansas City (Mo.) Barbecue Society is the world’s largest group dedicated to the art of roasting meat.

first appeared: 9/23/2001

During the siege of Vicksburg, Miss., in 1863, Missourians served in 17 regiments for the Confederacy and 22 for the Union.

first appeared: 9/16/2001

Famous as an agricultural researcher and head of the Tuskegee Institute for 40 years, George Washington Carver was born near Diamond (pop. 807) in the 1860s.

first appeared: 9/9/2001

Born in Arnold (pop. 19,965), Louisa Frederici married William “Buffalo Bill” Cody on March 6, 1866. He called her Lulu and she called him Will.

first appeared: 9/2/2001

Author Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote her series of Little House books while living in Mansfield (pop. 1,349). The home she shared with her daughter is now the Laura Ingalls Wilder-Rose Wilder Lane Historic Home and Museum.

first appeared: 8/26/2001

Clyde Tolson, longtime FBI associate director, was born in Laredo (pop. 250) May 22, 1900. He joined the agency in 1928 and retired after the death of Director J. Edgar Hoover in 1972.

first appeared: 8/19/2001

Harold Biellier, a professor at the University of Missouri’s College of Agriculture, documented that a white leghorn hen laid 371 eggs in one year, beginning in August 1978. It’s the highest rate of egg production by one chicken ever recorded.

first appeared: 8/12/2001

James Fergason, born in Wakenda (pop. 90) in 1934, was inventor of the first workable liquid crystal technology used to display readouts on digital watches, calculators, video games, and numerous other electronic devices.

first appeared: 8/5/2001

Actor Dick Van Dyke was born in West Plains (pop. 10,866) Dec. 13, 1925. He’s most remembered for the Dick Van Dyke Show of the 1960s and the Diagnosis: Murder television series.

first appeared: 7/29/2001

The first iron foundry west of the Mississippi was built near Steelville (pop. 1,639) in 1826 to take advantage of iron ore in the area. Remains of the Meramec Iron Works, which lasted until 1876, still can be seen at Meramec Spring Park.

first appeared: 7/22/2001

Edwin Hubble, for whom the Hubble telescope is named, was born in Marshfield (pop. 5,913) Nov. 24, 1889. After working as a lawyer and serving in the Army, he turned to his first love, astronomy.

first appeared: 7/15/2001

Both iced tea and the ice cream cone were invented at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904.

first appeared: 7/8/2001

Elected mayor of St. James (pop. 3,650) in 1921, Mayme H. Ousley was the state’s first female mayor, winning by eight votes.

first appeared: 7/1/2001

The only distillery west of the Mississippi River, McCormick Distilling Co., near Weston (pop. 1,916), remained open during Prohibition to make medicinal alcohol. Founded in 1856, it’s also the nation’s oldest distillery operating on its original site.

first appeared: 6/24/2001

When Mollie Marler of North Kansas City (pop. 4,212) bowled a 202 game at the age of 101 during her league’s 1985-86 season, she became the oldest person to score more than 200 points in a single game of bowling in the nation.

first appeared: 6/17/2001

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