Missouri Trivia & Tidbits - Page 9

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

The state’s tourism department is holding a 2004 photo contest with prizes of up to $500 each in the categories of “Family Fun” and “Recreation and Adventure.” For details, log onto www.missouritourism.org.

first appeared: 2/15/2004

The 630-foot stainless steel Gateway Arch in St. Louis was designed as a monument to Western pioneers. Its foundations are sunken 60 feet into the ground, and it is built to sway up to 18 inches in high winds. A 40-passenger tram transports visitors through the structure.

first appeared: 2/8/2004

Warsaw (pop. 2,070) owns the state record lowest temperature of minus 40 degrees on Feb. 13, 1905, as well as the state’s highest temperature of 118 degrees on July 14, 1954 (a record shared with three other towns).

first appeared: 2/1/2004

The state’s mules became famous for their strength, durability and tenacity in the mid-1800s, and were highly prized for farm chores well into the next century.

first appeared: 1/25/2004

Legend has it that the ice cream cone made its American debut at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, being served up by several vendors offering ice cream wrapped in waffles.

first appeared: 1/18/2004

The 1820 Missouri Compromise was intended to avoid a looming showdown over slavery. It provided that Maine be admitted to the Union as a “free” state and Missouri as a “slave” state, and that all Louisiana Purchase land north of Missouri’s southern boundary, except Missouri itself, also be free.

first appeared: 1/11/2004

The most southwestern community in the state is, as one might expect, Southwest City (pop. 855).

first appeared: 1/4/2004

Poet and novelist Langston Hughes was the first African-American writer to support himself through his writing. He was born in 1902 in Joplin (pop. 45,504).

first appeared: 12/28/2003

The birthplace of sliced bread reportedly is M.F. Bench’s Chillicothe Baking Co. in Chillicothe (pop. 8,968). The company installed inventor Otto Rohwedder’s bread slicer and began marketing wrapped loaves of sliced bread in 1928.

first appeared: 12/21/2003

Called the most trusted man in America, former CBS newsman Walter Cronkite was born in 1916 in St. Joseph.

first appeared: 12/14/2003

Actress Ginger Rogers had made 19 films when she paired with Fred Astaire in 1933 for Flying Down to Rio, the first of 10 movies together. Rogers was born in 1911 in Independence.

first appeared: 12/7/2003

Last July the state named the Norton/Cynthiana its official grape. The variety produces several award-winning wines.

first appeared: 11/30/2003

The All-American Red Heads, a popular women’s basketball team, had its roots in 1936 in Cassville (pop. 2,890) when team members dyed their hair red.

first appeared: 11/23/2003

In 1946, Orla Watson of Kansas City invented the telescoping grocery cart with hinged basket so the carts could nest for storage.

first appeared: 11/16/2003

Established in 1885, the 400-acre Gilbert H. Wild and Son farm in Sarcoxie (pop. 1,354) is America’s largest grower of day lilies, irises, and peonies. More than 2,800 varieties of day lilies dazzle each spring.

first appeared: 11/9/2003

Established in 1842, Heaton-Bowman-Smith & Sidenfaden Chapel in St. Joseph is the state’s oldest funeral home. One room serves as a museum, displaying the wicker body basket that carried outlaw Jesse James and the ledger book from his funeral.

first appeared: 11/2/2003

Established about 1808, Cold Water Cemetery in Florissant (pop. 50,497) is the oldest Protestant cemetery still in use west of the Mississippi River.

first appeared: 10/26/2003

In the 1934 All-Star game, New York Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell struck out in succession five of baseball’s greatest hitters, including Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. Hubbell was born in 1903 in Carthage (pop. 12,668).

first appeared: 10/19/2003

Dedicated July 4, 1874, the Eads Bridge spans the Mississippi River, linking St. Louis with Illinois, and is the nation’s first steel-arch bridge. The landmark re-opened last July 4 after being closed for repairs since 1991.

first appeared: 10/12/2003

The state’s oldest covered bridge was built in 1858 at Burfordville near Cape Girardeau (pop. 35,345).

first appeared: 10/5/2003

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