Interesting Missouri facts. (St. Louis, Columbia, Hannibal: construction, school, live)

[Arrby]

The Indian spectacled cobra is known to kill thousands every year in India. In the summer of 1953 11 of these deadly snakes were found in and around the 1400 block of east St. Louis Street in Springfield between August 15 and October 25. The resultant scare (and it was a BIG scare!) was reported around the world, and was a feature story in Life Magazine. The proximity of the snakes to a pet shop on E. St. Louis Street led to suspicions concerning the owner, but he denied all knowledge of the snakes. In the late 80's a man who had been a teenager at the time claimed he had released a box of "black snakes" from the back of the store in anger and revenge for an exotic fish he had bought that soon died.

The Springfield Boy Scouts formed a band in 1920 that was to become the worlds largest boys band - reaching 440 members in 1928. They played four concerts at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933, but for some reason their association with the fair is not as well remembered as that of fellow Missourian, Sally Rand.

[RDM66]

Originally Posted by aliasfinn

OLD TIME ACTORS BORN IN MISSOURI

Another old actor was Jim Davis, who played Jock Ewing on the '70s soap opera "Dallas." He was born only a few miles up the road from me. Many people don't realize that he was from the Kansas City area.

Jim Davis (actor) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[aliasfinn]

Originally Posted by Arrby

The Indian spectacled cobra is known to kill thousands every year in India. In the summer of 1953 11 of these deadly snakes were found in and around the 1400 block of east St. Louis Street in Springfield between August 15 and October 25. The resultant scare (and it was a BIG scare!) was reported around the world, and was a feature story in Life Magazine. The proximity of the snakes to a pet shop on E. St. Louis Street led to suspicions concerning the owner, but he denied all knowledge of the snakes. In the late 80's a man who had been a teenager at the time claimed he had released a box of "black snakes" from the back of the store in anger and revenge for an exotic fish he had bought that soon died.

The Springfield Boy Scouts formed a band in 1920 that was to become the worlds largest boys band - reaching 440 members in 1928. They played four concerts at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933, but for some reason their association with the fair is not as well remembered as that of fellow Missourian, Sally Rand.

I was curious as to what happened to all those cobras so I scrounged around until I found this on the internet.

GCTA43 OPHIOPHOBIA: The Springfield Cobra Scare of 1953 (Multi-cache) in Missouri, United States created by OzarksJim

[aliasfinn]

On March 12, 2006 Matt Suter of Fordland Missouri was picked up by a tornado and carried 1307 feet and lived to tell about it. That is listed as a world record.

This link lists some world records that each state holds, Missouri has 7 of them.

What World Records Does Each U.S. State Hold? | Estately Blog

[aliasfinn]

While I was looking up that article about Matt Suter I came across this excerpt on the internet from a book by Angela Mason titled, " DEATH RIDES THE SKY; STORY OF THE 1925 TRI-STATE TORNADO "

A man covered in mud was found in a duck pond on a farm belonging to Frank Newkirk of Sandborn Indiana after the tornado hit. The man told Newkirk that it was the biggest storm he had ever seen and that it had come down over the big hills and onto the field he had been working in. Newkirk told him that there weren't any hills around there and that it was all Hoosier farmland, flat as a pancake. The man asked, " Where's here? " Newkirk answered, " Sandborn. " He then asked Newkirk if it was near Old Appleton and was told no. " Is it near Frohna or Wittenberg?" he asked. Again he was told no. The man then told newkirk he never heard of Sandborn Missouri before. Newkirk told him, " This is Sandborn,Indiana, you're about two states away from home, friend. "

A lot of the information in this book came from survivors that witnessed the tornado.

I checked the path of the tri-state tornado on the internet and going from Old Appleton,Missouri to Sandborn,Indiana would have been just about right but the distance is 250 miles. A bit far fetched I think, but it still was an interesting story.

[aliasfinn]

51 More Missouri Facts


Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

[aliasfinn]

MISSOURI IN THE CIVIL WAR


Missouri was the only state in history,when proclaiming to be part of the United states,where the US army declared a state of war existed between it and the federal government. The war declaration occurred at the Planters Hotel in St.Louis in May of 1861 between federal commander Nathaniel Lyon and Missouri governor Claiborne fox Jackson.

Governor Claiborne fox Jackson is the only functional governor in U.S history to have commanded troops in combat.

St.Louis was put under martial law by federal authorities on August 14, 1861 and extended across the entire state until after the war.

Missouri supplied 110,000 troops for the Union and 40,000 to the confederacy.

31,000 German immigrants served in Missouri regiments, most from St.Louis.

MORE FACTS

Missouri Civil War Museum | A Few Fascinating Missouri Civil War Facts


KELLY'S MISSOURI IRISH BRIGADE (Confederate Song)

CONFEDERATE SONG ~ THE IRISH BRIGADE SONG ~ THE IRISH BRIGADE

[Truly Missouri]

Originally Posted by luzianne

Mickey Mouse was invented in Kansas City. Walt Disney's family moved to 3028 Bellefontaine when he was a kid. He took classes at the KC Art Institute and later had a studio at 1127 E. 31st. A mouse lived in his studio - and inspired Mickey Mouse.

I was curious, does anyone know the history behind what was supposed to be a Disney World Theme Park built in St. Louis back in the 60s. Was Walt Disney really offended by the owner of Anheuser-Busch? And was that the reason it wasn't built? And also why? Would he consider building one in St. Louis when he was from KC?

[Truly Missouri]

^ I suppose no one knows.

Wikipedia says,

After the construction of Disneyland, Walt Disney publicly stated that he had no intentions of opening parks elsewhere. However, in March 1963, Disney met with the mayor of St. Louis to discuss plans for the construction of a new theme park in the riverfront area of St. Louis, which was undergoing a major redevelopment for the city's bicentennial.[1] The park would have stood in the two city blocks north of Busch Memorial Stadium, which was under construction at the same time.[2] Disney had Imagineering draw up plans and design new attractions for the park.
For several reasons, plans for the park fell through. Disney may have been insulted after August Busch, Jr. publicly called him crazy for thinking his park would succeed without selling liquor.[3] By July 1965, Disney announced that plans for the park would not move forward, because of a dispute over the financing and ownership of the park, and Disney's desire to focus his attentions on Florida for what would become the construction of Walt Disney World.

What a loss for St. Louis. The theme park of Disneyland was first, and if this project had fallen through then that would've probably meant that Disney World would've been in St. Louis instead of Orlando.

Having a Disney World in St. Louis... Could you just imagine all of the development that would have came with it? The entire Midwest would have benefited.

If one were to argue about how good the Busch family really was for St. Louis; the (possible) insulting of Walt Disney would haunt them. Having THE Walt Disney World would have been far better for the city than ever having Anheuser-Busch.

I still wonder as to why he didn't consider KC.

[aliasfinn]

George Washington Bradley (1852-1931) was the first pitcher in Major League history to throw a no-hitter as a member of the St.Louis Brown Stockings in 1876.
The National League expelled the team from the league after 1877 due to a game-fixing scandal and the team went bankrupt.