Friday, August 10, 2012

Happy Birthday, Missouri!

Today is the anniversary of Missouri being admitted to our United States of America. This makes me a little bit proud, as I consider Missouri to be my very first home-town. Hooray for Missouri!


Date of Admittance:
August 10,1821 




Parentage: The word "missouri" is a Native American word for the tribe that lived off of the part of the Missouri River where European settlers first encountered them. The meaning is "people with dug-out canoes." The territory was stolen from the Native Americans by the Spanish, then purchased from the French, and then sold to the US as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. 

Place in the Family
Number 24
Joined with Maine (March 1820) as part of
The Missouri Compromise.
Then because there was such controversy,
it took another 16 years before
Arkansas joined (June 1836)


Motto
"Let the welfare of the people
be the supreme law"
Pretty good motto, if I do say so myself! 

Nick-Name
The Show-Me State 
We are proud that we are not easily fooled,
but on the other hand, we can be damn stubborn, too!

On the License Plate
"The Show Me State" 
with a river-like squiggly line underneath the
state name to represent the river? 


State Flag
Red, white, and blue symbolizing valor, purity, vigilance,
and justice (but evidently not mathematical skill.)
Also a shout-out to our once being a French colony.
In the center is the State Seal surrounded by
24 stars, representing Missouri being
the 24th State. 



First City You Probably Think of
When You Think "Missouri"
St. Louis

Actual State Capital: Jefferson City



State Size (Area) is 21st of 50.
Population is closer to 18th of 50.
(per 2000 Census figures)

Personal Russell Fact:
My first memories are of my house on Stanford Ave in University City.
Although I was born in next-door Illinois, then moved to Boston for a year or so,
I consider myself a Missourian.
When I was in high school I couldn't wait to get out of Missouri,
but after I went to college and to Japan,
I realized just how good St. Louis and Missouri is.

Where I Lived in Missouri:
My house was in University City, the city immediately next to the City of St. Louis.
My old house is now on the market....priced at $279,900.
I loved that house.
You can check it out at Trulia Reality until it sells...




Missouri Sports:
NFL


MLB

NHL





Anybody From Missouri
Ever Grow Up To Be President?
Yes! 

Our 33rd President Harry S Truman
was from Lamar, Missouri.
His middle-initial was just that; he had no middle name.
This was to honor both his grand-fathers, whose names began with "S"


Good vs Evil
(broadcast version)
Walter Cronkite
newscaster



Rush Limbaugh
radio personality

Missouri Companies
Anheuser-Busch 
Budweiser Beer


Dog Chow, Cat Chow, Chow Chow


Greeting Cards


Tax Agents

Musical Missourians:
Scott Joplin
"The Entertainer"


Josephine Baker
dancer-singer-actress

Chuck Berry
"Roll Over Beethoven," "Johnny B. Goode," etc 

Burt Bacharach
composer-singer

Porter Wagoner
"Misery Loves Company," "Carroll County Accident," etc

Michael McDonald
smooth-voiced former Doobie Bros singer



Sheryl Crow
"Everyday Is A Winding Road," "Soak Up the Sun," etc

Sara Evans
"Suds In The Bucket," "A Little Bit Stronger," etc


Nelly
"Ride With Me," "Just A Dream," etc

I know EXACTLY where this is!!!!
MY hometown!!!! :-)

Sporty Missourians
Yogi Berra
baseball Hall of Fame player

Mike Shannon
baseball Hall of Fame player

 

Missouri Literary Figures
TS Eliot
Nobel Award-winning poet, playwright, and author



Robert Heinlein
Stranger In A Strange Land, Starship Troopers, etc





William S. Burroughs
Naked Lunch



Maya Angelou
Award-winning author, poet, actress, playwright


Celebrities From Missouri
Vincent Price
actor, chef, painter, "ghoul"





Friz Freleng
animator for "Looney Tunes",
created Sylvester & Tweety

Dick Van Dyke
"The DVD Show," "Mary Poppins," etc





Ed Asner
"The MTM Show," "Lou Grant," "UP," etc





Robert Altman
director,
"MASH," "NASHVILLE," "The Player," etc






Dennis Weaver
"Gunsmoke," "McCloud," etc





Dennis Hopper
actor-director, "Easy Rider," "Blue Velvet," etc





Redd Foxx
comedian-actor, "Sanford & Son," etc




Kevin Kline
Academy-Award winning actor,
"A Fish Named Wanda"



Kathleen Turner
actress, "Peggy Sue Got Married," etc


Chris Cooper
Academy-Award winning actor


Brad Pitt
actor, "Thirteen Monkeys," "Ocean Eleven" etc.



Don Cheadle
actor, "Hotel Rwanda," "Ocean Eleven," etc.





Comic Book Professionals from Missouri
Roy Thomas
 
THE AVENGERS, JUSTICE SOCIETY, ARAK, etc etc

Dennis O'Neil
GREEN LANTERN, BATMAN, IRON MAN, etc etc




Mike Peters
editorial cartoonist, "Mother Goose & Grimm"

Jim Lee
X-MEN, JUSTICE LEAGUE, etc etc


Other Famous Missourians
Jesse James
notorious train robber & murderer




Margaret "Molly" Brown
Unsinkable





Thomas Hart Benton
Artist




Emmett Kelly
Clown




Marlin Perkins
original host of "Wild Kingdom,"
famous St. Louis zoologist

Most Famous Missourian
Mark Twain
Who doesn't know Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn?  


A Song For You....
"Meet Me In St. Louis"
Written by Andrew B. Sterling & Kerry Mills
Sung by Judy Garland & Lucille Bremer
(written in 1904 to help celebrate the St. Louis World's Fair,
it became even more famous as the title of the 1944 movie)


2 comments:

  1. Here's one you probably didn't know, Russell! I'm EXACTLY six months younger than Barack Obama. He was born August 4, 1961, and -I- was born February 4, 1962!

    Do YOU know what that MEANS?

    EYE can grow up to be President someday! ;)

    Oh, and when did Missouri become your hometown? ;) Heh. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Missouri was always my "home-state." I just disavowed it for a few years, that's all. :-)

    ReplyDelete