OUR GATEWAY CITY

 

Enjoy these St. Louis fun facts and learn a little more about our great city.

• St. Louisans consume more barbecue sauce per capita than any other city in America.

• The first lung cancer operation and first lung transplants were performed in St. Louis.

• The soft drink, Dr Pepper was introduced at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. 7-Up also was

   invented in St. Louis.

• St. Louis was the site of the demonic possession treated by a Jesuit priest from St. Louis University

   Theological, that inspired the book, and later the movie, "The Exorcist."

• The ice cream cone was invented at the 1904 World's Fair. So was iced tea. Hot dogs and

   hamburgers were popularized to a wide audience at the Fair.

• St. Louis was once the largest shoe-manufacturing center in the world home of Buster Brown and

   other famous brands.

• The largest collection of mosaic art in the world graces the walls and ceilings at the Cathedral

   Basilica of Saint Louis in the Central West End neighborhood. St. Louis is home to the oldest

   institution of higher learning west of the Mississippi River – Saint Louis University.

• Hawken Rifles and Murphy wagons, used by the western pioneers, were made in St. Louis.

• The cocktails, Planter's Punch, Martini, Bloody Mary, and Tom Collins, were invented at a St.

   Louis hotel, the Planter's House.

• The custom of placing chocolates on hotel pillows begins here when the actor Cary Grant stayed at

   the Mayfair and used chocolate to woo a woman friend.

• The first Jewish congregation west of the Mississippi was founded here as was the first library west

   of the Mississippi. Famous writers including T.S. Eliot, Maya Angelou, William Gass, Tennessee

   Williams, and Eugene Field were from St. Louis.

• The Missouri Botanical Garden is among the top three botanical gardens in the world.

• The first ironclad boat was built by James Buchanan Eads in the Port of St. Louis. Mr. Eads also

   invented the diving bell to salvage steamboat wrecks from the Mississippi River and built the first

   bridge using steel truss construction - the 1874 Eads Bridge.

• St. Louis offers more free, major visitor attractions than any place outside of the nation's capital,

   including the Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis Zoo, Cahokia Mounds, Museum of Westward

   Expansion, St. Louis Science Center, Missouri History Museum, Anheuser-Busch Brewery,   

   Grant's Farm and more.

• The first kindergarten in the U.S. was founded in St. Louis by Susan Blow.

• Peanut Butter was invented here on a visit from George Carver.

• Famous musicians including Chuck Berry, Tina Turner, Miles Davis, Albert King, David Sanborn,

   Michael McDonald (The Doobie Brothers) are from St. Louis. Missouri native Sheryl Crowe

   taught school in St. Louis.

• St. Louis was the first American city to host the Olympic Games (1904).

• Famous contemporary actors including John Goodman, Kevin Kline and Scott Bakula were born

   in St. Louis. Other famous actors and entertainers, including Josephine Baker, Betty Grable,

   Vincent Price, Buddy Ebsen, Redd Foxx, Shelly Winters, Virginia Mayo, Marsha Mason, called

   St. Louis home.

• The Mercury and Gemini space capsules were built in St. Louis by McDonnell Douglas, not

   Boeing.

• The world's first skyscraper - Louis Sullivan's Wainwright Building - was built in 1897 in St. Louis.

• Charles Lindbergh flew mail routes into St. Louis and named his plane "Spirit of St. Louis" to thank

   the businessmen who provided financial backing for his solo Atlantic flight in 1927.

• The nation's first interstate highway was constructed here.

• The Gateway Arch - at 630 feet - is the nation's tallest man-made monument.

• The Mississippi River runs 2,350 miles from Lake Itasca in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. The

   word "Mississippi" comes from the Anishinabe people (Ojibwe Indians). They called the

   river "Messipi" which means "Big River." The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains a

   navigation channel nine feet deep in the center of the river.

• The bread slicer was invented here circa 1900.

• The second professional fire department in USA was started here in 1850 (Cincinnati started the

   first 2 years prior).

• General Grant & Robert E. Lee both served as new West point officers at St. Louis.

• Jefferson Barracks, still open as reserve base, museum & park, is the second largest military

   cemetery in the U.S. and was the site of one of the bloodiest battles in the Civil War with 25,000

   killed.