This month in St. Louis history

1904 Olympics & Missouri statehood

One significant August event in local history was Missouri getting statehood in 1821. But, August also was the time of the only Olympic Games in St. Louis' history.

* On Aug. 10, 1821, Missouri entered the Union as the 24th state. St. Charles was the site of the first state capitol. (Look at the Places to Go, Things to Do feature in this issue to learn how to join a Statehood Day celebration in St. Charles on Aug. 10, 2002).

Also, you can find out lots more about Missouri as a state by linking to:

memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/aug10.html

* In August, 1904, St. Louis was the site of the 1904 Olympic Games. The games weren't anything like the gigantic Olympic spectacles we have today. But, there was plenty of controversy, especially in the marathon race.

Fred Lorz of New York City was first proclaimed the marathon winner. But, then spectators reported seeing Lorz riding in a car during the race. It turned out, he'd ridden for 11 miles of the 26-plus-mile race route.

For this and other bizarre details of the 1904 games, click on to:

members.tripod.com/earthdude1/st_louis_olympics/olympics.html