St. Louis People 365

Lambert Field events figure in local history

St. Louis' Lambert Field has figured prominently in the city's past history-for both better and worse. In past Augusts, two events involving flying machines stand out.

In 1930, two fliers kept their plane aloft for nearly 27 days to set a world endurance record. In 1943, a glider crash at Lambert killed the St. Louis mayor and a number of other city officials.

On the light side, baseball great Dizzy Dean had a setback in his announcing career because of his frequent use of "ain't" in his sometimes-erratic vocabulary.

These are some of the events from past Augusts in St. Louis' history listed in St. Louis author Joe Sonderman's book, "St. Louis People 365."

(Young Saint Louis.com has permission from Sonderman to quote some items from his book. If you'd like to purchase a copy of the book, check local book stores or go to www.booksonstlouis.com.)

Here are 10 of the 125 items listed in the August chapter of the book:

August 1, 1702: Missionary Pierre Francois Pinet died at a village established by the Jesuits on the north bank of the River Des Peres. Pinet's death and burial are the first recorded on Missouri soil. The settlement was abandoned in 1704, 60 years before Auguste Chouteau began construction of St. Louis.

August 1, 1943: A crowd of 5,000 at Lambert Field watched in horror as a Robertson CG-4A glider carrying Mayor William Dee Becker plunged to earth. The crash also killed Major William B. Robertson, president of Robertson Aircraft; Harold Krueger of Robertson Aircraft; Thomas Dysart, president of the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce; Max Doyne, director of public utilities; Charles Cunningham, deputy comptroller; Henry Mueller, St. Louis County court presiding judge; Lieutenant Colonel Paul Hazelton; pilot Milton Kiugh, and mechanic J.M. Davis.

August 5, 1811: William Greenleaf Eliot was born in Massachusetts. He founded the first Unitarian congregation here. In 1853, Eliot and Wayman Crow co-founded Eliot Seminary, which later became Washington University. He served as chancellor from 1872 until his death in 1887. Poet T.S. Eliot was his grandson.

August 8, 1954: Mayor Raymond Tucker announced a giant slum clearance project for the Mill Creek Valley. A 330-acre area between 20th Street, Grand Avenue, Olive Street and Scott Avenue was cleared so completely that the area was know as "Hiroshima Flats" before it was redeveloped. About 20,000 people, mostly African-American, were forced to re-locate. At least 800 businesses, churches and institutions were leveled.

August 9, 1936: Helen Stephens, "The Fulton Flash," set a world record and won the gold medal in the 100 meters at the Olympics in Berlin. She was the only American athlete Adolph Hitler asked to meet and congratulate. Helen asked him for his autograph.

August 17, 1930: Dale Jackson and Forrest O'Brine landed their "Greater St. Louis Challenger Robin" after establishing a new aerial endurance record for a second time. They stayed over Lambert Field for 647 hours, 28 minutes and 30 seconds. (That's nearly 27 days.) This record would stand for nearly five years.

August 18, 1906: One of the first high speed chases was recorded in St. Louis. Patrolman James Cooney was injured while chasing a speeding motorist through Forest Park at 35 miles per hour in the Police Department's new car. He was thrown from the vehicle after hitting a tree and was hit by the second police car.

August 21, 1924: John Francis Buck was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He began his radio career at Ohio State, where a professor told him he should find another way to make a living. In 1950, he became the announcer for the Cardinals Triple-A team in Columbus. His first TV job was also in Columbus, where comic Jonathan Winters was a co-worker. Promoted to Rochester, he auditioned for the Cardinals in 1953. He was number three on the broadcasts, behind Harry Caray and Joe Garagiola. He became number two in 1961 and took the top job when Harry Caray was fired in 1969.

August 23, 1958: Teddy Nadler, a 47-year-old, $70-a-week supply clerk from St. Louis, became the all-time TV quiz show winnings champion. He raked in $252,000 on the CBS show "The $64,000 Question." Nadler had an amazing ability to memorize facts that he read, but he repeatedly failed the civil service examination because he lacked reasoning skills.

August 24, 1944: The Sporting News reported that Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis would not allow Browns broadcaster Dizzy Dean to announced the World Series. Landis called Dean an embarrassment to baseball and "unfit for a national broadcaster" for his use of the word "ain't." Diz said, "I ain't never met anybody that didn't know what ain't means."