St. Louis People
365
December "firsts" by Flood, Couzins,
Westbrook
(Fifth in a series)
Firsts of a kind were established during past Decembers by
Curt Flood, Pheobe Couzins and Robert H. Westbrook. Also,
former President Harry S. Truman died during December in 1972.
Also, the chemistry of DNA was proven at Washington University
in December, 1956.
These are some of the historic people and happenings in the
region that are listed in the book, "St. Louis People 365."
The book of historic trivia was written by author Joe Sonderman.
(Sonderman has given permission to Young Saint Louis.com
to quote selected items from his book. If you'd like a copy
of the book, check local book stores or go to www.booksonstlouis.com.)
Here are 10 of the 126 items in the December chapter of the
book:
Dec. 2, 1942: Physicists Enrico Fermi and a group
of scientists created the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction,
working underneath the stands of the University of Chicago's
Stagg Field. The 40 tons of purified uranium used in the tests
was processed at Mallinckrodt in St. Louis.
Dec. 3, 1990: Schools in four states were closed,
people stocked up on supplies and emergency response personnel
stood on alert. It was all because of Dr. Iben Browning. Based
on some dubious theories about the tides and the pull of the
moon, the New Mexico climatologist and business consultant
predicted a major earthquake along the New Madrid Fault (south
of St. Louis) on this date. Browning died shortly after the
hysteria.
Dec. 5, 1913: Pheobe Couzins died in poverty in St.
Louis. She had become the nation's first female lawyer in
1871, upon graduation from the Washington University School
of Law. But, she never practiced extensively. When her father
died, she took over his duties as U.S. Marshal, the first
female U.S. Marshal in history.
Dec. 6, 1947: The Missouri Supreme Court struck down
a 50-year ban by the St. Louis Board of Education. Under the
old rules, a female teacher had to give up her job if she
got married. District officials believed that husbands would
support their wives, and the jobs should go to single heads
of households.
Dec. 9, 1878: Joseph Pulitzer purchased the bankrupt
St. Louis Dispatch. Within hours of the auction at the Old
Courthouse, the editor of the Post approached Pulitzer and
proposed a merger. The first issue of the St. Louis Post and
Dispatch hit the streets on December 12th.
Dec. 11, 1941: Robert H. Westbrook became the first
St. Louisan reported killed in action during World War Two.
He was killed at Hickam Field, near Pearl Harbor, on December
7th. The names of 2,763 St. Louisans who died in World War
Two are engraved in the wall at the Court of Honor across
from the Soldier's Memorial.
Dec. 14, 1956: Washington University scientists artificially
created for the first time a chemical substance believed to
control heredity. Dr. Arthur Kronberg, professor and chairman
of the department of microbiology, described the effort to
synthesize Dioxyribonucleic Acid, or DNA. He was awarded the
Novel Prize of Physiology or Medicine in 1959.
Dec. 19, 1954: Wally Moon of the Cardinals was named
the National League Rookie of the year. The 24-year-old hit
a home run in his first at-bat on April 13. The Cardinals
traded Enos Slaughter to make room for Moon, who finished
the season with a .304 batting average. The award is all the
more astonishing when you note that Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks
also were rookies in 1954.
Dec. 24, 1969: Curt Flood wrote a letter to Commissioner
Bowie Kohn, saying he was "not a piece of property to be bought
and sold." Flood was refusing to report to the Phillies after
the Cardinals traded him. He sued to overturn baseball's reserve
clause and fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The
court ruled against Flood on June 19, 1972. But, his courageous
battle opened the door to today's free agency.
Dec. 26, 1972: Former President Harry S. Truman died
at the age of 88. After leaving the White House in 1953, he
retired to his home in Independence. Truman penned his memoirs
and a book, "Mr. Citizen," detailing his experiences in the
White House. In 1955, he broke ground for the Truman Library,
which opened two years later. Truman was laid to rest in the
courtyard of the library on Dec. 28, 1972.
