This month in St. Louis history...

New local book about St. Louis history

Local historian Joe Sonderman has published a new book about St. Louis' past. It is titled, "St. Louis 365."

The book contains hundreds of short news items, arranged by month and day. Some items are significant but Sonderman also likes to include off-beat, quirky items.

Sonderman has given Young Saint Louis.com permission to list selected items in This Month in St. Louis History. We will carry additional items in upcoming months. .

If you'd like to have a copy of the book, it's on sale at all major St. Louis book stores. You also can purchase it on-line at www.booksonline.com

From Sonderman's February listings in "St. Louis 365.":

Feb. 2, 1876: St. Louis was among the eight teams to sign on as the National Baseball League was founded. The other seven cities were Boston, Chicago, New York, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Louisville (Ky.) and Hartford (Conn.).

Feb. 3, 1934: The Cardinals and the Browns announced they were dis-continuing radio broadcasts from Sportsman's Park. Games had been broadcast on weekdays only since 1926. The owners of the clubs thought the broadcasts were keeping fans away from the games.

Feb. 8, 1853: The Missouri Legislature passed an act incorporating the "Kirkwood Association." Real estate agents Hiram Leffingwell and Richard S. Elliott wanted to promote a suburb along the proposed Pacific Railroad. They hoped to promote their development as an escape from the noise and disease of the city. Kirkwood is the first planned suburban community in the United States.

Feb. 13, 1959: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration signed a contract with McDonnell Aircraft for the design and construction of the orbital Mercury spacecraft. The "Freedom Seven" Mercury capsule carried Alan Shephard on American's first manned space flight.

Feb. 22, 1918: Robert Pershing Wadlow, "The Alton Giant," was born. The world's tallest man was eight-feet, 11-inches tall when he died in 1940. The cause of death was an infection caused by a poorly fitted leg brace.

Feb. 25, 1922: The (St. Louis) Globe reported that St. Louis-built autos were the hit of the 1922 auto show here. The "Dorris," "Moon," "Gardner," St. Louis" and "Stanwood" were all built in St. Louis. Trucks manufactured here included the "Eagle," Luedinghaus," "Power" and the "Traffic."

These are a sample of the 148 historical items listed just for February. There are similar numbers of items in the other 11 months of the year. YSL.com will cite a few of them each month during 2003.

 

In Missouri's early days, the state didn't have much luck with its state capitol buildings. In February, 1911, fire destroyed the capitol in Jefferson City.

A bolt of lightning that hit the building started the fire. The capitol building was burned to the ground.

That was the second time an early capitol building was destroyed by fire. The earlier blaze happened in 1837.

You can learn more facts and trivia about Missouri history by logging on to: www.50states.com/facts/mo.htm.

On February 1, 1902, famed African-American poet and writer Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Mo.

Hughes' family moved often and he ended up in New York City in the 1920s. His fame got a big boost when he slipped copies of three of his poems into the briefcase of noted literary critic Vachel Lindsay.

Lindsay gave those hastily written poems an enthusiastic public reading. In those days, poetry reading sessions were an important form of entertainment.

You can learn more about his life by going to the Library and Congress website. The address is: memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb01.html