November birthdays of famous Missourians

This month, Young Saint Louis.com takes a look at a few famous people who were born in November. The four we picked are forever linked to the Show-Me State.

Two of them are historic figures from the 1800s. The other two are sports heroes who are still living.

Elijah Parish Lovejoy was born in Albion, Maine, on Nov. 9, 1802. He died in Alton, Ill., on Nov. 7, 1837. His death was at the hands of a mob outside the office of his anti-slavery newspaper, The Saint Louis Observer.

After graduation in the East, Lovejoy decided to seek his fortune in the Midwest. He got to St. Louis by walking over 1,200 miles.

He was hired by a group of St. Louis businessmen to be editor of their newspaper that promoted religious and moral education. His anti-slavery editorials attracted national attention but local anger.

After many threats, he moved his newspaper across the Mississippi to Alton. It was there that the mob gathered and killed him.

For more on Lovejoy's life, see memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/nov07.html.

Another historic birthday from the 1800s was of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. He was born on Nov. 30, 1835, in Florida, Mo.

He spent his childhood in nearby Hannibal, Mo.

Of course, he's known for his books about life on the Mississippi River. The most famous are "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876) and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1884).

For a more on Twain's life, see memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/nov30.html.

The two St. Louis sports heroes born in November were Stan Musial and Bob Gibson. Both of them attained Baseball Hall of Fame status while playing for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Musial was born in Donora, Pa., on Nov. 2, 1902, and still is prominent around St. Louis. He played his entire 22-year major league career with the Cardinals. A former pitcher, he made his fame as an outfielder.

Among his records: a lifetime .331 batting average, 3,630 hits, 475 home runs and seven batting titles. He won the league's Most Valuable Player award three times and was on three Cardinal world championship teams.

He was named to the Hall of Fame in 1969.

Bob Gibson was born in Omaha, Neb., on Nov. 9, 1935. He was the Cardinals most dominant pitcher in a career that ran from 1959 to 1975.

He racked up 3,117 strikeouts in his career. One season, he had a earned run average (ERA) of just 1.12 and 13 complete game shutouts. In World Series appearances, he pitched seven consecutive complete game wins and averaged 17 strikeouts per game.

The Cardinals won two world championships with Gibson on the mound. He won two Cy Young awards as the league's best pitcher. He also earned nine Golden Glove awards for his fielding ability.

Gibson was named to the Hall of Fame in 1981.

For more about Musial and Gibson, visit www.stlouiswalkoffame.org.

The St. Louis Walk of Fame in downtown University City is a unique historic resource. Bronze stars naming 103 famous St. Louisans are displayed in the sidewalks of the business district.

The 15th annual induction ceremony for new honorees is scheduled for May 11, 2003.

The group's website has short biographies of all the inductees. In addition to sports figures, the walk features stars of St. Louisans in the arts, science, education and politics.

A walk up and down the streets of University City to see the stars is a fun family activity. Check it out.