This Week in Missouri History

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These biographical and historical sketches are highlights of Missouri history. Many sketches are from Missouri, Day by Day, published by the State Historical Society of Missouri in 1942.

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January 20, 1845	Inaugural meeting of the first statewide historical society
January 27, 1891	Formation of Missouri Division of United Daughters of the Confederacy
February 3, 1837	St. Charles College Chartered
February 8, 1796	Birth date of Peyton R. Hayden
February 13, 1855	St. Louis Girl's Industrial Home Incorporated
February 22, 1818	Birth date of Joseph Washington McClurg in St. Louis County
March 1, 1897	Soldiers' Homes Become State Property
March 7 and 8, 1862	Battle of Pea Ridge
March 16, 1819	Birth date of William Franklin Switzler
March 23, 1808	Birth date of William Barclay Napton
March 26, 1804	District of Louisiana Created
April 6, 1879	Lincoln University Receives First Regular Appropriation
April 15, 1889	Birth date of Thomas Hart Benton
April 18, 1880	Tornado Devastates Marshfield
April 24, 1917	Missouri Council of Defense Named
May 5, 1775	Birth date of Alexander McNair
May 11, 1869	Birth date of Lars Peter Jensen
May 15, 1776	Birth date of John Sappington
May 26, 1849	Benton's "Appeal to the People"
June 2, 1865	Last meeting of the "Iron Brigade"
June 3, 1875	Grasshopper Plague of 1875
June 10, 1872	Birth date of Guy B. Park
June 24, 1798	Birth date of Jedediah Strong Smith
June 30, 1870	Race of the Natchez and the Lee
July 2, 1864	Birth date of Walter Williams
July 12, 1808	First Issue of Missouri Gazette Printed
July 19, 1820	Missouri's First Constitution Signed
July 28, 1881	Crittenden Offers Reward For Arrest and Conviction Of James Gang
August 3, 1976	Congressman Jerry Litton Dies In Plane Crash
August 11, 1807	Birth date of David Rice Atchison
August 18, 1774	Birth date of Meriwether Lewis
August 21, 1863	Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas
August 31, 1825	Birth date of Odon Guitar
September 8, 1842	Birth of Phoebe Wilson Couzins
September 14, 1818	Sisters of the Sacred Heart found school for girls in St. Charles
September 20, 1861	The Battle of Lexington
September 27, 1864	Centralia Massacre and the Battle of Centralia
October 9, 1858	First Overland Mail From California Reaches St. Louis
October 12, 1861	First Civil War Iron-Clad Gunboat, the Baron DeKalb, Launched in St. Louis
October 18, 1862	Palmyra Massacre
October 24, 1875	Dedication of the Present Home of the Little Sisters of the Poor in St. Louis
October 30, 1886	Birth date of Zoe Akins
November 8, 1960	Theodore D. McNeal, First Black Missouri Senator, Elected
November 15, 1869	Birth date of Harry Bartow Hawes
November 23, 1871	Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy Opened At Rolla
November 29, 1854	Kansas Election For Territorial Delegate
December 8, 1881	St. Charles Bridge Disaster of 1881
December 16, 1811	First Shock of the New Madrid Earthquake Felt.
December 18, 1890	Richard Henry Jesse Elected President of the University of Missouri.
December 24, 1861	Gratiot Street Prison Receives First Confederate Prisoners of War.

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Last updated: April 27, 2011