January 19 1807 Robert E. Lee was born in Stratford, Virginia. Lee saved the city of St. Louis early in his career. While in the Corps of Engineers he designed a system of dikes that kept the Mississippi from changing course and leaving the city landlocked. The dikes and dams made the infamous dueling spot “Bloody Island” part of the East St. Louis riverfront. Lee met another former St. Louisan on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. His surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant ended the Civil War. 1933 St. Charles businessmen were protesting a plan by the State Highway Department to Route U.S. Highway 40 away from St. Charles. The Super Highway 40 plan called for the route to run from Wentzville to a new bridge over the Missouri at Weldon Spring. 1940 A fire ravaged the Casa Loma Ballroom and seven businesses at Cherokee and Iowa. Damage was put at $250,000. Six firefighters were injured when a wall collapsed. Freezing temperatures hampered efforts to fight the fire and the entire scene was coated with ice. 1961 St. Louis Archbishop Joseph Ritter was elevated to the College of Cardinals in a ceremony at the Vatican. Joe Garagiola was quoted as saying that with the baseball Cardinals under Busch Brewery ownership and the football Cardinals owned by Falstaff, it was nice to have a Cardinal in St. Louis that wasn’t sponsored by a brewery. 1975 Thomas Hart Benton died at the age of 75. Harry Truman called Benton The best damn painter in America. His most famous works are the murals in the Missouri state capitol rotunda. The historical murals caused something of a scandal when they were unveiled, because they portrayed greedy politicians and criminals as well as heroic figures. 2005 The “American Idol” program focused on St. Louis auditions. Simon Cowell told the blonde Maynard triplets that they looked like three “overweight Jessica Simpsons.” When Katrina Rece said she had once eaten human flesh, Cowell quipped that she should eat the triplets. Osbourne Smith Junior, son of Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, was among those that made it through to the next round in Hollywood. 2013 Stan Musial died at the age of 92. “The Man” played his entire 22-year career with the Cardinals. After the 1963 season, Musial retired with a .331 career batting average and as the National Leagues career leader at the time in RBIs, games played, runs scored, hits and doubles. In 2013, he still ranked fourth in baseball history in total hits, behind only Pete Rose, Ty Cobb and Hank Aaron. In 1969, he was elected to the Hall of Fame. Musials famous statue outside Busch Stadium carries the inscription Baseballs Perfect Knight.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 17:18:33 +0000
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