Missouri, USA
The “Show Me” State (24)
Capitol: Jefferson City
Admitted into Union: August 10, 1821
State Flower: White hawthorn blossom
State Tree: Flowering Dogwood
State Bird: Native Bluebird
Population: 5.8 million

Romantic Legend: Creve Coeur (“broken heart” in French), Missouri, is named after the nearby lake. Legend has it that an Indian princess once fell in love with a French fur trapper, but alas, her love remained unrequited. In her despair she leapt from a ledge above the lake, which then split itself into the shape of a broken heart. With the soft and golden Missouri Creve Coeur, you can skip the drama and just enjoy a lovely, sparkling accent to your wardrobe.

Prove it! The “Show Me State” expression may have been coined in 1899 when Congressman Willard Vandiver said, "I'm from Missouri and you've got to show me." It’s worth noting that the state animal is a mule.

Big disasters: In 1811, New Madrid was the epicenter of the biggest earthquake in US history. It rattled more than one million square miles, and could be felt 1,000 miles away. The worst tornado on record hit Annapolis in 1925. It left a 980-foot wide trail of destruction, with 823 people dead and almost 3,000 injured.

Way before Ben & Jerry… In 1904, at the World Fair in St. Louis, the ice cream cone was invented when an ice cream vendor ran out of cups. He asked a nearby waffle vendor to roll hot waffles into cones to hold the sweet stuff. At the same Fair, Richard Blechyden served tea with ice, thus “inventing” iced tea.

Our kinda town: Kansas City has more miles of boulevards than Paris and more fountains than any city except Rome.

High arches: The stainless steel Gateway Arch in St. Louis—a paean to the spirit of western expansion—is 630 feet high. Its foundations are sunk 60’ into the ground. It can sway up to one inch in a 20 mph wind, and is built to sway up to 18 inches.

Fluffy first: In 1889, Aunt Jemima pancake flour from St. Joseph was the first ready-mix food sold commercially.

For the record: The tallest man in medical history was Robert Pershing Wadlow from St. Louis, who measured 8’ 11”. The Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis is the largest in the US.

A promise is a promise. When Abraham Lincoln's ran for president, Missouri democrat Valentine Tapley swore he’d never shave again if Abe won. When Tapley died in 1910, his beard was 12’ 6” long.

About-face! Missouri was the site of 1000+ battles in the Civil War, but in 1865, it became the first slave state to free its slaves.

A matter of personal taste. On Sucker Day in Nixa, Missouri, about 15,000 hungry diners gather to eat thousands of the ugly bottom feeders.

Great excuse! In Missouri, any person under the age of 21 who takes out household trash containing even a single empty alcohol beverage container can be charged with illegal possession of alcohol.

Famous Missourians: Robert Altman, Burt Bacharach, Josephine Baker, William Bent, Robert Russell Bennett, Yogi Berra, Thomas Hart Benton, Bill Bradley, William Burroughs, Martha Jane Canary (Calamity Jane), Dale Carnegie, George Washington Carver, Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain), Walter Cronkite, T. S. Eliot, Redd Foxx, J. William Fulbright, John Goodman, Betty Grable, Jean Harlow, Edwin Hubble, James Langston Hughes, John Huston, Jesse James, William Lear, Robert D. Maurer, Marianne Moore, Geraldine Page, James C. (J.C.) Penney, Marlin Perkins, Vincent Price, Ginger Rogers, Charles M. Russell, Harry S. Truman, Dick Van Dyke, Dennis Weaver, Pearl White, Roy Wilkins