Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction xvii
Section 1 St. Louis Firsts and Foremosts
America's First City 2
The First Mobile Phone 5
The First Gas Station 6
Braille: Children's Classroom Mischief Led to a National Trend 7
The First Index Fund 8
The First Director of Central Intelligence 10
The First Cocktail Party 12
A Football First 14
The First Reports of the Titanic Were Written on Toilet Paper 16
The First Public School System to Offer Kindergarten 18
The First Desktop Computer 20
The First German-American U.S. Senator 22
The First African-American U.S. Senator 24
The First Tweet 26
McDonnell Built First Plane Designed to Land on Carriers 28
Reaching the Stars with Mercury and Gemini 30
The First Skyscraper 31
The World's Tallest Human 34
Wally Moon-The Cardinal Who Gave Us the Term "Flake" 36
Gordon Jenkins Wrote "Folsom Prison Blues" 37
Charles Lindbergh 39
Gert Cori: First American Woman to Win the Nobel Prize in Medicine 42
First Vice President to Get Married While in Office 44
7Up-A Native St. Louisan 46
The Birthplace of Puffed Rice 48
John Colter: First to See Yellowstone, and Much More 49
The First Interstate 52
Lyon: A Military First 53
A First U.S. Summer Olympics 55
The First African-American Olympian(s) 58
The First Jewish Justice 59
Section 2 St. Louisans Who Changed the World
Chuck Berry Invented Rock and Roll 61
U.S. Grant Saves the Union … Twice 64
Dred Scott: The Lawsuit That Led to the Civil War 66
Harry Blackmun: From Hot Sauna to Hot Decisions 68
The Kid from Webster Groves Who Ended the Cold War 69
C. V. Riley Saves the French Wine Industry 71
sAVE MARIA 72
Du Sable: Founder of Chicago 73
A Man Buried in St. Louis Sparked the American Revolution 74
Earl Weaver Pioneers the Radar Gun 77
From Baby Teeth to Nuclear Test Ban: The St. Louis Baby Tooth Survey 78
Did the Mexican Revolution Have Roots in St. Louis? 80
A St. Louisan Burns Atlanta and Shapes the Future of War 82
Jimmy Doolittle-Changed the Direction of the War in the Pacific 84
The United States Was the First Nation to Recognize Israel… Thanks to a St. Louisan 87
Larry Conners and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas 89
The Walker and Davis Cups 91
Eads's Ironclad Ships Secure First Victories for the Union 93
Quid Pro Quo: A St. Louis Favor Is Returned 96
Sections 3 They Didn't Teach 'Me That in School
Toussaint L'Ouverture 99
St. Louis: A French Village That Never Had a French Governor 100
One City, One Day, Three Flags 102
When Cuba Ruled St. Louis 103
Mark Twain Fought in the Civil War, But for Which Side? 104
Jesuits Built SLU with Slaves 105
The Grants Had Slaves … During the Civil War! 107
Forest Park Honors Both Sides of One War 108
The American Revolution Hits St. Louis 110
POWs in St. Louis 111
Why Roswell Field Moved to St. Louis 114
The Mystery of Lloyd Gaines 116
St. Louis's Communist Auditor 118
The Lie That Snagged the Republican National Convention 119
If the School Was Chartered on February 2, Would It Now Be "Groundhog U?" 120
St. Louis: The City Founded by an Eighth Grader! 122
St. Louis Can't Agree On a Founding Date 123
Section 4 Strange St. Louis Pairings
Dream Team Roommates 126
Two Favorite Sons in the Same Presidential Election 128
The St. Louis Connection That Secured the Surrender 129
Clark Clifford and William McChesney Martin Jr. 131
The "St. Louis Blues" and W. C. Handy 132
The Strange Fate of Joseph E. Johnston 133
How St. Louis Almost Became Disney World 134
How the U.N. Almost Came to Weldon Spring 137
Alton Was Considered a Site for the Air Force Academy 138
Elizabeth Keckley and Mary Todd Lincoln 140
Section 5 They Overcame Hardship
Josephine Baker 143
From Orphanage to the Governor's Mansion 145
The Spinks Brothers 147
The "Ignominious" Start of Tennessee Williams 149
Joseph Conway's Story; or, Why I Will Never Complain About Anything Again 152
Ulysses S. Grant-The Greatest Comeback 153
Caray and Hotchner 156
Section 6 I Didn't Know There Was a St. Louis Connection
Cats 159
Francesca Simon 160
A Chorus Line 161
How a Jerk from St. Louis Made Sure We Got Beautiful Music 162
Colin Firth in St. Louis 164
Tom Cruise in St. Louis 165
Darth Vader Got His Start in St. Louis 166
Jean Lafitte: The Pirate Who Saved St. Louis 167
The Serenity Prayer 170
Oldest Surviving Recording of a Human Voice 171
The Allman Brothers 172
The St. Louis Connection to "Double Vision" 173
Guess Who Saved St. Louis's Harbor? 174
Reddi-wip 175
O The Birthplace of Peanut Butter 176
O'Hare Airport 178
A St. Louis Tomb That Inspired One of the Nation's Most Famous Homes 180
The World Leader Who Operated a St. Louis Forklift 181
Angels in America 182
Birthplace of Halitosis 183
Animal House 186
St. Louis's Frequent Visitor: Ray Charles 187
Buzz Bissinger 188
Southern Comfort 189
Samuel Adams Beer 190
Kurt von Schuschnigg-The World Leader Who Moved to St. Louis After World War II 191
Marshall McLuhan (The Medium Is the Message) Taught at SLU 192
Section 7 Dark St. Louis
Dr. Joseph Nash McDowell 194
The Exorcist 196
An Author Who Wrote from the Grave 199
The Blues Player Who Hired a Hit Man 201
Jack the Ripper 202
Escape from St. Louis 204
Before There Was Estee Lauder, There Was Arsenic 205
Look Out for the Cheater 206
John Vincent: The Arch Jumper 208
The Dueling Senator 211
The Little-Known Lincoln Duel 213
Saddam Hussein and TUMS 215
Section 8 The Ten Amazing and Often Overlooked St. Louis Sports Stories
When World Series Champs Moonlighted 217
Buck and Borghi-Together on Two Continents 218
Jo Jo White's Amazing Offers 220
Full House for the World Series 222
The Greatest Baseball Promotion 224
Pennant Race Romance and Leo Durocher's Furniture 226
An NBA Final Fight-But not Between Players 228
Bill White: A Commitment Is a Commitment 230
Denny McLain's Game Prep 231
Wimbledon 1975: St. Louis Versus St. Louis 232
Endnotes 234
Index 259
