St. Louis is a city with a deep-rooted history and culture, and it has been the gateway to exploration to the west, the home of blues music, and a unique blend of Midwestern and Southern culture. It is one of the largest cities in Missouri and is renowned for its many attractions, from the 1904 World's Fair to the Lewis and Clark expedition. But there are also some lesser-known facts about St.
Louis that are fascinating and worth exploring. One of the most remarkable facts about St. Louis is that it was the birthplace of the ice cream cone. Ernest A.
Hamwi was selling a crunchy waffle-like cake at a stand right next to an ice cream vendor at the 1904 World's Fair. When the ice cream vendor ran out of plates, Hamwi quickly rolled one of his waffles into a wafer shape and gave it to the vendor, creating the first ice cream cone. Another interesting fact about St. Louis is that it was also the birthplace of peanut butter.
Peanut butter was first brought to St. Louis at the 1904 World's Fair and became a popular source of protein during the first two world wars. While it is still debated who invented peanut butter, it is clear that St. Louis played an essential role in its development and popularity.
TUMS antacid tablets were also invented in St. Louis in 1930 by pharmacist James Howe. Howe began commercial production of TUMS at the STL center, which remains the main manufacturing site for TUMS today. The city is also known for its sticky buttercake, a dense candy invented in the 1930s after a baker added too much sugar to a buttercake recipe.
The indigenous people of the area built numerous residential embankment mounds and temples on both sides of the Mississippi River, earning St. Louis the nickname Mound City. The Cahokia Mounds are the regional center, but most of these mounds were demolished during the development of the city. Pierre Laclede Liguest, a recipient of a land grant from the King of France, and his 13-year-old explorer, Auguste Chouteau, selected the site of St.
Louis in 1764 as a fur trading post because it was not subject to flooding and was close to the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. The construction of a town named after Louis IX of France began the following year, with most of its early settlers being French and associated with the fur trade. Louis was transferred to Spain in 1770, returned to France under a secret treaty with Napoleon, and then became part of the United States after Louisiana was purchased in 1803. According to legend, on this day St. Louis flew under three flags in one day: French, Spanish, and American.
Between 1840 and 1860, many new immigrants arrived in St. Louis, with Germans and Irish being dominant ethnic groups that settled here due to German Revolution and Irish potato famine respectively. Louis was an important strategic location during American Civil War but remained firmly under Union control due to loyal German influence; no major battle was fought here though Battle of Camp Jackson was notable skirmish fought at current location of St. Louis University hospitals.
Later on Italians, Serbs, Lebanese, Syrians and Greeks settled here in late 19th century as well as tax reform of 1986 and recession of late 1980s/early 1990s slowed growth considerably but several major projects were completed such as MetroLink light rail line expansion of Convention Center Kiel Civic Center (blues hockey team) Trans World Dome (Rams football team). Great Mississippi River flood of 1993 detracted some value from urban revitalization efforts but most low-lying industrial areas were protected by alluvial wall. St. Louis has been an integral part of American history since its founding in 1764 by Pierre Laclede Liguest and Auguste Chouteau as a fur trading post near two rivers - Mississippi and Missouri - which made it an ideal location for exploration to westward lands as well as for commercial activities such as trade with indigenous people living nearby.
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