July 30 1877 The St. Louis County council passed a measure requiring all able-bodied males between the ages of 21 and 50 to work on the roads for six days each year. That same day, the city raised the drinking age from 16 to 18. 1920 Babe Ruth smacked a home run called the greatest ever seen in St. Louis. It was higher than the grandstand at Sportsmans Park as it cleared Grand Avenue. The Yankees beat the Browns that day 19-3. Just a couple of weeks earlier, Ruth broke his own single-season home run record with his 29th. (The photo is actually of another monster shot the Babe hit in Game Four of the 1926 World Series that smashed a window of a St. Louis car dealership) 1929 Dale Jackson and Forest OBrine landed their St. Louis Robin at Lambert Field, after establishing a new aerial endurance record. They stayed aloft for 420 hours, 21 minutes. The plane was refueled in mid air and was equipped with catwalks to allow the aviators to change spark plugs inches from the whirling propeller as shown in the photo. In July 1930, two Chicago aviators beat the record. So Jackson and O’Brine went up again and flew for 647 straight hours. 1936 July 1936 went down in history as the hottest month ever in St. Louis. The heat wave started on July 3, and the high temperature never dropped below 90 except for an 88-degree high on the 20th. For 17 straight days, the high reached over 100. On July 7 and July 15, the temperature never dropped below 81. At least 471 people died during the heat wave. 1958 Sidney Maestro was appointed chairman of the Downtown St. Louis Group. Maestro pledged to work to rid downtown of the B-girls, push for funds to complete the riverfront memorial and work for the demolition of the Old Post Office. Maestro said something worthwhile should be placed at that location. 1959 Rookie Redbird pitcher Bob Gibson recorded his first victory, a 1-0 nothing win over the Reds in Cincinnati. Gibson was not a regular starter until his old minor league manager, Johnny Keane, took over as Redbird skipper in July 1961. By 1964, Gibson was one of the most dominating pitchers in baseball. 1962 A nine-mile stretch of Interstate 44 opened between Eureka and Gray Summit. The new section replaced the Death-Lane three-lane stretch of U.S. 66. Drivers could now travel on four-lane highway from Sylvan Beach (At the Meramec River west of where 270 and 44 is now) to Springfield, Missouri. 1993 The Monarch Levee gave way, inundating the Chesterfield Valley. Spirit Airport and 500 businesses were swamped. Highway 40 was underwater, cutting off the Boone Bridge as a route into St. Charles County. Thousands were being evacuated in South St. Louis as 51 propane tanks were floating in the floodwaters. Officials feared an explosion. Today, a $26 million levee is designed to protect the Chesterfield Valley from a 500-year flood.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 10:15:00 +0000
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