October 26 1792 Samuel Hawken was born in Hagerstown, Maryland. With his brother Jacob, he designed and built the famous Hawken rifle in St. Louis beginning in 1822. “The Gun That Opened the West” was the weapon of choice for trappers and traders. Western figures such as Daniel Boone, Davey Crockett and Kit Carson, John Fremont and Jim Bridger carried Hawken rifle. Jacob’s son, Christopher, built the home that still stands on South Rock Hill Road. 1834 The new St. Louis cathedral was consecrated. The night before, someone jammed some cannons that were to have been used in the ceremony. Some enraged Frenchmen thought it was the work of the Presbyterians. They wanted to turn the cannons on the Presbyterian Church, but cooler heads prevailed. An African American man from Alton, William Johnson was the only one brave enough to climb the scaffold to put the final stone in place. Bishop Rosati awarded him a $5 gold piece for his effort. 1925 Almost the entire town of Fenton and a big crowd from St. Louis County turned out for the dedication of a new highway bridge over the Meramec. The bottle of pre-prohibition champagne put aside for the christening turned up missing before the ceremony. 1957 The 1953 hold up of Southwest Bank on Kingshighway was re-enacted for the movie The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery, starring Steve McQueen. Police interrupted the daring daylight robbery on April 24, 1953. The gang of robbers were all arrested or killed in a shootout. Many of the officers who were on the scene that day also took part in the re-enactment. 1973 The motion picture The Exorcist opened. The movie is based on William Peter Blatty’s book about a 1949 incident in St. Louis. The family of a young boy brought him here from Maryland after marks began appearing on his body and other strange things began occurring. The boy stayed at a home in Bel Nor and then was brought to the Jesuits at St. Louis University. Fr. William Bowdern, S.J. led the exorcism with the help of Fr. Raymond Bishop and Fr. Walter Halloran, among others. The ordeal ended at a now-demolished wing of the Alexian Brothers Hospital. 1985 Don Denkinger became public enemy Number One in St. Louis. With the Cardinals leading Game Six of the World Series 1-0 in the ninth, Denkinger called Jorge Orta safe at first. Replays showed he was clearly out. The Royals went on to win the game. Fans still blame Denkinger for the loss, even though Darell Porter and Jack Clark misplayed a pop up, and Porter allowed a passed ball that put the runners in scoring position for Dane Iorg. And there was a Game Seven.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 10:10:00 +0000
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