Everything You’ll Ever Need To Know About Missouri From A to Z

Missouri became the 24th state in the U.S. on August 10, 1821.

The Missouri State Bird is the Bluebird.

You will find deer (and deer hunting) all over Missouri.

The most powerful earthquake to ever strike the U.S. centered in New Madrid in 1811. The quake shook more than one million square miles, and was felt as far as 1,000 miles away.

On June 20, 1955, the flowering dogwood (Cornus Florida L.) became Missouri's official tree.

The Gateway Arch (or the Gateway to the West) is a 630-foot monument in St. Louis and is the world's tallest arch, the tallest monument in the Western Hemisphere, and Missouri's tallest accessible building. It was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States and it is the centerpiece of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. Over the years, it has become an internationally famous symbol of St. Louis.

On July 3, 1985, the honey bee became the state insect.

St. Charles claims to be the site of the first interstate highway project, when they started Interstate 70 in 1956. Such highway construction created middle class expansion to newer suburbs through inexpensive former farmland, and the overall growth and accessibility of the cities.

The University Of Missouri School Of Journalism in Columbia is the oldest formal journalism school in the world. The school opened in 1908 and was based in Switzler Hall. In 1910, the school began its Journalism Week celebration. The first building formally assigned to the school was built in 1919. In 1921, the school offered the world's first master's degree in journalism, in 1930 it created the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism and in 1934, it offered the world's first Doctor of Philosophy degree in journalism.

Kansas City has more miles of boulevards than Paris and more fountains than any city except Rome. It also has more miles of freeway per capita than any metro area with more than one million residents.

The Lake of the Ozarks is a large man-made reservoir with a surface area of 54,000 acres, and 1,150 miles of shoreline. At the time of its construction it was one of the largest man-made lakes in the world and the largest in the United States. The main channel of the Osage Arm stretches 92 miles from end to end, and the total drainage area is over 14,000 square miles. The nickname "The Magic Dragon" has been given to the lake due to its serpentine shape. It was created by the construction of the 2,543-foot long Bagnell Dam by Union Electric Company of St. Louis from 1929 to 1931.

Mozarkite was adopted as the official state rock on July 21, 1967. The state animal is the mule.

Missouri ties with Tennessee as the most neighborly state in the union, bordered by 8 states: Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.

Missouri is named after a tribe called the Missouri Indians. It means "big canoe people" in the language of their Illini neighbors. The Missouri are original people of Missouri, Kansas and Iowa and share a single nation with the Otoe tribe. Today the Otoes and Missouris live on a reservation in Oklahoma, which is land that belongs to them and is under their control. The Otoe-Missouria tribe has its own government, laws, police, and services, just like a small country. However, the Missouris are also US citizens and must obey American law. The state of Missouri and the Missouri River are named for the tribe.

The Pony Express began in Missouri in 1860.

Missouri, and especially Kansas City are known for their particular style of barbecue.

Missouri's river system is vast and beautiful. Major rivers include the Current River, Mississippi River, Missouri River, Osage River, and St. Francis River.

Missouri is known as the Show Me State.

Saint Louis University received a formal charter from the state of Missouri in 1832, making it the oldest university west of the Mississippi.

Willard Duncan Vandiver was the Congressman who in 1899 popularized the 'Show Me State' expression.

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis in 1904. It promoted entertainment, consumer goods and popular culture, and is credited as being the origin of many popular foods including the waffle-style ice-cream cone, the hamburger and hotdog, peanut butter, iced tea, and cotton candy among others.

Water skiing, skydiving, bungee jumping, snowboarding and so much more, Missouri represents for all of those in love with extreme sports.

You can see a zebra at one of Missouri's many zoos.