This book is subtitled, 250 Years of Great Tales and Curiosities, which sums up this book perfectly. If you live in St. Louis, have lived in St. Louis, know people in St. Louis or just have a general interest in St. Louis, you will find this book enjoyable.
Because it is a series of very short articles, it makes the perfect night stand book or a book for the bath room. I read the whole book over a period of time while visiting the throne room.
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- Did you know – that halitosis became a thing thanks to a St. Louis company
- Did you know – that using flake to refer to a person started in St. Louis, thanks to Cardinal baseball player
- Did you know – that Reddi-wip was invented by a businessman from St. Louis
- Did you know – that if Colorado Springs had not gotten the Air Force Academy the next choice was Alton, IL, a town just up the river from St. Louis
- Did you know – that a St. Louis doctor was suspected of being Jack the Ripper
- Did you know – that a St. Louisian, William Sherman, forever changed the face of warfare
- Did you know – two brothers, both World Heavy Weight Champions, are from St. Louis
- Did you know – Darth Vader got his start in St. Louis
- Did you know – that there is a good argument for the first skyscraper being built in St. Louis
- Did you know – that the movie Animal House was co-written by a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, and may have been, in part, based on a fraternity there
Available from Amazon– Amazing St. Louis
Also available as a used book from Abebooks – used copy Amazing St. Louis
The first skyscraper is usually credited in Chicago. Just saying.
I have no dog in this fight, and I would not have called the building they are referencing a skyscraper. Their argument is that is was the first building to emphasize the vertical over the horizontal. Go Cardinals.