St. Louis, Missouri

1965Gateway Arch Completed: Eero Saarinen's 630-foot stainless steel Gateway Arch was completed on the St. Louis riverfront. The monument symbolizes St. Louis's role as the gateway to the American West.

1804Lewis and Clark Expedition Launches: Lewis and Clark departed from Camp Dubois near St. Louis on their expedition to the Pacific Ocean. St. Louis served as the supply base and jumping-off point for the most famous exploration in American history.

1904World's Fair and Olympics: St. Louis hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, which drew 20 million visitors, and the Summer Olympics simultaneously — introducing hot dogs, hamburgers, and ice cream cones to mass audiences.

2014Ferguson Protests: The shooting of Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer sparked weeks of protests and a national reckoning with police violence against Black Americans. The DOJ later found systemic discrimination in Ferguson's police and courts.

1917East St. Louis Massacre: White mobs attacked Black neighborhoods in East St. Louis, killing an estimated 100-200 people. The massacre was one of the deadliest acts of racial violence in the 20th century.

1764French Fur Traders Found St. Louis: Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau established a fur trading post at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, founding what would become the Gateway to the West.

1849Great Fire and Cholera: A devastating fire destroyed 430 buildings on the St. Louis waterfront while a simultaneous cholera epidemic killed nearly 10% of the city's population — a double disaster.

1876Eads Bridge Opens: The Eads Bridge, the first bridge across the Mississippi at St. Louis, opened as an engineering marvel. It was the longest arch bridge in the world and proved steel could replace iron.

1944Shelley v. Kraemer: A St. Louis court case reached the Supreme Court and struck down racially restrictive housing covenants, a landmark civil rights decision that affected housing across America.

2011Cardinals Win 11th World Series: The St. Louis Cardinals won their 11th World Series, second only to the Yankees. The Cards' passionate fan base earned them the nickname 'Best Fans in Baseball.'.