50+ Funny Facts About Missouri: How Much Do You Know About The Show-Me State?

Have you ever wished you could list more things about Missouri than you currently know?

If you have, you've come to the right place! This article is full of interesting facts about Missouri and its geography, demography, history and more.

Find out everything you need to know about the 24th state to join the Union, like the fact that it is the birthplace of Mark Twain or that St Louis was home to the first parachute jump in the United States. Read on for some more wonderful and weird facts about Missouri!

Once you have read these Missouri facts, if you are after information about other US states, why not take a look at these Colorado fun facts or these facts about Iowa?

Below are the most important facts about Missouri, from the state's capital to its motto. They will help you understand all about Missouri and its demography.

1. The state's capital is Jefferson City. The city is named after the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson.

2. Its postal code is MO.

3. The largest city in Missouri is Kansas City.

4. Missouri is the 21st largest state in terms of surface area.

5. It is the 18th most populous state in the United States.  It is home to more than six million people.

6. Kansas City and St Louis are home to more than half of the population of Missouri.

7. People from the state are called Missourians.

8. It is located in the Midwest of the US.

9. The state of Missouri contains 114 counties.

10. Missouri is sometimes nicknamed the Mother of the West.

11. Missouri became a state on August 10, 1821. It was the 24th state to join the Union.

12. Its motto is "Salus populi suprema lex esto", which means "let the welfare of the people be the supreme law".

13. The state is named after the Missouri River, the longest river in the US, which was itself named after a tribe of Sioux Indians. The word roughly translates as "town of the large canoes".

14. Missouri is one of the leading producers of transport equipment in the US.

15. The state is also one of the biggest producers of lead in the country.

No list of Missouri state facts would be complete without some of the symbols which represent the state.

16. The state animal is the Missouri mule.

17. The state bird is the bluebird.

18. The state tree is the flowering dogwood.

19. The state insect is the honeybee.

20. The state flower is the hawthorn.

21. Missouri is one of the only two states which have an official grape. The official grape is the Norton.

These Missouri history facts will shed a light on the Show Me State's origins since prehistoric times, all the way until how it gained its nickname in 1899.

22. The first human settlement in Missouri was recorded more than 12,000 year ago.

23. Columbia, Missouri was the home of Mound Builders, a native community who built mounds, in prehistoric times.

24. The first European to enter Missouri was Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto, in 1541.

25. French fur traders settled in St Louis, Missouri in 1764.

26. Saint Louis University is the oldest university west of the Mississippi; it received a formal charter in 1832.

27. Between April 1860 and October 1861, a mail delivery system called the Pony Express was put in place between Missouri and California. The system ran with almost 200 relief stations along the way. It took a messenger about 10 days to deliver something, which was very fast for the time.

28. The state's first newspaper, the Missouri Gazette, was founded in 1808 by Joseph Charles.

29. St Louis, Missouri, was struck by a cholera pandemic in 1849 which killed over 4,000 people.

30. Missouri is sometimes nicknamed the Show Me State because congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver said in a speech in 1899: "For thy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me."

31. The Missouri State Capitol building was destroyed by a lightning strike in 1911.

32. The first ever journalism college degree was launched at the University of Missouri in 1908.

These cool facts about Missouri geography will tell you everything you need to know about it, such as the astonishing number of farms it holds.

33. The highest point in Missouri is the Taum Sauk Mountain, which is 1,772 feet high.

34. At its most distant points, Missouri is 300 miles long and 240 miles long.

35. Missouri shares a border with eight other states: Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Tennessee. It is joint first with Tennessee in terms of the number of border states.

36. Missouri once experienced over two thousand earthquake tremors in less than a year, between December 1811 and April 1812.

37. One of said earthquakes caused a fluvial tsunami in the Mississippi River, making the river run backwards for a period of a few hours.

38. One of the largest natural springs in the US and in the world is Big Springs in Missouri.

39. Missouri is also known as the Cave State as it contains more than 6,000 caves. Richland, Missouri is home to the US' only cave restaurant.

40. Missouri experienced the most destructive tornado in the history of the US. What was called the Tri-State Tornado occurred in 1925 and destroyed 90% of Missouri.

41. Missouri has more than 10,000 farms which occupy more than 66% of the state's total land area.

42. The average size of a farm in Missouri is 269 acres.

The facts below list just some of the things Missouri is known for, including famous Missouri people who were born in the state!

43. Famous rapper Eminem is from Missouri.

44. Writer Maya Angelou is from Missouri.

45. The state is home to four Nobel prize winners: Jack Kilby (Physics, 2000), Roger D. Kornberg (Chemistry, 2006), T.S. Eliot (Literature, 1948) and Steven Chu (Physics, 1997).

46. Waffle ice cream cones were invented at the St Louis World's Fair in 1904. They came about when a vendor ran out of cups to serve his ice cream and are now one of the most famous food exports of Missouri.

47. St Louis, Missouri is home to the tallest manmade monument in the US: the Gateway Arch is 630 feet tall.

48. Missouri is the home of Budweiser, which operates the largest beer producing plant in the US.

49. Kansas City, Missouri was the home of the first ever museum dedicated solely to Jazz. It is called the American Jazz Museum.

50. The first ever person to jump with a parachute from a plane was over the Jefferson Barracks in St Louis, Missouri, in 1912.

51. The only US president to have been born in Missouri was Harry S Truman, the 33rd President of the US.

52. Famous writer Mark Twain was born in Missouri in 1835.

53. Kansas City has more than 200 water fountains, which is why it is often nicknamed the City of Fountains. It is second only to Rome in that respect.

54. Kansas City is seen as the home of barbecue. It is home to more than 100 barbecue restaurants. Missouri is famous for its barbeque food, it is what the state is best at.

55. The second biggest working train station in the US is Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri. It was built in 1914 and is second only to Grand Central terminal in New York City.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our funny facts about Missouri, then why not take a look at these funny facts about Kansas, or Vermont facts?