1. In 1965, Missouri's first enclosed shopping mall, Northwest Plaza, opened in St. Ann. At the time, it was the largest shopping center in the state and had over 100 stores.

2. On January 8, 1904, a massive fire swept through the Windsor Hotel in Kansas City, killing at least 21 people and injuring dozens more. The hotel was completely destroyed and it remains one of the city's deadliest fires.

3. In 1837, Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs issued the infamous "Extermination Order" that called for the expulsion or extermination of Mormons from the state. The order was eventually rescinded in 1976 by Governor Christopher S. Bond.

4. On January 8, 1815, Missouri Senator David Barton delivered a speech in Congress advocating for the creation of a national university. The idea was eventually realized with the founding of the Smithsonian Institution in 1846.

5. Missouri's first African-American Congressman, William L. Dawson, was born on January 8, 1886 in Albany, Georgia. He later moved to Missouri and served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1943-1947.