Frank Nickell

It seems like almost yesterday that the Mississippi River was solidly frozen over. It was the winter of 1918 and 1919 when a cold December with extended low temperatures closed the river to all north - south river traffic.

It seems like almost yesterday that a teacher told me when I was very young, that the Milky Way was the very end of our universe. Like many youngsters I was curious about the end of the universe and what was beyond the Milky Way.

It seems like Almost Yesterday that residents in the northern area of Cape Girardeau County established a new school which would bring together the students from six one-room country schools in the area. The country schools were crowded and located in wood-frame buildings that dated back to the 1800’s.

It seems like almost yesterday that the worst train wreck in Missouri history occurred. The date was August 5, 1922, and the location was on a bridge over Glaize Creek, beside the Mississippi river, between Herculaneum and Kimmswick.

It seems like Almost Yesterday that hundreds of comic books and magazines, judged as indecent and unfit for children, were ceremonially burned in Cape Girardeau.

It seems like almost yesterday that the steamboat the "The Stonewall" burned and sank just south of Neely's Landing, Missouri. It was October 27, 1869 and the sidewheeler "The Stonewall" was travelling south on the Mississippi with tons of cargo -- about 300 passengers, 200 head of livestock -- bound for Cape Girardeau, Memphis and New Orleans.

It seems like Almost Yesterday that the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team traded one of their most famous players, Enos Slaughter, to the New York Yankees for Mel Wright and four players to be named later. One of those four players, named later, was Bill Virdon, who became a successful major leaguer.

It seems like Almost Yesterday that two historic landmarks in Cape Girardeau disappeared.

It seems like almost yesterday that Denver Wright sought to bring a bit of Africa to the veldt of Southeast Missouri.

It seems like Almost Yesterday that the mechanical hobby horse came into existence. U. S. patent number 1,863,012 was filed on February 21, 1931 by J. Otto Hahs of Sikeston, Missouri.