1. In 1803, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark met with a group of Osage Indians near current-day St. Louis. This meeting was significant as it helped to secure safe passage for the Lewis and Clark expedition through Osage territory.

2. On February 19, 1825, Missouri officially became a state. It was the 24th state to join the United States.

3. In 1910, the first professional football game in St. Louis was played on February 19 between the St. Louis All-Stars and the Penn Mutual team. The game ended in a 0-0 tie.

4. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the forced relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Many Japanese Americans from Missouri were sent to camps in California and Arkansas.

5. In 1987, astronaut Sally Ride visited the University of Missouri in Columbia and gave a lecture about her experiences as the first American woman to go into space. Ride's visit coincided with the dedication of a new science building at the university.