1. On May 8, 1846, the first issue of the "St. Joseph Gazette" newspaper was published in St. Joseph, Missouri. It was the first newspaper to be printed on a steam-powered press in Missouri.

2. The Great Silver City Strike began on May 8, 1892 in Joplin, Missouri. Miners, led by the Western Federation of Miners, went on strike to demand better working conditions and higher pay. The strike lasted for three months and became one of the largest labor disputes in the state's history.

3. On May 8, 1933, Missouri became the first state in the US to enact a sales tax. The tax rate was set at 2%, and it was intended to help the state recover from the Great Depression.

4. In 1945, on May 8, Missouri Governor Phil M. Donnelly signed the Missouri Fair Employment Practices Act, which prohibited discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, or national origin. It was one of the earliest state-level civil rights laws in the country.

5. May 8, 1986, was the day when US Senator John Danforth introduced legislation to establish the Katy Trail State Park in Missouri. The trail is now one of the longest rails-to-trails conversions in the US, stretching for 240 miles from St. Charles to Clinton.