Short answers, pulled from the story.
Missouri is named for the Missouri River, which took its name from the indigenous Missouria people, a Siouan-language tribe. French colonists adapted an Illinois-language word for the Missouria, Wimihsoorita, meaning "one who has dugout canoes."
The phrase is most commonly attributed to a speech by Congressman Willard Vandiver in 1899, who declared he was from a state where frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies, and that Missouri would have to be shown. However, researchers have found that the phrase "show me" was already in use before the 1890s, with a competing origin story involving Missouri miners brought to Leadville, Colorado, who required repeated instruction from pit bosses.
St. Louis was founded on the 14th of February, 1764, by French fur traders Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent, Pierre Laclede, and Auguste Chouteau. It quickly became the center of a regional fur trade and an early financial hub.
Missouri had two rival governments simultaneously: a pro-Confederate government under Governor Claiborne F. Jackson, which was recognized by the Confederacy on the 30th of October, 1861, and a pro-Union government under Hamilton Gamble, recognized by President Lincoln. After initial Confederate victories at Wilson's Creek and the siege of Lexington, Confederate forces retreated and the war in Missouri became primarily a guerrilla conflict involving figures such as William Quantrill, Frank and Jesse James, and the Younger brothers.
Ragtime, Kansas City jazz, and St. Louis blues all originated in Missouri. Notable musicians from the state include ragtime composer Scott Joplin, who lived in St. Louis and Sedalia; jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker, who lived in Kansas City; and rock pioneer Chuck Berry, who was associated with St. Louis.
The Joplin tornado of the 22nd of May, 2011, killed 158 people and destroyed roughly one-third of the city of Joplin. It was the first EF5 tornado to strike Missouri since 1957 and the deadliest in the United States since 1947, causing an estimated one to three billion dollars in damage.