8. William Payne Stewart
Payne Stewart's death in a freak plane accident in 1999 robbed golf of one of its best, as he had already won three major championships before his untimely end. But Stewart's death also robbed the world from enjoying that rarest of combinations in an athlete: incredible skill coupled with even more incredible outfits. If Stewart makes it into the Hall of Famous Missourians, his socks should get their own busts as well.
9. John Henderson
John Henderson was a pretty good U.S. senator. He got the job in 1862 after the previous senator, the amazingly named Trusten Polk, was expelled from his seat for supporting the Confederate Union. All Henderson did then was help co-author and co-sponsor the 13th Amendment, ending slavery. Henderson's contribution becomes all more ballsy when you remember that Missouri was a slave state at the time.
10. Rose O'Neill
Illustrator and writer suffragette Rose O'Neill found enormous success after creating one of the first popular cartoon characters, Kewpie, which was all the rage before Mickey Mouse & Co. took over. At one point she was the highest paid female illustrator in the world, but even incredible wealth wasn't enough for O'Neill. She wanted to vote, so she used her wealth and popularity to aid the suffrage movement.
Follow Daniel Wicentowski on Twitter at @D_Towski. E-mail the author at [email protected].
