Fulton, city (2020 pop. 12,490), seat of Callaway co., central Mo., in an agricultural and farm area; inc. 1859. It has printing plants and factories that make food products, textiles, and industrial equipment. Firebricks from nearby clay beds are also produced. During the Civil War the county seceded from the United States and by treaty with the state militia formed the “Kingdom of Callaway.” On Mar. 5, 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his famous “iron curtain” speech at Westminster College there. The college was also the site of a 1992 speech by former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev on the lifting of the “iron curtain,” and a 1996 speech by former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher commemorating the 50th anniversary of Churchill's speech. The college houses the Winston Churchill Memorial and Library, including a reconstruction of a Christopher Wren church destroyed in the bombing of London. William Woods College and a state school for the deaf are also there.
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