The Aurora Historical Society is celebrating the 175th anniversary of the Burlington Railroad with a special exhibit at its downtown museum and a banquet at the roundhouse. The exhibit is currently at the David L. Pierce Art & History Center, 20 E. Downer in downtown Aurora. It features dozens of
July 18 A fire erupts in Rome and spreads rapidly throughout the market area in the center of the city. When the flames finally die out more than a week later, nearly two-thirds of Rome is destroyed. Emperor Nero used the fire as an opportunity to rebuild Rome in a
July 11 On this day in 1916, in a ceremony at the White House, president Woodrow Wilson signs the Federal Aid Road Act. The law established a national policy of federal aid for highways. – 1916. Fulfilling agreements reached at various war-time conferences, the Soviet Union promises to hand power
Have you ever wondered about the fascinating life your house may have led before you were the occupant? Who planted the roses in the front yard? What caused that large scratch across the floor? Part of the charm of living in a historic home is celebrating the history of the
July 4 In Philadelphia, Pa., the Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims the independence of the United States of America from Great Britain and its king. The declaration came 442 days after the first volleys of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts
June 27 The Germans set up two-way radio communication in a newly-occupied French territory and employ their most sophisticated coding machine, Enigma. – 1940. U.S. president Harry S Truman announces that he is ordering U.S. air and naval forces to South Korea to aid the democratic nation in repulsing an
By John & Nisha Whitehead “Take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties.” — James Madison James Madison, often referred to as the “Father of the Constitution,” once predicted that the Bill of Rights would become mere “parchment barrier,” words on paper ignored by successive generations of Americans. How
June 20 Oil begins moving through the Alaska pipeline. Seventy thousand persons worked on building the pipeline, history’s largest privately-financed construction project. – 1977. June 21 In Neshoba County in central Mississippi, three civil rights field workers disappear after investigating the burning of an African American church by the Ku
The site of the Grove School south of Oswego where the Lucas children (shown above in 1894), members of one of the area’s Black farming families attended classes, will be one of the stops when Oswego’s Little White School Museum hosts “Oswego History Tour – African American Heritage” at noon Sunday, July 7.
Cornelia “Corrie” ten Boom (1892-1983), a Dutch Holocaust survivor, came alive Tuesday, June 4. In “A Visit with Corrie,” an hourlong performance by Gayle Hass in period costume and with projected photos, the Aurora dramatist portrayed ten Boom at the Aurora Area Retired Teachers Association (AARTA) luncheon at Lincoln Inn
June 13 Alexander the Great, the young Macedonian military genius who forged an empire stretching from the eastern Mediterranean to India, dies in Babylon, in present-day Iraq, at the age of 33. – 323 B.C.E.. The U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision in Miranda v. Arizona to establish the
June 6 The Ashmolean, the world’s first university museum, opens in Oxford, England. -1683. A general strike by some 12,000 auto workers and others in Lansing, Mich. shuts down the city for a month in what was to become known as the city’s “Labor Holiday.” The strike was precipitated by
May 30 At Rouen in English-controlled Normandy, France, Joan of Arc, the peasant girl who became the savior of France, is burned at the stake for heresy. – 1431. Former U.S. president William Howard Taft dedicates the Lincoln Memorial on the Washington Mall. At the time, Taft was serving as
From the vault – revised (various dates): When I was writing “Common Sense” essays for TONIT (pronounced “Toe=nit”) – that other newspaper in town – I wrote a series of satirical observations on the types of motorists we must endure in our daily lives. I wrote them under the umbrella
May 23 An estimated 100,000 textile workers, including more than 10,000 children, strike in the Philadelphia area. Among the issues: 60-hour work weeks, including night hours, for the children. – 1903. Famed fugitives, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, are killed in a police ambush near Sailes, La.. A contingent of
There were smiles, cheers, and a few tears, when Aurora’s longest-serving teacher was feted. Mayor of Aurora, Richard Irvin joined the students and staff members of Holy Angels School to bid farewell to Laura Waegner, 79, who has taught at the school for the past 54 years. Her first year
May 16 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hands out its first awards (Oscars), at a dinner party for approximately 250 individuals held in the Blossom Room of the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, Calif.. – 1929. Japanese mountaineer, Junko Tabei, becomes the first woman to reach the summit
May 9 U.S. president Woodrow Wilson issues a presidential proclamation that officially establishes the first National Mother’s Day holiday to celebrate America’s mothers. – 1914. May 10 Thanks to an army of thousands of Chinese and Irish immigrants, who laid 2,000 miles of track, the Nation’s first transcontinental railway line
May 2 General Motors Corporation (GM), which will become the world’s largest automotive firm, acquires Chevrolet Motor Company. – 1918. Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 attacks, is killed by U.S. forces during a raid on his compound hideout in Pakistan. – 2011. May 3 Four
