August 10 Missouri becomes the 24th state, the first state entirely west of the Mississippi River. Missouri was admitted within the Missouri Compromise in 1820 which admitted Maine as a northern state. – 1821. Construction on the St. Lawrence Seaway begins. Ultimately 22,000 workers spent five years building the 2,342-mile
August 3 From the Spanish port of Palos, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sets sail in command of three ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, on a journey to find a western sea route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia. – 1492.
In 1743, King Louis XV had a so-called, “flying chair” that connected his apartments with his favorite mistress. By 1895 The Biltmore Estate had installed an elevator. Hotels began to install them for their rich customers’ comfort. Following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, new Tiffany & Co. art deco
July 27 The House Judiciary Committee recommends that America’s 37th president, Richard M. Nixon, be impeached and removed from office. The impeachment proceedings resulted from a series of political scandals involving the Nixon administration that came to be collectively known as Watergate. – 1974. In Atlanta, Ga., the XXVI Summer
It was the shot which ignited the Battle of Gettysburg, a key turning point for Union forces during the Civil War. Saturday, July 1, the Illinois National Guard, the City government of Wheaton, and the DuPage County Historical Museum, commemorated the actions of 1st Lieutenant Marcellus Jones and the 8th
Jeanne d’ Arc was a peasant girl who heard voices, saw visions, raised the siege of Orleans and was burned to death by the English at Rouen. It was said that an English soldier made two pieces of wood into a cross and gave it to her as flames rose
July 20 New York City newsboys, many so poor that they were sleeping in the streets, begin a two-week strike. Several rallies drew more than 5,000 newsboys, complete with charismatic speeches by strike leader Kid Blink, who was blind in one eye. The boys had to pay publishers up front
“New feet within my garden go. New fingers stir the sod. A Troubadour upon the Elm, Betrays the solitude.” —Emily Dickinson Poet Emily Dickinson created in her writing a distinctively elliptical language for expressing what might be possible, but not yet realized. The literary marketplace offered new ground for her
July 13 At Wembley Stadium in London, Prince Charles and Princess Diana officially open Live Aid, a worldwide rock concert organized to raise money for the relief of famine-stricken Africans. Continued at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia and at other arenas around the world, the 16-hour superconcert was linked
“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.” —Abraham Lincoln The man who would serve as the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln,
Answers are available for those who wonder why kids from Joliet, Plainfield, Minooka, Yorkville, Montgomery, and Aurora all go to Oswego schools. Or, how Oswego got its name? Or, who the first white settlers of the community were? Or, who the Native People already living here were who greeted the
July 6 In Hartford, Conn., a fire breaks out under the big top of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, to kill 167 individuals and injure 682. The cause of the fire was unknown, but it spread at incredible speed, racing up the canvas of the circus tent.
“L’Abbaye de Thelene” Do what you will J. Baker. Josephine Baker, American beauty, French hero, and British spy, was born in poverty and named Freda Josephine McDonald, June 3, 1906 in St. Louis. Her grandparents were former slaves. She lived in a series of run-down dwellings without gas or electricity,
June 29 In Furman v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court rules by a vote of 5-4 that capital punishment, as it is employed on the state and federal level, is unconstitutional. The majority held that, in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, the death penalty qualified as “cruel
Imagine enjoying a light lunch al fresco when a shattering boom roars through the marketplace of Pompeii. The ground around you shakes so violently that your meal of fresh fish and red tomatoes ends up in the street. Inhabitants look to Mount Vesuvius, a massive volcano that rises above the
June 22 U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the G.I. Bill, an unprecedented act of legislation designed to compensate returning members of the Armed Services, known to thank G.I.s, for their efforts in World War II. – 1944. During World War II, the U.S. 10th Army overcomes the last major
Mayor of Aurora, Richard Irvin, shared his thoughts after hearing the news of the death of Aurora alderwoman Scheketa Hart-Burns, at Aurora’s Juneteenth Flag-Raising Ceremony, Monday, June 19.“Scheketa was a mother, a sister. We called her the dean of the alderman.“Most importantly, she was a friend of so many.“She will
More than a century and a half ago, the last enslaved Black people received the news that they were indeed free. Now, 158 years later, the youngest Black mayor in American history will join the first Black mayor of Aurora, Illinois, to honor the Juneteenth holiday. Mayor Jaylen Smith, 19,
Aurora launched its Juneteenth series of celebrations by unveiling a unique, culturally custom-designed Juneteenth squad car. A large crowd, including Black police officers from Aurora and neighboring agencies, gathered today at the Aurora Police Department for the unprecedented occasion. “This is more than symbolic. It is a statement of fact
Dr. James Varney is a retired educator who spent nearly five decades working with students from preschool through master’s degree candidates. He served as principal at several Aurora schools and directed the Partnership School for fourth and fifth graders at Aurora University. Varney taught both undergraduate and graduate students at
