I recently watched Geoffrey Baer’s shows on PBS, in which he tours various Chicago neighborhoods on the L, driving, walking, snowboarding, all without getting shot with bullets, or spray-painted with graffiti, and it brought back memories of my experiences. Some time back, I wrote of my early memories of attending
February 2 Groundhog Day, featuring a rodent meteorologist, is celebrated for the first time at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa.. According to tradition, if a groundhog comes out of its hole on this day and sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of Winter weather; no shadow means
“She did it with such dedication because she wanted to make her Father proud of her.” —Margaret Rhodes, Confident of Elizabeth The Princess Elizabeth was born in the early morning hours April 21, 1926 at home. She would be third in line for the throne. Diarist Chips Channon remarked that
You’re an old-timer in Aurora if you: Knew the site of Tivoli Restaurant. Attempted to score a 300 at the Hi-Way Lanes. Ordered a hot dog with all the fixin’s at Elmer’s Dog House. Remembered that K.D. Waldo Middle School was the original East Aurora High School. Bought a dining
Black History Month is an annual celebration of the history, accomplishments, and contributions of African Americans in the United States. This celebration every February honors the achievements of African Americans in various fields and brings attention to important topics such as the fight against racism and the struggle for civil
January 19 Some 3,000 members of the Filipino Federation of Labor strike the plantations of Oahu, Hawaii. Their ranks swell to 8,300 when they are joined by members of the Japanese Federation of Labor. – 1920. Following the death of Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi becomes head
His father, Gabriele, was a barber from Italy and sired nine children. Alphonse Gabriel Capone was born January 17, 1899 and died January 25, 1947 at age 48 and is buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Ill.. Capone showed promise as a student, but had trouble with the rules
Editor’s note: The second of two parts this week follows part one in the December 15, 2022 edition of The Voice by Charles Coddington which was a focus on two of the “Big Eight” manufacturing hubs in Aurora, All-Steel and Austin-Western Company. Aurora used to be a major manufacturing hub
January 12 There were unseasonably-warm-weather days prior to January 12, but over the course of 24 hours the temperature plunged to 40 below zero, almost a 100 degree difference from the previous day, in much of North Dakota. The so-called “Schoolchildren’s Blizzard” kills 235 persons, many of whom were children
January 5 Ford Motor Company, led by Henry Ford, raises wages from $2.40 for a nine-hour day to $5 for an eight-hour day in effort to keep the unions out and give workers money to buy Ford products. – 1914. U.S. president Richard Nixon signs a bill authorizing $5.5 million
December 29 Six months after the Congress of the Republic of Texas accepts U.S. annexation of the territory, Texas is admitted into the United States as the 28th state. – 1845. In the final chapter of America’s long Indian wars, the U.S. Cavalry kills 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee on
A name probably unfamiliar to you just as it was to me is that of Harriet Quimby who became the first licensed female pilot in the United States August 1, 1911 and April 16, 1912 she was the first woman to fly a plane across the English Channel. She pointed
Aurora used to be a major manufacturing hub of factories with sales items not only to the Nation, but to the world. The major employer was, of course, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, now the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, which operated its famous round house repair shops on North
December 15 The Kansas National Guard is called out to subdue 2,000 to 6,000 protesting women who were going from mine to mine attacking non-striking miners in the Pittsburg coal fields. The women made headlines across the State and the Nation: They were christened the “Amazon Army” by The New
Even though conventional wisdom states, “If you remember the ‘60s, you weren’t really there,” I’m guessing a good number of you Baby Boomers reading this column do remember most of that coming-of-age decade anyway. I entered 1960 as fat, nerdy, eighth-grade kid and left 1969 as lean, mean, olive drab,
December 8 A fire at the Ring Theater in Vienna, Austria, kills between 620 and 850 individuals and injures hundreds more when a stagehand lighted a row of gas lights, but inadvertently ignited some prop clouds over the stage. The stage managers panicked and shut off the gas which turned
Do you remember the excitement of waking up Christmas morning to discover what treasures Santa left for you to enjoy? It will be possible to relive part of that excitement you, and generations of other Oswego area children have experienced when visiting the Little White School Museum’s “Toys from the
December 1 The Ford Motor Company introduces the continuous moving assembly line which could produce a complete car every two-and-a-half minutes. – 1913. African American Rosa Parks refuses to go to the back of a Montgomery, Ala. bus, to add fuel to the growing civil rights movement’s campaign to win
A Roman map of Londinium in the 16th Century shows only one bridge across the river. Only two copper plates of the original bridge remain, one of which is in the Museum of London. In the beginning of the 17th Century, Southwark was the center of things. Here were the
November 24 On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, a groundbreaking scientific work by British naturalist Charles Darwin, is published in England. Darwin’s theory argued that organisms gradually evolve through a process he called natural selection. In natural selection, organisms with genetic variations that suit their environment
