October 26 After eight years and at least 1,000 worker deaths, mostly Irish immigrants, the Erie Canal opens, which links the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. It cost $7 million and was 363 miles long, 40 feet wide, and four feet deep. – 1825. The Earp brothers face off...
October 19 Hopelessly trapped in Yorktown, Va., British General Lord Cornwallis surrenders 8,000 British soldiers and seamen to a larger Franco-American force, to effectively bring an end to the American Revolution. – 1781. One month after Napoleon Bonaparte’s massive invading force enters a burning and deserted Moscow, the starving French...
October 12 After sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sees a Bahamian island, and thinks he has reached East Asia. His expedition went ashore the same day and claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, who sponsored his attempt to find a western ocean route...
“You will come back changed. The river will change you.” —Father E.V. Jotter The year was 1938. The first-ever federal minimum wage was set at 25cents an hour. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first full-length animated feature to be seen in theaters. Its song “Whistle While You...
October 5 U.S. president Harry Truman makes the first televised presidential address from the White House to ask Americans to cut back on their use of grain in order to help starving Europeans. – 1947. American David Kunst completes the first round-the-world journey on foot, which took four years and...
September 28 Claiming his right to the English throne, William, duke of Normandy, invades England at Pevensey on Britain’s southeast coast. His subsequent defeat of King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings marked the beginning of a new era in British history. – 1066. In one of the worst...
September 21 During the American Revolution, American General Benedict Arnold meets with British Major John Andre to discuss handing over West Point to the British, in return for the promise of a large sum of money and a high position in the British army. The plot was foiled and Arnold,...
Ingrid Bergman delivered her audition pieces to the Royal Dramatic Theatre. The year was 1933. One of her choices was a Hungarian play about a peasant girl who flirts with a bold country boy. She jumps out of the wings on to the stage and stands there, hands on hips,...
September 14 U.S. president William McKinley dies after being shot by a deranged anarchist during the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y.. – 1901. September 15 The Battle of Britain reaches its climax when the Royal Air Force (RAF) shoots down 56 invading German aircraft in two dogfights lasting less than...
“Memory is the scribe of the soul.” —Aristotle Salt water, storms, and headwinds, leaky decks and the November winds coming in did not deter the 102 passengers on the Mayflower in 1620. The thin-walled cabins below deck overflowed with chests of clothing, “casks of food, chairs, pillows, and rugs. A...
September 7 The United States gets its nickname, Uncle Sam. The name is linked to Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, N.Y., who supplied barrels of beef to the United States Army during the War of 1812. Wilson, 1766-1854, stamped the barrels with “U.S.” for United States, but soldiers...
August 31 More than 325,000 unionists gather in Washington, D.C. for a Solidarity Day march and rally for work-place fairness and health care reform. – 1991. September 1 At 4:45 a.m., 1.5 million German troops invade Poland all along its 1,750-mile border with German-controlled territory. Simultaneously, the German Luftwaffe bombs...
August 24 After centuries of being dormant, Mount Vesuvius erupts in southern Italy, to devastate the prosperous Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum to kill thousands. A flow of rock and ash follows to bury the dead and freeze the citizens in time, which tells the story of their every-day...
It was a different kind of party with a purpose in Aurora, Wednesday, Aug. 16. Community volunteers gathered for a special school supplies packing party in preparation for Aurora’s largest and longest-running back-to-school bash this weekend. More than 1,000 school supply kits were packed for elementary, middle, and high school...
August 17 Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman is struck in the temple by a ball pitched by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees. He dies 12 hours later. It was the first and only death as the result of a pitched ball in Major League Baseball history. – 1920....
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...
