2019 in review: Benet Academy State champions in three sports: Girls cross country, girls volleyball, boys soccer
Teams at Benet Academy in Lisle won an impressive three State championships recently in Fall sports.
A Focus on History: January 2 through January 8
January 2 Georgia votes to ratify the U.S. Constitution to become the fourth state in the modern United States, and was one of the original 13 colonies. – 1788. Albert Fall, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior, resigns in response to public outrage over the Teapot Dome scandal.
2019 in review: League of Women Voters of Central Kane County forum, Cultural Roots Award,
The Union Pacific steam engine, built in 1941, is making a run through 23 states, none east of Illinois.
Last chance to view Tanner House until June 2020
The fine large house at the corner of Oak and Cedar in Aurora’s historic Tanner District will be open one more afternoon to visit and savor the spirit of the holidays which has been enjoyed there for 162 years. The last opportunity to visit the house museum will be from
Sheet music intact survives Holocaust 75 years later
First of three parts More than 11 Million individuals, six Million of them Jews, died in the Holocaust, 1933-1945. The music they wrote as a temporary escape, however, did not die, thanks in part to the efforts of an Italian composer and pianist, Francesco Lotoro. “The Lost Music” was a
Memorable Christmas past: Bob Hope Show in frozen Korea
For this week, I thought I’d table the piece I’d planned to write and cash in on the Christmas holiday, even though I’m a day late and a dollar short…the story of my life. With nothing better to do, I began thinking over Christmases past and which ones were memorable.
Former Aurora Masonic Temple
Ornate pieces which were part of the former Aurora Masonic Temple are on the site which remain following a destructive fire earlier this year.
Aurora Historical Society (AHS) membership deal to close
The half-price membership promotion by the Aurora Historical Society (AHS) which began in the Summer will continue through December 31. Society president Mary Clark Ormond said the opportunity for 12 months of the perks and privileges of membership is both a way to support the work of the organization and
A Focus on History: December 26 through January 1
December 26 The first day of the first Kwanzaa is celebrated in Los Angeles under the direction of Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University in Long Beach. The seven-day holiday, which has strong African roots, was designed by Dr. Karenga as a celebration of African
French Christmas traditions: Hotel de Sens, cuisine, gifts
The year is 1574 and the Hotel de Sens in Paris is welcoming Christmas guests. It was where the great lords of the Church lived and they seemed to have been, almost without exception, a rascally lot. The Cardinal of Lorrraine lived here. Some historians insist that Henry IV’s death
A Focus on History: December 19 through December 25
December 19 An explosion in the Darr Mine in Westmoreland County, Pa., kills 239 coal-miners. Seventy-one of the dead share a common grave in Olive Branch Cemetery. December 1907 was the worst month in U.S. coal-mining history, with more than 3,000 deaths. – 1907. After nearly 14 hours of debate,
Ben Franklin: Frugality, temperance, man of all-around talents
Ben Franklin was a Founding Father and in his 84-year old life, America’s best scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer, and business strategist. He was the only man who shaped all the founding documents of the United States which were the Albany Plan of Union, the Declaration of Independence, the treaty of
Aurora Historical Society bestows Victoria award on 2 rooms
Honoring the late-Victorian period of the Tanner House Museum, the Aurora Historical Society (AHS) has bestowed its holiday season Victoria award on two rooms this year, decorated by Michael Bryant and Kevin and Rachel Rose Bee. The honor, given for the first time last year, recognizes rooms that capture some
A Focus on History: December 12 through December 18
December 12 More than two years after it was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece The Mona Lisa is recovered inside Italian waiter Vincenzo Peruggia’s hotel room in Florence. Peruggia previously had worked at the Louvre and had participated in the heist with a group
The Book of Kells survives in Europe more than 1,200 years
Imagine three Celtic artist monks, secluded in the scriptorium of Iona, or in eastern Scotland, or in a new monastery at Kells, County Meath, Ireland. They welcome in the year 800 A.D. in days filled with extraordinary artistry and commitment. The Book is written on prepared calfskin (vellum) and contains
False narrative leads to ban on all hemp products until 2018
In 1937, Mr. William Randolph Hearst, newspaper-publishing tycoon, appeared before a committee of the U.S. Congress and requested that it introduce a bill prohibiting the growing, selling, and distribution of hemp. He was very disingenuous in his arguments because the hemp plant produced cannabis, a.k.a marijuana, which, he claimed, was
A Focus on History: December 5 through December 11
December 5 A fire at the Brooklyn Theater in New York City kills nearly 300 individuals and injures hundreds more. Some victims perished from a combination of burns and smoke inhalation; others were trampled to death in the general panic that ensued. – 1876. Unionists John T. McNamara and James
Remembering: Santa Claus delivered by sleigh in Montgomery
The holidays are a great time to remember family traditions and celebrations of the past. Older residents of Montgomery remember the days when Santa Claus rode through town on a sleigh and delivered packages containing candy, fruit, and nuts to all the children. This tradition was started by the Montgomery
Memphis charm multi-faceted, includes parks, Beale Street
Many thousands of years ago, Memphis and its area was settled by indigenous peoples. By the 17th Century, the Chickasaw Indians migrated to the Memphis area. The European-American city was founded in 1819 and incorporated in 1826. Cotton was king and large plantations developed on the work of enslaved Africans.
A Focus on History: November 28 through December 4
November 28 After sailing through the dangerous straits below South America, that now bear his name, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan enters the Pacific Ocean with three ships to become the first European explorer to reach the Pacific from the Atlantic. – 1520. Frank Duryea wins the first motor-car race in