October 24A 63-year-old schoolteacher, Annie Edson Taylor, becomes the first known person to take the plunge over Niagara Falls in a barrel. – 1901. The first U.S. federal minimum wage, 25¢ an hour, takes effect, thanks to enactment of the Depression-era Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA). The law required an
More chickens have come home to roost. In a previous essay, I stated that the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, which ended World War I, had unintentional consequences and that those consequences were the massive conflicts currently embroiling all of Southwest Asia. Among other things, the Treaty called for the
October 17Gangster Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion and fined $80,000 to signal the downfall of one of the most notorious criminals of the 1920s and 1930s. – 1931. Paris police kill more than 200 Algerians who were marching in the city in support
By John W. Whitehead “You gotta remember, establishment, it’s just a name for evil. The monster doesn’t care whether it kills all the students or whether there’s a revolution. It’s not thinking logically, it’s out of control.” —John Lennon (1969) John Lennon, was born 79 years ago October 9, 1940,
By Lyle R. Rolfe When I walked down my driveway to get the daily newspaper, Wall Street Journal, I thought back to my grade school days when I delivered newspapers prior to school each morning. At that time, if memory serves me, it was The Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun
October 10 A former U.S. postal worker kills his former supervisor with a three-foot samurai sword, shoots the supervisor’s fiance, and shoots two former co-workers to death at the post office in Ridgewood, N.J.. His violent outburst was one of several high-profile attacks by postal workers that resulted in the
October 3 Expressing gratitude for a pivotal Union Army victory at Gettysburg, U.S. president Abraham Lincoln announces that the Nation will celebrate an official Thanksgiving holiday November 26. – 1863. With the admission of Iraq into the League of Nations, Britain terminates its mandate over the Arab nation which makes
September 26For the first time in U.S. history, a debate between major party presidential candidates is shown on television. The presidential hopefuls, John F. Kennedy, a Democratic Party senator of Massachusetts, and Richard M. Nixon, the vice president of the United States, meet in a Chicago studio to discuss U.S.
“How good are the tears. How sweet the dirges.” —Euripides The Trojan Woman On a Canaanite clay tablet from the 14th Century B.C. was found the earliest written record of tears. Named after a village in northwest Syria, the tablets were found by archaeologists and the tablets were from the
September 19Between 400,000 to 500,000 unionists converge on Washington, D.C. for a Solidarity Day march and rally to protest Republican policies. – 1981. A powerful earthquake strikes Mexico City and leaves 10,000 residents dead, 30,000 injured, and thousands more homeless. – 1985. September 20Portuguese navigator, Ferdinand Magellan, sets sail from
A loan exhibition in cooperation with the Organization of Antiquities of the Arab Republic of Egypt and co-sponsored by the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute, the Field Museum in Chicago produced a remarkable exhibit of the “Treasures of Tutankhamun” in the Spring and Summer 1977. We were there. My daughter
September 12Six months after the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev succeeds him with his election as first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev, in 1961, authorized construction of the Berlin Wall in East Germany. – 1960. Hurricane Gilbert slams into Jamaica. Approximately 80%
September 5Between 20,000 to 30,000 marchers participate in New York’s first Labor Day parade with the demand for an eight-hour work day. – 1882. In the early morning hours of September 5, six members of the Arab terrorist group known as Black September, dressed in the Olympic sweat suits of
August 29At a remote test site at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, the USSR successfully detonates its first atomic bomb, code name “First Lightning.” – 1949. Hurricane Katrina makes landfall near New Orleans, La., as a Category 4 hurricane. It is believed that the hurricane caused more than 1,300 deaths and up
Twenty new engraved stone pavers have been added to the walkway around the historic Settlers Cottage in front of the Montgomery Village Hall and join more than 200 engraved pavers previously installed to commemorate residents or businesses in the Village. The new pavers were set in place to honor those
Last of two parts Click here for part one. Elizabeth Lombardo, Ph.D. Psychology Today thought it would be inspirational to gain wisdom from each of our 45 presidents. Part one examined the best quotes from the first president, George Washington, to the 22nd president Grover Cleveland. Following Benjamin Harrison, Cleveland
I’m giving you a heads up before you read any further. I’m somewhat impaired physically this time, rather than my standard mental impairment. While doing some yard work the other day, I ran over my glasses with the lawnmower, which made them unsuitable for seeing through, mainly because they are
August 22The Geneva Convention of 1864 for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick of Armies in the Field is adopted by 12 nations meeting in Geneva. The agreement calls for non-partisan care to the sick and wounded in times of war and provided for the neutrality
Community Foundation in list of grants The Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley was host to its Spring Grantee Recognition Ceremony at Baker Community Center in St. Charles Tuesday, July 16. Supporters gathered at the historic building to celebrate the 20 agencies that were approved grants from the Foundation
