Do you have an unconventional hobby? Something that fascinates you but makes others scratch their heads? For Will Quam, that passion comes in a size 194 × 92 × 57 mm and chances are you encounter thousands of them every single day. If the title didn’t give it away, I’m
October 23 A suicide bomber drives a truck filled with 2,000 pounds of explosives into a U.S. Marine Corps barracks at the Beirut International Airport. The explosion kills 220 Marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers. A few minutes after that bomb went off, a second bomber drives into the basement
October 16 Civil war in China between the nationalists and the communists breaks out in 1927. The embattled Chinese communists break through nationalist enemy lines and begin an epic flight from their encircled headquarters in southwest China. Known as Ch’ang Cheng, the Long March, the communist forces’ retreat lasts for
By Ricky Rieckert Dear readers, I am going to finish up last week’s story of me working at The Blue Lantern Restaurant, where I started working in the summer of 1974. My favorite waitress to work with was Pam, she was Chinese, gorgeous, friendly, and always gave me pointers. One
October 9 Some 3,300 sanitation workers who work for private haulers in Chicago win a nine-day strike featuring a 28% wage increase over five years. – 2003. October 10 Six days into a cotton field strike by 18,000 Mexican and Mexican-American workers in Pixley, Calif., four strikers are killed and
October 2 Joining with 400,000 coal miners already on strike, 500,000 CIO steel workers close down the Nation’s foundries, steel mills, and iron mills, demand for pensions, better wages, and better working conditions. – 1949. Actor Rock Hudson, 59, becomes the first major U.S. celebrity to die of complications from
On a summer evening nearly one century ago, the sound of a mandolin floated across the Mexican boxcar camp in West Eola. Played by young Julia Pérez Padilla, the music carried through rows of families who had come from Mexico to work for the railroads in Aurora. Fast forward to
The Village of Montgomery’s Historic Preservation Commission will host an annual walk at Riverside Cemetery, River and Taylor streets, Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m.. The public is invited. Admission and parking are free. Tours will begin every 10 minutes. Attendees should bring flashlights and wear sturdy shoes to navigate
Experience local history come to life during the annual Oswego Cemetery Walk Thursday, Oct. 2 from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.. Participants will be guided through the Oswego Township Cemetery to visit with “ghosts” of early Oswego residents and pioneers. Registration the day of the event is $10, space permitting.
September 25 The first Congress of the United States approves 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and sends them to the states for ratification. The amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were designed to protect the basic rights of U.S. citizens. – 1789. Under escort from the U.S. Army’s
By Ricky Rieckert Dear readers, I’m thankful to former Aurora mayor David Pierce for his input last week about the Hollywood Casino in Aurora, which opened in 1993. The former mayor wrote that the City gave the casino the land, where the casino was built and a small parking lot,
September 18 George Washington lays the cornerstone to the United States Capitol building, the home of the legislative branch of American government. The building took nearly 70 years to complete, because architects came and went, the British set fire to it, and it was called into use during the Civil
By Ricky Rieckert Dear readers, I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. This week, I’m writing about old buildings in Aurora’s downtown. Let’s start with the tallest building in Aurora, and at one time, the second tallest building in Illinois, behind the Sears Tower, in Chicago, the “The
Time was, you could catch the interurban trolley at Main and Washington streets in downtown Oswego and, with inexpensive transfers, ride electric lines all the way east to the Atlantic Coast and all the way west to the Mississippi River. That era will be brought to life once again at
September 11 Approximately 75,000 coal miners in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, end a 10-week strike after winning an eight-hour day, semi-monthly pay, and the abolition of overpriced company-owned stores, where they had been forced to shop. – 1897. At 7:45 a.m. CDT an American Airlines Boeing 767 crashes into
By Ricky Rieckert Dear readers, I hope you have read my last two articles on Aurora’s downtown. It’s a serious issue for all Aurorans. One letter to the editor, last week made a comment on my “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, comment. She wrote a very good editorial
September 4 Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed by Odoacer, a German barbarian, who proclaims himself king of Italy. – 476 A.D.. Apache chief Geronimo surrenders to U.S. government troops. For 30 years, the mighty Native American warrior had battled to protect his tribe’s
August 28 More than 23,000 Hungarian Jews are murdered by the Gestapo in German-occupied Ukraine. – 1941. The march for jobs and freedom, the Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have A Dream” speech march, is held in Washington, D.C. with 250,000 participating. – 1963. At the Democratic National Convention in
By Ricky Rieckert Dear readers, The article this week on Aurora’s history continues with the focus on downtown Aurora. Readers 50 years and older might remember places I’m writing about. Not that I’m omitting the younger generations, but they didn’t have a chance to see or experience Aurora the way
Ever wonder how Oswego’s downtown business district evolved to become the vibrant collection of shops and offices it is today? Find out when the Oswegoland Heritage Association and the Little White School Museum host “Oswego History Tour – Downtown,” starting at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23. All communities evolve and
