Latest news with #ChicagoWorld'sFair
Buzz Feed
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Okay, These 25 Absolutely Fascinating And Mind-Blowing Pictures Just Completely Dismantled My Grasp On How The Entire World Works
These are the very first employees of Coca Cola, pictured here in Atlanta in 1898: The 1890s Coke holiday party probably went hard. This was how big the cake for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip's wedding was: It had four separate tiers and was over nine feet tall. I can neither confirm nor deny that it is an ice cream cake. In 1962, three men escaped Alcatraz Island prison after fooling guards with papier-mâché decoy heads that looked like this: Speaking of which, this is what the menu for Alcatraz prison looked like on March 13th, 1956: Hot dogs... chili... banana pudding... not too shabby. And, finally, here's what a typical Alcatraz cell looked like: Actually very, very shabby. This is one of the last pictures ever taken of President William McKinley, shot moments before he was assassinated in Buffalo, NY in 1901: He was shot by Leon Czolgosz. RIP, Mac. Two places on Earth had a 200-degree temperature difference last month: Where would you rather be? This is what the entrance exam to MIT looked like in 1869: Please share your score in the comments. This is a picture of the first Ferris Wheel ever, designed specifically for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair: It was a big deal, folks. Here's what the view looked like from it: Lots of BEAMS. This picture of a hairless chimpanzee really demonstrates just how absolutely yoked chimps are: So if you were thinking of throwing hands with a chimp, think again. Here's one more look at a jacked chimpanzee, because you deserve it: That little fellah there is Charlie, one of the smallest horses to ever live: Here's a closer look: Thank you for everything, Charlie. This is astronaut Dave Scott popping out of the command module for a brief spacewalk in 1969: This is perhaps the first photo of people drinking beer ever taken, snapped in the 1840s: Need to see the first ever picture of one dude hogging the jukebox, personally. This photo from a Seattle lumberyard in 1919 show just how high stacks of lumber could go in those days: It's as impressive as it is depressing. In 2010, 30 intact champagne bottles were found inside a ship that had sunk in the Baltic Sea more than two centuries before, around 1780: The champagne inside was still good and apparently "had a very sweet taste" and a "strong tobacco smell": The other bottles of champagne were sold at auction for over $50,000. I think I'd have to pop about three to four antacids before I braved the 18th-century champagne. This picture, taken in 1947 inside the "tube room" at a Chicago department store, shows the incredibly complicated and intricate series of tubes that would transport money and other papers between departments: Would love to chill in the tube room. This is what the "back" of the Hoover Dam looked like prior to being flooded with water: And this is what that same side looks like today: Wow...a lot more water. Who would've thought? This shows the difference between two legs after an ankle break prevents weight-bearing on one: Ouch. Some people have visible rings around their eyes. They are apparently called contraction furrows, and are totally normal: And very cool looking. This is what a mobile home looked like in the 1930s: Well, one mobile home. Looks like the opposite of comfy. And, finally, during World War II, the US military handed out a guide for American soldiers serving in Britain. This is a small excerpt of what it said: Some valuable advice there.
Chicago Tribune
21-06-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Today in History: WNBA made its debut
Today is Saturday, June 21, the 172nd day of 2025. There are 193 days left in the year. Today in history: On June 21, 1997, the WNBA made its debut as the New York Liberty defeated the host Los Angeles Sparks 67-57. Also on this date: In 1788, the United States Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became the required ninth state to ratify it. In 1834, Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his mechanical reaper. In 1893, the first Ferris wheel opened to the public as part of the Chicago World's Fair. In 1942, an Imperial Japanese submarine fired shells at Fort Stevens on the Oregon coast, but caused little damage. In 1954, scientists of the American Cancer Society presented a study to a meeting of the American Medical Association in San Francisco which found that men who regularly smoked cigarettes died, particularly from lung cancer, at a considerably higher rate than non-smokers. In 1964, civil rights activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi; their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam six weeks later. (Forty-one years later, on this date in 2005, Edgar Ray Killen, an 80-year-old former Ku Klux Klansman, was found guilty of manslaughter in their deaths; he was sentenced to 60 years in prison, where he died in January 2018.) In 1982, a jury in Washington, D.C. found John Hinckley Jr. not guilty by reason of insanity in the shootings of President Ronald Reagan, Press Secretary James Brady, Washington D.C. police office Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy. In 1989, a sharply divided Supreme Court ruled, in Texas v. Johnson, that burning the American flag as a form of political protest was protected by the First Amendment. In 2004, the aircraft SpaceShipOne made the first privately funded human spaceflight. In 2010, Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistan-born U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty to charges of plotting a failed car bombing in New York's Times Square. (Shahzad was later sentenced to life in prison.) Today's Birthdays: Composer Lalo Schifrin is 93. Musician Ray Davies (The Kinks) is 81. Actor Meredith Baxter is 78. Nobel peace prize laureate Shirin Ebadi is 78. Actor Michael Gross is 78. Author Ian McEwan is 77. Musician Nils Lofgren is 74. Cartoonist Berkeley Breathed is 68. Country musician Kathy Mattea is 66. Filmmaker Lana Wachowski is 60. Rapper-DJ-producer Pete Rock is 55. Actor Juliette Lewis is 52. Actor Chris Pratt is 46. Rock singer Brandon Flowers (The Killers) is 44. Britain's Prince William is 43. Singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey is 40. Golfer Scottie Scheffler is 29.
Boston Globe
21-06-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Today in History: June 21, US Constitution becomes law
Advertisement In 1834, Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his mechanical reaper. In 1893, the first Ferris wheel opened to the public as part of the Chicago World's Fair. In 1942, an Imperial Japanese submarine fired shells at Fort Stevens on the Oregon coast, but caused little damage. In 1954, scientists of the American Cancer Society presented a study to a meeting of the American Medical Association in San Francisco, Calif., which found that men who regularly smoked cigarettes died, particularly from lung cancer, at a considerably higher rate than non-smokers. In 1964, civil rights activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were murdered in Neshoba County, Miss. Their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam six weeks later. (Forty-one years later, on this date in 2005, Edgar Ray Killen, an 80-year-old former Ku Klux Klansman, was found guilty of manslaughter in their deaths; he was sentenced to 60 years in prison, where he died in January 2018.) Advertisement In 1982, a jury in Washington, D.C., found John Hinckley Jr. not guilty by reason of insanity in the shootings of President Ronald Reagan, Press Secretary James Brady, Washington D.C. police officer Thomas Delahanty, and Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy. In 1989, a sharply divided Supreme Court ruled, in Texas v. Johnson, that burning the American flag as a form of political protest was protected by the First Amendment. In 1997, the WNBA made its debut as the New York Liberty defeated the host Los Angeles Sparks 67-57. In 2004, the aircraft SpaceShipOne made the first privately funded human spaceflight. In 2010, Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistan-born US citizen, pleaded guilty to charges of plotting a failed car bombing in New York's Times Square. (Shahzad was later sentenced to life in prison.)
Chicago Tribune
18-06-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Jim Nowlan: With Illinois struggling, the Edgar Fellows could draft a vision for a positive future
Illinois doesn't know where it is going. Situation: After considering thousands of bills, the Illinois legislature paused its brief, frenetic spring session, putting off until the fall action on the really sticky issues, such as how to address a $770 million 'fiscal cliff' shortfall in funding for metro Chicago's critical mass transit. Legislative bodies exist to resolve conflict, which is time-consuming, challenging, even painful. Politics are largely a game of 'who gets what.' Granting additional money, say, to school kids, requires either, one, taking an equivalent amount from some other spending program; two, taking more in taxes out of the hides of voters; or three, transforming the equivalent expenditure into debt for future generations to pay off. (This assumes no or slow real economic growth in Illinois, as is the case.) Each of the 177 Illinois state legislators has his or her own bills to shepherd through the two houses of the legislature, and any bill that does anything has its pesky opponents. Members must feel as if they are running around like chickens with their heads cut off — scores of committees, floor sessions, meetings with constituents and lobbyists. Long-term thinking in Illinois is: 'How do we paper over next year's budget deficit?' There is never time for the big picture, 'the vision thing.' Where do we want the state to be in 10 to 20 years? How should we respond to climate change (which could be bad and good for Illinois)? What about our jerry-built revenue system, which is rather unresponsive in a services-driven economy? And an education system in which achievement for those on the lower half of the economic ladder is being devalued? (For example, achievement in our rural schools is abysmal, yet few seem to know or care.) How do we reverse state population decline and tepid job growth, which for decades has been slower than for the rest of the Midwest and nation? The singular piece of really forward thinking in Illinois history came with the Burnham Plan for Chicago of the early 1900s, led by architect Daniel Burnham and commissioned by the Commercial Club of Chicago. The effort followed on the heels of the stupendous Chicago World's Fair of 1893, visited by 27 million folks from around the world. So, the 'city of the big shoulders,' as poet Carl Sandburg described it, knew it could do big things. After much work, the plan was presented to the City Council, which also labored over the plan, ultimately adopting about half the recommendations. But what marvelous results: Thirty unbroken miles of lakefront open to the public; wide boulevards and spectacular parks, and more. Chicagoans and visitors have benefited every day since its adoption in 1909. Other states take the long look. With Texas 2036 (the state's 200th anniversary of nationhood), that state's civic and business leaders are shaping a stronger state for the long haul. I propose an idea for tapping into an incredible but underutilized resource for future thinking. Former Gov. Jim Edgar's greatest legacy may be his Edgar Fellows Program. Each summer for more than a decade, Jim gathers 40 of the state's young leaders, many of whom are now lawmakers, from all walks of life, political persuasions and geography. For a week, the fellows are sequestered near the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where they learn about our state and its government from experts and national leaders. Over bourbon and branch water in the evenings, they bond and come to appreciate one another. But then they leave town and fail to build on their relationships and any aspirations for a state they will lead in the years to come. I propose that the 500 Edgar Fellows, rather than simply feel good about themselves, take on the task of creating a vision for Illinois, as with the Burnham Plan. This needs be done outside the hurly-burly of politics, after which they would take their vision into the political arena, where it would be wrestled with, and adopted, if only in part. The fellows have both the smarts to create a vision and the growing clout to see it enacted. Illinois needs to know where it should be going, for a change.
USA Today
12-06-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
Before Henry Ford: The forgotten Detroit pioneer who drove the first gas-powered car
Before Henry Ford: The forgotten Detroit pioneer who drove the first gas-powered car Show Caption Hide Caption The impact and history of autos in Detroit, The Motor City Here are some facts about Detroit's auto industry. Charles Brady King was a "mechanical genius" inspired by what he'd seen at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. King caused a stir when he drove his own car on the streets of Detroit on March 6, 1896. For most people, the name Henry Ford probably springs to mind when they consider Motor City automotive pioneers. But Ford, who certainly stands out among those pioneers, wasn't the first person to drive a gas-powered car "of his own making," as it's been described, on the streets of Detroit. Ford's trip almost three months later in his Quadricycle was certainly notable, but Charles Brady King is the man recognized by the Automotive Hall of Fame, the Detroit Historical Society and other sources as the man who took that first drive in Detroit. In fact, the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, according to a Hall of Fame article, described 'the first horseless carriage seen in this city' as 'the invention of Charles B. King, a Detroiter.' King, a 'mechanical genius and one of the most technically knowledgeable of the early automotive pioneers,' had caused quite a stir on the night of March 6, 1896, driving from his machine shop on St. Antoine onto Jefferson Avenue before heading up Woodward Avenue, according to the article. The Henry Ford Museum seeks rare talent: Antique vehicle mechanic wanted. Is it the right job for you? 'A crowd soon gathered, and became large enough that it halted King's progress in front of the Russell House Hotel at Cadillac Square [in Downtown Detroit]. King eventually drove his vehicle back to the machine shop, only to be greeted by a policeman who threatened to ticket him for disturbing the peace,' the article said. King, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007, was inspired to design his car by what he'd seen at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, although there seems to be disagreement in a couple of sources about which vehicle or engine gave him the nudge. King, who died in 1957, gets credit, too, from several sources for helping Ford with his Quadricycle. "Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State" called King "one of the most interesting and likable of all the automotive pioneers." Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@ Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at
