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Posted by: Malea Walker
Lost limbs and fingers, burns, blinding explosions, lockjaw and death. In the early 1900s, fireworks had not yet been perfected. Dangerous concoctions of explosives were used as an exciting way to celebrate our country’s independence, but the price was steep. Giant firecrackers, cannon fire, firearms, and rockets were just some of the loud and bright, …
Posted in: Digitized Newspapers, Holidays
Posted by: Heather Thomas
It takes a thief to catch a thief. That was how imprisoned mob boss Al Capone proposed to bring the kidnapped Lindbergh baby home safely. On March 2, 1932, from his cell in Cook County Jail in Chicago, one day after the son of famous aviator Charles Lindbergh had been kidnapped, “Scarface” Al Capone offered …
Posted in: Crime, Digitized Newspapers, Newspapers
Posted by: Arlene Balkansky
"The significance of this cannot be overstated. It is a new thing in our history" proclaimed President Wilson about the Selective Service Act passed May 18, 1917.
Posted in: Digitized Newspapers, Newspapers, World War I
Posted by: Amber Paranick
What are you afraid of? “Subways!” Mabel Stark, renowned Bengal tiger trainer, told the New-York Tribune in 1922. “Trains roaring through the tunnel terrify me more than any beast I’ve ever met,” she said. Following a nervous breakdown, the former nurse sought a “simpler & easier” profession: training wild jungle cats for the big top. …
Posted in: Animals, Biography, Digitized Newspapers, Newspapers, Women's History
Posted by: Heather Thomas
Why do we commoners get a kick out of royal weddings? Maybe it’s the garb: brides in white silk with laced veils, grooms decked out in full military dress. Or the pomp and circumstance: ancient rituals, gilded carriages, thousands of cheering spectators. Or it could be the simple desire to watch a fairy tale turn …
Posted in: Digitized Newspapers, Newspapers
Posted by: Arlene Balkansky
As Prohibition loomed, Budweiser ads celebrated George Washington, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and other “Framers of the Constitution” as “moderate” drinkers of “barley-malt brews.” Historic details specific to each Founding Father were interwoven with an overall strategy of praising them and the Constitution for guaranteeing “Religious, Commercial and Personal Liberty,” and for lauding …
Posted in: Digitized Newspapers, Newspapers, U.S. Presidents