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In 1889, an international group of socialist party members and trade union representatives designated May 1 as a day in support of workers in commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Affair in Chicago and the subsequent trial and executions. Since then, May Day (also called Workers’ Day or International Workers’ Day) has been celebrated in many countries and recognizes the historic struggles and gains made by workers and More
On this day in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln died in the Petersen family’s boarding house in Washington, DC, at 7:22 a.m. The night before, John Wilkes Booth shot him during a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre, and soldiers carried Lincoln across Tenth Street so that he could pass his last moments peacefully and not risk a bumpy carriage ride back to the White House. After More
Today is the start of Songkran, the traditional Thai New Year. The holiday was Thailand’s official New Year until 1888 when it was switched to a fixed date of April 1. In 1940, the date of the New Year was changed again to January 1, and Songkran was transformed into a three-day national holiday. Thai More
For National Beer Day, we hope you enjoy a cold one—if you’re of age, that is. The day is observed on April 7 because on that day in 1933, the Cullen-Harrison Act went into effect, amending the National Prohibition Act and allowing the manufacture and sale of beer and wine with a 3.2% alcohol content or less. During the nineteenth century, beer making in Chicago was transformed from a small-scale, seasonal activity More
It’s National Deep Dish Pizza Day! Where will you be ordering from tonight? Modern pizza is reputed to have started in Naples in 1889 when Raffaele Esposito created the “Pizza Margherita,” with tomato, mozzarella, and basil replicating the colors of the Italian flag, for King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Italy. From there, pizza spread across the More
Happy Easter! In this image, a crowd stands around the Fourth Presbyterian Church for an Easter parade along North Michigan Avenue, just south of Delaware Place, in 1927. The church recently celebrated its sesquicentennial. On February 12, 1871, Fourth Presbyterian Church was formed with the merging of the North Presbyterian Church (founded in 1848) and Westminster Presbyterian Church (founded in 1855 as a mission church of the First More
As the weather warms up, many Chicagoans’ minds turn to baseball. Despite injuries, contract negotiations, and other issues, Sox and Cubs fans always have hope this time of year as a new season stretches out before them. Harry Caray, longtime Sox and Cubs broadcaster, often spread this early season cheer. Whether handing out beer, taking a shower in the More
On March 31, 1927, Césario Estrada Chávez was born in Yuma, Arizona, to a Mexican American family. They moved to California in 1938 after his father was swindled out of some land. Both he and his family did field work all around California. Growing up, Chávez and his brother Richard attended thirty-seven different schools through More
Today is World Theatre Day, which unites theatre professionals, theatre organizations, theatre universities, and theatre lovers all over the world. First celebrated in 1962, the day is a celebration for those who can see the value and importance of the art form “theatre” and “acts as a wake-up call for governments, politicians, and institutions which have not yet recognized its value to the people and to the More
“In all of the major struggles and minor struggles of the organized labor movement, even though history doesn’t always record it, women were there.” —Reverend Addie L. Wyatt On this day in 1974, the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) was formed at a founding conference held in Chicago and attended by more than 3,000 union More