Stephan Benzkofer – Page 4

The man the Great Fire of 1871 couldn’t beat

May 12, 2019 at 1:10 p.m.

William D. Kerfoot was exactly the type of irrepressible Chicagoan the Tribune was talking to when it famously urged residents to "CHEER UP" after the Great Chicago Fire. The editorial...

This drawing shows Dearborn Station with the vaulted roofs it had before a 1922 fire. Less than a month after the station opened in 1885, it was the site of a dramatic shootout that left one police officer dead.

When death arrived by train

August 18, 2019 at 7:39 p.m.

One hundred thirty years ago Sunday, a "maniac" was scheduled to arrive at the Polk Street train station, and the Chicago Police Department was the only law enforcement body willing...

A 2014 New York University study scrubbed a dollar bill and found 3,000 types of bacteria, the most common of which was one that causes acne.

10 things you might not know about money

May 11, 2019 at 2:22 a.m.

Activists are calling for the U.S. to put a woman on the $20 bill, replacing Andrew Jackson. Among the leading candidates: abolitionist Harriet Tubman, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil...

Kate Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William smile as they carry their newborn baby princess from The Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital in London. Britain's newborn princess has been named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.

10 things you might not know about royal mothers

May 11, 2019 at 2:21 a.m.

Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, is in the news, as is her newborn daughter, Princess Charlotte. But Mother's Day is the time for every child to treat mom like royalty,...

Margaret Black, 19, is crowned the May Day Queen of 1932, during the annual May Day festival at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., on May 19, 1932.

When was May Day’s heyday?

August 18, 2019 at 7:18 p.m.

The Flashback reader called to ask: Do you remember May Day baskets? What a wonderful tradition, she said, and why doesn't anybody do it anymore? It would make a great...

Marfa, Texas, was the setting for three movies -- "Giant" in 1956, and in 2007 "There Will Be Blood" and "No Country for Old Men," which all together hauled in 26 Academy Award nominations.

10 things you might not know about small towns

May 11, 2019 at 2:19 a.m.

The tornado that devastated Fairdale, Ill., this month put a spotlight on small towns and their determination to endure. Let's take a trip to 10 tiny destinations. 1. Marfa, Texas,...

Rosie Ruiz is shown moments after crossing the finish line as the apparent women's race winner of the 84th Boston Marathon on April 21, 1980. She was later stripped of the title after it was determined she had not run the entire race.

10 things you might not know about cheaters

May 11, 2019 at 2:18 a.m.

It's tax time, also known as the season for cheating. Meanwhile, 11 former Atlanta educators were convicted recently in a student test-rigging plot. And we're still not over the shock...

This 1865 Currier & Ives image provided by the Library of Congress, shows the fall of Richmond Va., on the night of April 2, 1865. The fall of Richmond foreshadowed the end of the Civil War. (AP Photo/Library of Congress)

The Civil War Ends — and Chicago erupts in joy

June 15, 2018 at 8:29 p.m.

By spring 1865, the outcome of the bloody Civil War was no longer in doubt, and the Tribune claimed the end of the rebellion was nigh. But exactly when that...

Mayoral candidate Donald Haider rides Dondi the elephant on the corner of State and Ontario Streets on March 18, 1987. Dondi was appearing in the Shrine Circus.

10 things you might not know about Chicago mayoral elections

May 11, 2019 at 2:16 a.m.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Jesus "Chuy" Garcia face off April 7 in the most competitive Chicago mayoral race in decades. Here are 10 facts about mayoral politics, to be read...

Three Cicero residents, Anton Krupicka, from left, Lewis Scheider and Emil Scheider, guard a Democrat candidate's headquarters against mobsters during the 1924 election in Cicero. The headquarters had been shot up earlier in the day. (baiduhai historical photo)

Al Capone’s battle for Cicero included ballots and bullets

April 2, 2024 at 3:59 p.m.

When reporters write today that political candidates took shots at each other and their supporters battled for voters, readers know it is figurative language to spice up humdrum campaign coverage....

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