This week in history: 9/11

The date September 11 is as associated with a single event as any date in the country today. Everyone associates it with September 11, 2001, the worst day in the history of New York and the United States. Four hijaked planes. Two to the World Trade Center, one in to the Pentagon, and one in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It was by far the worst act of terrorism on United States soil. It was a day that changed America, a day we lost our innocence. It was a tragedy of the worst kind.

Even nine years later, we still adhere to 9/11 rules while boarding an airplane or entering a concert or sporting event. The trust isn't there anymore, we can't afford it to be.

I remember hearing of the even in between Mod A and Mod B while a junior at Marist High School in Chicago. They announced that there was a plane crash at the World Trade Center while reading the regular announcements at that time of the day. Our principal Mr. Tucker and school president Br. Rick Carey came back on the P.A. system later during Mod B, which was Band practice for me.

They announced that there were two planes that hit the WTC and an additional one that may have hit the Pentagon. We immediately put the event on television just to immediately see the collapse of the South Tower. The North Tower followed minutes later and all of us knew we were experiencing a historical event that would change the course of the country.

Rumors were spreading that another plane was on its way to Chicago and headed for the Sears Tower. They thought another one was on the way to Washington to hit the White House.

That news story dominated the day for anyone living in the country at that time. During each class, the television was on and we did not even think about going over the lesson plan for the day. Our history teacher postponed an exam that was scheduled that day. The math teacher was the exception, as we spent 43 minutes during Mod G learning about complex algebra equations instead of focusing on what was happening.

The story dominated the news for weeks and months after the tragedy. The term Ground Zero is a part of every American's vocabulary. So many stories of heroism and tragic loss came from this. It effected more people than any other event ever could.

As bad as the tragedy was, it did a lot for humanity in the days and weeks afterwards. We were all united. We all had a common bond. Minor disagreements were nothing. We all rallied around the American Flag, it was patriotism like no other time in my lifetime. You probably have to go back to World War II to find another time that people showed love for their country as much as they did the days and weeks after 9/11.

We will NEVER forget what happened. And each September 11 should bring a little bit more unity and patriotism than any other day on the calendar.

This week in History.....June 17, 1994

This week in.....1994 - ESPN put together their best 30/30 film last week when they showed "June 17th 1994," an hour long movie taking you back to the events of that day 16 years ago. It was probobly the biggest news day in the history of sports. At least in my lifetime it is. 6/17/94 had it all. Five different stories that all would have been top page news on an ordinary day. But this was no ordinary day. This was history, and ESPN did a great job of putting together a documentary that took you from the morning hours and the jovial mood in New York to a near tragedy in Los Angeles in the evening.
At 10 a.m., hockey fans in New York were rejoicing after the Rangers won the Stanley Cup a few days earlier for the first time in 54 years. The parade down the canyon of heroes had New York fans glowing, especially since the Knicks were two wins away from giving the city a second parade in a week. At that point, New Yorkers already knew it would be a big day - A Stanley Cup parade in the morning downtown, and Game Five of the Knicks-Rockets NBA FInals series at Madison Square Garden that evening.
Meanwhile in Los Angeles, former NFL runningback O.J. Simpson was named the top suspect in the killing of his wife Nicole and friend Ronald Goldman. He was scheduled to turn himself in, but never showed up when they expected him at 11 a.m. At his lawyer Robert Shapiro's news conference, OJ's friend Robert Kardashian came to the podium to read a suicide note OJ had prepared earlier in the day. The situation was real life drama, in effect, it was the beginning of true reality television.
We all know about the Bronco chase that ended at OJ's house that evening. It was clearly the story of the day. Bob Costas and other NBC sports figures were clearly more interested in watching the chase than covering Game Five of the NBA Finals, which occurred at the same time.
But this day's significance was prevelant outside of just New York and L.A. The United States hosted the World Cup in 1994 and the opening ceremony ocurred at noon that day at Soldier Field in Chicago. Being a nine year old, that is all I remember from that day. I remember it was hot and my father telling me the German team would have a hard time competing in the 100 degree weather.
At the U.S. Open that day, legendary golfer Arnold Palmer competed at his final major. Palmer deserved a great deal of publicity for the final event of his great career, but other events of the day obviously overshadowed him.
In Kansas City, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 30th home run of the year, making himself the fastest to 30 in a season in MLB history. Griffey would not be given the chance to brake Roger Maris' record of 61 in a season due to a player's strike in August that cancelled the rest of the season.
One day, six gigantic stories. But only one of them was a history changer. Something that we will never forget. The event that spearheaded the trial of the century and changed sports and television coverage of live trials forever.

Today in History: Pullman Strike

On this date in...1894 - May 11, 1894: It had been praised as the ideal community, the Utopian village. George Pullman had seemingly solved the problems of industrialization by creating such a village centred on the sleeping railcar industry. People had good living conditions, with rowhouses across town. Everything was going smoothly. Pullman's invention of the sleeping railcar had impressed visitors to the city for the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. People were living comfortably with the amount they made working for Pullman.
But a financial depression hit nationwide that year. And Pullman sharply cut wages to save money. But he also said that since rents would not increase in a time of flourishment, they should not decrease in a time of recession. People were getting paid less and still had to pay lofty rents.
The workers, with the backing of the American Railway Union and leader Eugene V. Debs, organized a strike on May 11, 1894. The strike only lasted a few months, but the imprisonment of Debs paved the way for him to organize the American Socialist Party. Pullman died a few years later and his town was sold off in 1898 after being deemed "uncompatible with the American spirit."
Pullman tried to make the perfect society, but instead created the company store.
This date in history effectively put the end to the idea of a Utopian society. It also served as a benchmark event of the workers revolution and paved way to the Socialist party.
Pullman

This week in History: Haymarket Affair

This week in...1886 - May 4, 1886: May 4 has historically been a day of anarchy and violent protests with the Kent State Massacre and the Haymarket Riot nearly 100 years prior in Chicago. As violent and unjust as the Kent State Massacre had been, they Haymarket Affair was possibly the worst carriage of justice in American history.
The relationship between labor and management was at an all-time low across the county and Chicago was no exception. A number of protests had occurred in the days prior to May 4 with Chicago workers including the ones in the stockyards preaching for the eight-hour work day.
Led by anarchist August Spies, the radicals gathered on May 4 at Haymarket Square on Desplaines Street to stage another rally. At first, it appeared peaceful. In fact, Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison was at the event and left after awhile after telling police not to disrupt the "tame" meeting.
But 178 policemen came anyway and ordered the crowd to disperse after the Mayor left. When confronted, one of the protesters threw a bomb that exploded near the officers. The officers in turn immediately opened fire. Eight died, mostly from their own gunfire. As many as ten civilians were killed.
Even though the person who threw the bomb was never captured, eight people were charged with the act. The citizens couldn't imagine not charging anyone with the act. Four of the eight were hung in the Cook County Jail the following year and one committed suicide. The remaining three were pardoned in 1893. The pardoning ruined the career of Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld.
Most of the people that were charged and killed because one person threw the bomb were peaceful protesters. Over time, people realized the state was out of line for charging so many people just on loose belief, especially when it is clear that one person threw the bomb.

This week in history: Kent State Massacre

This week in...1970 - May 4, 1970: Fueled by President Nixon's April 30 speech that pledged an increase in American troops being sent to Cambodia, the campus of Kent State University erupted with protesters. After causing much commotion at the Ohio University including the burning down of the campus' ROTC building, Governor James A. Rhodes called the state's National Guard to the campus on May 3. He said he "vowed to use every weapon possible to erradicate the problem."
Another student demonstration occurred on May 4. The National Guard enacted martial law to disperse the crowd, but were met with hostile chants and thrown rocks. With angry students cornering the officers, the National Guard fired their gunfire for 13 consecutive seconds. In all, 61 bullets were fired and four students were killed.
Although 25 students and protesters were charged, all 28 of the National Guardsmen escaped legal blame. The event is remembered as perhaps the most violent Vietnam related event that occurred in the United States.

Today in History: Oak Lawn Tornado

This will be the first in the installment of Today in History, and Today in Sports History. I always remember the dates of significant historical events and I can't think of a better way to begin than to discuss perhaps the biggest event in the history of my home town. 

On this day in...1967:  April 21, 1967 - One of the deadliest tornadoes in Chicago's city history occurred on this day in 1967. In all, 33 people died. On a day where nine tornadoes formed over Illinois, the most severe touched down at 5:30 p.m. in Palos Hills and was quickly making its way to Oak Lawn, my home town. The tornado created the most damage at the intersection of 95th Street and Southwest Highway, where 16 people dies in those few seconds alone. The twister ripped off the roof of Oak Lawn Community High School and also destroyed an ice rink at 91st and Cicero. It rummaged through Hometown and then down 87th Street before becoming a waterspout over Lake Michigan near 79th Street. When the tornado made its way to the 8700 block of South Loomis, my late uncle, Mike Leahy, narrowly averted the disaster when the tornado destroyed houses across the street but skipped his side of the block.

Even though the twister hit many Chicago suburbs and the city itself, it will always be known as the Oak Lawn Tornado for the damage it caused at 95th and Southwest Highway.