Tunneling Methods: Underground Chicago

Previous: Early Tunnels Tunneling is generally performed by either boring or the open cut method. Bored tunnels are cut entirely underground. Chicago’s early tunnels used this method. Workers chopped away the clay by hand. Deeper tunnels in the limestone bedrock were drilled and blasted with explosives. Modern tunnels also use boring machines. The open cut…
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Early Tunnels: Underground Chicago

People rarely think much about what is under their feet, yet much of what makes a modern city livable is hidden underground. This impressive underground infrastructure includes water to drink and bathe in, sewers to take away smelly and unhealthy waste, gas to heat our houses, electricity to light and cool us, and telecommunications to keep…
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Love The Zookeeper’s Wife? Try More Books by Diane Ackerman

The 2007 book The Zookeeper's Wife by naturalist, poet and author Diane Ackerman has been adapted for the big screen. The movie release is a great reason to learn more about this singular talent. Ackerman's beautiful blend of imagery and lush descriptions are perfectly balanced with science and fact. First her language will take your breath away, and…
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Wheatless Mondays: The 100-Year Anniversary of WWI

Before gluten-free and soy milk became common at the grocery store, Americans needed a bit of coaxing to embrace wheatless Mondays, meatless Tuesdays, porkless Saturdays and ice cream made without sugar or cream. Like our One Book, One Chicago selection, Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, World War I or the "Great War" urgently required citizens to…
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New Teen Novels in Verse

You don't need to read old-school Shakespeare to celebrate National Poetry Month. These new novels in verse capture teens' thoughts and feelings in modern language. If you want a clever Shakespeare retelling, Ronit & Jamil updates Romeo and Juliet with a modern political plot. Set in present-day Israel, the novel reveals how Ronit, an Israeli pharmacist's daughter, and Jamil, a…
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Teen Novels Hit Big and Small Screens

Adaptations of some extremely popular teen novels are debuting on television and in theaters this month. Thirteen Reasons Why, based on Jay Asher's 2007 book, will start streaming on Netflix on March 31. The TV series breaks the story down into 13 episodes, one for each cassette tape Hannah leaves behind after her suicide. Thirteen Reasons Why is…
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