Before radio and TV, how did people find out the results of presidential elections the same night?
Health Advice During 1918 Flu Pandemic: Chicago’s A. Wilberforce Williams
Drinking bleach or adding hot peppers to your soup will not protect you from COVID-19: So says the World Health Organization in its lengthy Coronavirus Disease Advice for the Public: Mythbusters. Unfortunately, during the 1918-19 flu pandemic, we didn't have the WHO to warn us against bogus cures. Fortunately, Chicago had Dr. A. Wilberforce Williams…
What the Troops Were Reading During World War II
During World War II, the U.S. Army and Navy started a program to print and distribute inexpensive paperback books to American armed forces around the world. This was to help the troops get through long hours of boredom and to boost their morale. This program, called the Armed Services Editions, distributed over 122 million books…
8 Science Fiction Books by Women
In 1818, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, Or, The Modern Prometheus, which is considered by many to be the first true science fiction novel. Since then, many women have written other great science fiction. Unfortunately, too much of it was either not published, because it was written by women, or their work was not recognized as science…
Science Fiction by Women: Afrofuturism Edition
Author Nisi Shawl spoke at the Woodson Regional Library earlier this month about the effect that author Octavia Butler had on her personally and professionally. She was there as part of the One Book, One Chicago series of programs and CPL’s celebration of African American History Month. Did you get to go? If you did…
Read Like an Astronaut
So you want to be an astronaut? You know it’s not really like Armageddon, right? (And you really hope it’s not like The Martian.) Because in real life, it’s a lot more like the movie Apollo 13. Speaking of Apollo missions, Apollo 8 was the first time humans went to the moon and back. They…
100 Years Ago: Chicago Celebrated the End of WWI
Monday, November 11, 1918. The Chicago Tribune received an alert from the Associated Press at 1:55 a.m.: “Armistice signed.” There had been a false alert on Thursday, so the news was checked and double-checked, but this time it was true: After four long years, World War I was finally over. As we mark the 100th…
What’s new in diabetes cookbooks
Your doctor just told you that you need to eat better if you don't want to get diabetes and maybe have to go on all sorts of medication. You want to avoid pills, right? So what does "eat better" mean, anyway? What can you eat now? And does it have to be yucky? CPL to…
Happy 19th birthday, Buffy!
This month, Buffy the Vampire Slayer turns 19. (Okay, the TV series turns 19. The movie that came first turns 24.) "A vampire in love with a slayer. It's rather poetic...in a maudlin sort of way." --Rupert Giles As I was saying: the TV series started 19 years ago. If you're a big Buffy fan…
March 10 Is MAR1O Day
March 10 is MAR1O Day. How many famous Marios do you know? There are Marios who sing, like Mario Lanza, whose life and career are documented in Mario Lanza, and just Mario, whose most recent album is D.N.A. There are Marios who write, like Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather, and Mario Vargas Llosa, whose latest…
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