Portal:Illinois

The Haymarket affair was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on Tuesday May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago. It began as a peaceful rally in support of workers striking for an eight-hour day and in reaction to the killing of several workers the previous day by the police. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at Chicago police as they acted to disperse the public meeting. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of seven police officers and at least four civilians; scores of others were wounded.

In the internationally publicized legal proceedings that followed, eight anarchists were convicted of conspiracy. Seven were sentenced to death and one to a term of 15 years in prison. The death sentences of two of the defendants were commuted by Illinois governor Richard J. Oglesby to terms of life in prison, and another committed suicide in jail. The other four were hanged on November 11, 1887. In 1893, Illinois' new governor John Peter Altgeld pardoned the remaining defendants and criticized the trial.

The Haymarket affair is generally considered significant as the origin of international May Day observances for workers. The site of the incident was designated a Chicago Landmark in 1992, and a public sculpture was dedicated there in 2004. In addition, the Haymarket Martyrs' Monument at the defendants' burial site in nearby Forest Park was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997.

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Judith Krug (March 15, 1940 – April 11, 2009) was an American librarian, freedom of speech proponent, and critic of censorship. Krug became Director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association in 1967. In 1969, she joined the Freedom to Read Foundation as its Executive Director. Krug co-founded Banned Books Week in 1982.

Krug was born (as Judith Fingeret) in Pittsburgh. She received a Master of Arts degree in library science from the Graduate Library School of the University of Chicago. She became a research analyst for the American Library Association in 1965 and became director of its Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) upon its foundation. As director of the OIF, Krug organized publication of a newsletter which recounted instances of censorship in the U.S. and suggested ways to deal with these attempts to limit free speech. She coordinated the effort against the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which was the first attempt by the United States Congress to introduce a form of censorship of speech on the Internet. Krug strongly opposed the notion that libraries should censor the material that they provide to patrons. Krug raised a public outcry against the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and in 2003, led the initiative to challenge the constitutionality of the Children's Internet Protection Act. (Read more...)

• ... that the Chicago River flows backwards?
• ... that students at Aptakisic Junior High School regularly complain of poor HVAC systems?
• ... that although Olga Hartman believed that her basic research on marine worms had no practical value, it was applied to experimental studies of oysters?
• ... that Jack Washburn was called "Cinderella Boy" for winning a starring role in his first Broadway show?

• ... that four course records were broken during the 2023 Chicago Marathon (women's winner pictured)?
• ... that the restaurant CosMc's is named after a character from McDonaldland?
• ... that Salty Parker, who spent 60 years in organized baseball, described his lifelong love of the game as "a beautiful disease"?
• ... that authorities said the killing of Wadea al-Fayoume in Illinois was a response to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war?

23 November 2025 – Slender Man stabbing

Police detain stabbing convict Morgan Geyser in Posen, Illinois, United States, after he removed his monitoring device and fled a supervised group home in Wisconsin. Geyser is returned to Wisconsin custody. (BBC News) (Reuters)

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