The Decade Chicago Lifted Itself Out of the Mud
In the 1850s the central business district of Chicago was raised four to fourteen feet on jackscrews while continuing to operate. People kept eating at the hotels.
Read the story →A region
North America
Canada, the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America.
7 stories from this region.
The Missionary Who Sailed to Greenland to Find the Vikings
Hans Egede spent fifteen years on the Greenland coast looking for Norse Christians who had been dead for three centuries. He found ruins, ice, and Inuit.
Read the story →The Tree Halifax Sends Boston Every Year
Every November, Nova Scotia cuts down a 45-foot white spruce and ships it to Boston Common. The tradition is a thank-you for a relief train that arrived in 1917.
Read the story → The Coroner’s Report June 9, 2026 · Chicago River, between Clark and LaSalle Street bridges, Chicago
The Picnic Boat That Tipped Over at the Dock
On 24 July 1915 a steamer chartered for a Western Electric company picnic capsized at its Chicago River mooring. 844 people died in twenty feet of water.
Read the story →Two Minutes, Two Survivors
On 8 May 1902 a volcano on Martinique destroyed a city of thirty thousand. Two men lived to tell about it. One was in a dungeon.
Read the story →The Captain Who Stayed on the Burning Ship
On 16 April 1947 a French freighter loaded with fertilizer caught fire at a Texas dock. Everyone but Captain de Guillebon ran. He fought the fire.
Read the story →The Telegraph Operator Who Stayed at His Key
On 6 December 1917, Vince Coleman had ninety seconds to warn the incoming trains. He used them, and then he was gone.
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