Tall tales
MAKE NO LITTLE PLANS, the great Daniel Burnham said, advice that was studiously followed by the Chicago visionaries who in May 1929 announced plans for "the world's tallest structure ever...
All Stories
Triumph of normalcy
SOON, MILLIONS will head back to school, and among them will be Alyssa Smith, 19, now entering her sophomore year at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C. She's about to begin...
Viral marketing
IF YOU COULD CALCULATE how many words are exchanged daily by this planet's inhabitants, it would dwarf any similar count done 20 years ago. This worldwide logorrhea is, of course,...
The waiting game
To the long and hoary list of things that cause marital spats must be added a very contemporary one--the issue of who will stay home from work to let in...
Professor Baseball
EDWIN AMENTA'S WORK often involves bell curves, but what really matters to him are things like curve balls. The New York University sociologist plays in five 12-inch softball leagues. On...
Don’t tell, don’t ask
SOME SAY THE U.S. MILITARY is in denial. We'll sidestep that debate and merely point out what happened when Gen. Peter Pace, the retiring chairman of the Joint Chiefs of...
CULTURAL RIFFS
IT WAS 40 JULY 1STs AGO TODAY (we know, we know, that's why we're not songwriters) that the Beatles' trailblazing album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" hit No. 1...
1,000+
NUMBER OF ICE CREAM FLAVORS CREATED BY BASKIN-ROBBINS SINCE THE "31 FLAVORS" CHAIN BEGAN IN 1945. PEOPLE WHO GOT THEIR START SCOOPING FOR B-R INCLUDE BARACK OBAMA.
TRIBia
Q: What Chicago Cubs manager was known as "The Fordham Flash" in his playing days, a reference to his alma mater? A: Frankie Frisch, who managed from 1949-51, taking over...
IN THE LOOP
IN THE LOOP: SIDEWALKS BY RICK KOGAN 'Admirably nasty' CHICAGO WRITER'S MYSTERY TALE WINS PRAISE FROM STEPHEN KING AND A NOD FROM HER PEERS I don't know the people who...