Mark Jacob

10 things you might not know about fingerpointing

May 31, 2019 at 9:28 p.m.

Should 2017’s avatar be a pointing index finger? Just this month, allegations of various types have brought down Chicago schools chief Forrest Claypool, U.S. Sen. Al Franken and U.S. Reps....

Here are 10 things you probably didn't know about gratitude.

10 things you might not know about gratitude

June 5, 2019 at 5:47 p.m.

There’s nothing wrong with being lucky, but there’s plenty wrong with not knowing how lucky you are. So as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, we’re grateful you’re reading this article....

Lucy Parsons bio reveals new facts about the birth, ethnicity of the ‘Goddess of Anarchy’

May 9, 2019 at 11:44 p.m.

Lucy Parsons, an anarchist firebrand who was one of the most enigmatic Chicagoans ever, might fit in better today than she did during her own time a century ago. She...

A man crosses North LaSalle Street at West Randolph Street in Chicago not far from where African-American man Edwin Heathcock was auctioned off 175 years ago.

175 years ago today, Chicago auctioned off a black man

December 17, 2018 at 7:38 p.m.

The handbills posted in Chicago declared: “A Man for Sale.” And on Nov. 14, 1842 — 175 years ago today — an African-American man was auctioned off near the corner...

Washington Park is seen in an aerial image Oct. 19, 2017.

Rare video find: Balloon tour over Chicago in 1914

May 29, 2018 at 3:43 p.m.

An aviation pioneer named Roy Knabenshue brought his dirigible to Chicago in 1914, offered 25-minute balloon rides and settled on a great idea: Why not hire a cameraman to film...

Retired Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps arrives at the Kids' Choice Sports Awards at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles on July 13, 2017.

10 things you might not know about shameless promotions

May 31, 2019 at 9:14 p.m.

We're surrounded by hype. There's swimmer Michael Phelps, whose "Phelps vs. Shark" special on the Discovery Channel never featured him swimming with a shark, just a CGI version. And there's...

A homemade sign that reads "Heather Heyer Park" rests at the base of the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that stands in the center of Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Va., on Aug. 18, 2017. Heather Heyer was killed during last weekend's demonstration by white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the "alt-right," ostensibly over the planned removal of the monument.

How a former Chicago office boy built Charlottesville’s Gen. Lee statue

May 12, 2019 at 6:11 p.m.

The man who bankrolled Charlottesville's statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee — a focus of last weekend's violent confrontations between white supremacists and their opponents — first built his fortune...

Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft is shown standing under the Spirit of Justice statue at the Justice Department in Washington in this Jan. 17, 2002.

10 things you might not know about the Cabinet

May 11, 2019 at 9:12 a.m.

Half a year into Donald Trump's presidency, his Cabinet is under a spotlight. He has tweeted insults about Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He needs to fill a vacancy at Homeland...

Incoming White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci talks with reporters at the White House on July 25, 2017. He was out of the job by month's end.

A short history of dirty words in newspapers

May 11, 2019 at 9:11 a.m.

Anthony Scaramucci's shockingly brief stint in the White House was marked by a tirade in which he called one rival a "f------ paranoid schizophrenic" and said another rival was attempting...

Jackson Park is named for the seventh president, who as a general drove Native Americans west and also was a slave owner.

Public insults? Chicago’s potentially offensive monuments, street names and other symbols

May 11, 2019 at 9:04 a.m.

New Orleans has removed statues of Confederate leaders, providing a reminder that many cities — including Chicago — have monuments, street names and other symbols that could offend people. Just...

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