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Joseph Weil
Joseph "Yellow Kid" Weil (July 1, 1875 – February 26, 1976) was one of the best known American con men of his era. Weil's biographer, W. T. Brannon, wrote of Weil's "uncanny knowledge of human nature". During the course of his career, Weil is reputed to have stolen more than $8 million. "Each of my victims had larceny in his heart," quipped Weil.Streissguth, Thomas. ''Hoaxers & Hustlers'', Minneapolis 1994; The Oliver Press, Inc. Early life and career Weil was born in Chicago, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Weil. He quit school and started work as a collector in his home town's bustling loan-sharking industry at age 17. Weil noticed his peers keeping small portions of the boss' proceeds. For a portion, offered Weil, he would not share his knowledge of their perfidy. Plenty complied. His career progressed into protection rackets. Under the tutelage of Chicago confidence man Doc Meriwether, Weil started performing brief cons during the 1890s at public sales of Meriwether's Elix ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of United States cities by population, third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles. As the county seat, seat of Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, the List of the most populous counties in the United States, second-most populous county in the U.S., Chicago is the center of the Chicago metropolitan area, often colloquially called "Chicagoland" and home to 9.6 million residents. Located on the shore of Lake Michigan, Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 near a Chicago Portage, portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, Mississippi River watershed. It grew rapidly in the mid-19th century. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed several square miles and left more than 100,000 homeless, but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until Fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, his overthrow in 1943. He was also of Italian fascism from the establishment of the Italian Fasces of Combat in 1919, until Death of Benito Mussolini, his summary execution in 1945. He founded and led the National Fascist Party (PNF). As a dictator and founder of fascism, Mussolini inspired the List of fascist movements, international spread of fascism during the interwar period. Mussolini was originally a socialist politician and journalist at the Avanti! (newspaper), ''Avanti!'' newspaper. In 1912, he became a member of the National Directorate of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), but was expelled for advocating military intervention in World War I. In 1914, Mussolini founded a newspaper, ''Il P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Confidence Tricksters
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label that was previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1976 Deaths
Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic relations are established between Bangladesh and Pakistan 5 years after the Bangladesh Liberation War. * January 27 ** The United States vetoes a United Nations resolution that calls for an independent Palestinian state. ** The First Battle of Amgala breaks out between Morocco and Algeria in the Spanish Sahara. February * February 4 ** The 1976 Winter Olympics begin in Innsbruck, Austria. ** The 7.5 Guatemala earthquake affects Guatemala and Honduras with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''), leaving 23,000 dead and 76,000 injured. * February 9 – The Australian Defence Force is formed by unification of the Australian Army, the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. * February 13 – General ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1875 Births
Events January * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the year (Third Class is renamed Second Class in 1956). * January 5 – The Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, is inaugurated as the home of the Paris Opera. * January 12 – Guangxu Emperor, Guangxu becomes the 11th Qing dynasty Emperor of China at the age of 3. He succeeds his cousin, the Tongzhi Emperor, who had no sons of his own. * January 14 – The newly proclaimed King Alfonso XII of Spain (Queen Isabella II's son) arrives in Spain to restore the monarchy during the Third Carlist War. * January 24 – Camille Saint-Saëns' orchestral ''Danse macabre (Saint-Saëns), Danse macabre'' receives its première. February * February 3 – Third Carlist War: Battle of Lácar – Carlist commander Torcuat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leavenworth Prison
The Federal Correctional Institution, Leavenworth is a medium-security federal prison for male inmates in northeast Kansas. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. It also includes a satellite federal prison camp (FPC) for minimum-security male offenders. FCI Leavenworth is located in Leavenworth, Kansas, which is northwest of Kansas City, Kansas. Background FCI (formerly USP) Leavenworth, a civilian facility, is the oldest of three major prisons built on federal land in Leavenworth County, Kansas. It is separate from, but often confused with, the United States Disciplinary Barracks (USDB), a military facility located on the adjacent Fort Leavenworth army post. Located north of the FCI, the USDB is the sole maximum-security penal facility for the entire United States military. Prisoners from the original USDB were used to build the former civilian penitentiary. In addition, the military's medium-security Midwest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Studs Terkel
Louis "Studs" Terkel (May 16, 1912 – October 31, 2008) was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1985 for ''The Good War'' and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago. Early life Terkel was born to Russian Jewish immigrants, Samuel Terkel, a tailor, and Anna (Annie) Finkel, a seamstress, in New York City. At the age of eight, he moved with his family to Chicago, Illinois, where he spent most of his life. He had two brothers, Meyer (1905–1958) and Ben (1907–1965). He attended McKinley High School. From 1926 to 1936, his parents ran a rooming house called the Wells-Grand Hotel that also served as a meeting place for people from all walks of life. Terkel credited his understanding of humanity and social interaction to the tenants and visitors who gathered in the lobby there and the people who congregated in nearby Bughou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Mellon
Andrew William Mellon (; March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937), known also as A. W. Mellon, was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. The son of Mellon family patriarch Thomas Mellon, he established a vast business empire before moving into politics. He served as United States Secretary of the Treasury from March 9, 1921, to February 12, 1932, presiding over the boom years of the 1920s and the Wall Street Crash of 1929. A conservative Republican, Mellon favored policies that reduced taxation and the national debt of the United States in the aftermath of World War I. Mellon also helped fund and manage Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. Andrew began working at his father's Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, bank, T. Mellon & Sons, in the early 1870s, eventually becoming the leading figure in the institution. He later renamed T. Mellon & Sons as Mellon National Bank and established another financial institution, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chamois
The chamois (; ) (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope native to the mountains in Southern Europe, from the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Apennines, the Dinarides, the Tatra Mountains, Tatra to the Carpathian Mountains, the Balkan Mountains, the Rila–Rhodope Mountains, Rhodope massif, Pindus, the northeastern mountains of Turkey, and the Caucasus. It has also been introduced to the South Island of New Zealand. Some subspecies of chamois are strictly protected in the EU under the European Habitats Directive. Description The chamois is a very small bovid. A fully grown chamois reaches a height of and measures . Males, which weigh , are slightly larger than females, which weigh . Both males and females have short, straightish horns which are hooked backwards near the tip, the horn of the male being thicker. In summer, the fur has a rich brown colour which turns to a light grey in winter. Distinct characteristics are white contrasting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Security Death Index
The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) was a database of death records created from the United States Social Security Administration's Death Master File until 2014. Since 2014, public access to the updated Death Master File has been via the Limited Access Death Master File certification program instituted under Title 15 Part 1110. Most persons who have died since 1936 who had a Social Security Number (SSN) and whose death has been reported to the Social Security Administration are listed in the SSDI. For most years since 1973, the SSDI includes 93 percent to 96 percent of deaths of individuals aged 65 or older. It was frequently updated; the version of June 22, 2011 contained 89,835,920 records. Unlike the Death Master File, the SSDI is available to the public at many online genealogy websites. The SSDI is a popular tool for genealogists and biographers because it contains valuable genealogical data. Data contained Data in the Social Security Death Index include: * Given name a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cognomen
A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary ''cognomina'' were used to augment the second name, the ''nomen gentilicium'' (the Surname, family name, or clan name), in order to identify a particular branch within a family or family within a clan. The term has also taken on other contemporary meanings. Roman names Because of the limited nature of the Latin ''praenomen'', the ''cognomen'' developed to distinguish branches of the family from one another, and occasionally, to highlight an individual's achievement, typically in warfare. One example of this is Pompey, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, whose cognomen ''Magnus'' was earned after his military victories under Sulla's dictatorship. The ''cognomen'' was a form of distinguishing people who accomplished important feats, and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Coughlin (alderman)
John Joseph Coughlin (August 15, 1860 – November 11, 1938), known as "Bathhouse John" or "the Bath", was an American politician who served as Chicago City Council, alderman from Chicago's 1st ward from 1892 until his death. Representing the Chicago Loop and in later years its environs, he represented what was often called the "world's richest ward". Alongside his partner, fellow 1st ward alderman Michael Kenna (politician), Michael "Hinky Dink" Kenna, he controlled the ward for most of the first half of the 20th century. A part of 1st ward politics for about 50 years, he was a charismatic and eccentric figure who was well-known across the city and adored by his constituents; he and Kenna constructed a machine that would last the better part of the 20th century. He was the longest serving alderman in Chicago history until November 2014 when his record was surpassed by Edward M. Burke of the 14th ward. Notoriously corrupt, he and Kenna led the "Gray Wolves (Chicago), Gray Wolv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
