It was a beautiful Memorial Day weekend in Chicago, and throngs of happy travelers filled O’Hare International Airport – the busiest airport in the world. Shortly before 3 pm in the afternoon of Friday May 25, 1979, the passengers of Flight 191 boarded the McDonnell-Douglas DC 10 on their way to Los Angeles. Many of the passengers were local literary lights bound for the annual American Booksellers Association convention, and orthopedic doctors Chicago south suburbs. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary: The DC-10 was a top-of-the-line aircraft, and this particular ship had logged over twenty thousand trouble free hours since it was built. The crew was also top notch, including its Captain Walter Lux, who had over twenty thousand hours and had been flying DC-10’s for a decade, its first officer James Dillard and its Flight Engineer Alfred Udovich, both of whom had twenty-five thousand flight hours of experience.

At 3:02 pm the plane began its taxi down the runway for takeoff and all was well until at a point a little over a mile down the runway the tower controller spotted pieces of the port engine pylon dropping away from the plane and a white vapor coming out of this area. A moment later the plane lifted off, and as it did so the entire port engine and pylon ripped loose, flipped over the wing, and crashed onto the runway. The controller tried to contact the plane, but there was no reply by the crew. Flight 191 proceeded to climb normally until, when it was about 300 feet off the ground, it began to bank towards the left. The nose of the plane dipped and the aircraft lost height, banking to the left until its wings were vertical. Then it crashed to the earth. A massive explosion erupted, and the fireball flew half a mile northwest of O’Hare and burst into an abandoned hangar at Peotone healthcare in old Ravenswood Airport. All the crew and passengers of Flight 191 – 271 people in all – were killed instantly.

Since that day rumors of ghosts began to circulate. Motorists reported to the Des Plaines Police that they saw bobbing white lights at night at the spot where Flight 191 had gone down. Police thought at first that they were flashlights carried by souvenir hunters, but patrols sent to investigate never found anyone. Residents of a mobile home park next to the site of the crash claimed that they would hear rapping sounds on their windows and doors; but again police investigators found nothing. The dogs from the trailer park barked endlessly at the area where the plane had crashed but their masters couldn’t find any reason for this behavior. The ghostly manifestations continued for months and escalated to a point where doorknobs were turned and rattled, and footsteps could be heard outside the trailers and on their metal steps. Some Peotone, Illinois healthcare residents of the trailer park even reported confronting shadowy figures on their doorsteps who would say that they had to find their luggage or hurry to make a connection and then vanish into the night. Many residents moved out that trailer park but when newcomers came in they also began to experience weird occurrences. These happenings continue to the present day.

The painting “The Wedding at Cana” by Giuseppe Maria Crespi is a Baroque masterpiece that hangs in the galleries of the Art Institute of Chicago. This painting, in the Baroque tradition, is rich in color, action, and theme.

The painting is about Christ’s performing the miracle of converting water into wine at the wedding of Cana from the New Testament. There is a lot of action in this painting which is complimented by the richness of tone. To the left is Christ dressed in bright red and deep blue, to his left is Mary wearing a pink dress and a blue cape that can be seen ever so slightly draping over her left shoulder. The face of Mary looks too young for this scene, she looks as though she could be his wife or sister.

In front of us placed right in the center of the painting is a minstrel playing his instrument. To the right of the minstrel are two figures that dominate the right side of the painting. Both of these men are holding vessels of libation and are in good stead. The front of the painting is almost silhouetted by all of the figures of Christ, the minstrel, and the two guests on the far right. The are the largest and most detailed figures in the painting as well as the most richly decorated. If you were to remove all the other images in the painting they would still hold a formidable composition. It should be noted that these prominent figures are dressed in Baroque style clothing not those of Biblical times.

In the middle section of the painting, those people seated behind the table and in front of the pillars make up the staple of the piece for they provide an atmosphere of festivity and good times. Notice that vessels of wine can be seen everywhere demonstrating that the party is not out of wine and that everyone is enjoying the surplus that Christ has provided. The room is full of details including the pillars, break-front with silver and gold plates, a dog on the lower left (under Christ’s foot), a cat on the bottom right and guests in the far back of the room.

The scene of the guests in the back give space and depth of field to the painting. The figures at the table are in light whereas the area below them and to the left are dark so as to emphasize their presence. Since they are far in the back the details of their faces are not easy to discern but non-the-less the artist has successfully captured to mood of this Biblical festivity.

Stephen F. Condren – Artist

Pizza is one of the more popular foods among American children. They gobble up pizza like anything. As a result, there have been several chains to offer pizza to consumers: Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza, Little Caesar’s, Papa Johns, etc.

Pizza is even enamored by entire cities such as Chicago with their famous “Chicago Deep Dish” pizza. We have all come to learn that pizza originates from Italy. But it was not developed in Italy out of nowhere but rather inspired by China.

Spaghetti, in fact, has its roots from China. While they eat noodles in China, it turned into spaghetti in Italy with the addition of tomato sauce.

Marco Polo also brought back with him a flat bread shaped food item. This, by many accounts, have been come to known as pizza.

Societies have a long history of borrowing from each other. When one society creates something of value, it is often borrowed and modified by other nations. In fact, most of American culture was borrowed by our European forefathers. Hamburgers came from Germany and pizza came from Italy.

Innovation was one of the greatest achievements of man. Other species of animals tend to copy what their parents did to a tee. Instead, humans look to go out of the box and do things differently. This has allowed the human society to advance in a great way.

Trial and error with respect to foods is essential to the evolution of food. In fact, if you go to any major fair these days, you will have the opportunity to eat friend Twinkies.

James Charles Harwood’s new novel Julia Island is a rollickingly funny novel with some serious undertones that takes the myth of Hiawatha, along with Native American stereotypes, quantum physics, and recent American history, and mixes them all together to create an epic tale worthy of both Longfellow and Kurt Vonnegut.

Harwood thinly disguises many places in Upper Michigan and other locations in the novel, ranging from New York to California and Afghanistan. Readers will enjoy identifying these locations, all treated fictionally. There are even some thinly disguised celebrities who make cameo appearances.

At the heart of the novel is The Chippewa Club, just north of the town of Joliette, in the Upper Peninsula. Here in the mid-twentieth century, a young female club member fell in love with a mysterious Ojibwa man who was never seen again. The fruit of this union was young Hiawatha, who grows up at the club, an idyllic wilderness setting where he is able to display the skills and know-how of his Ojibwa ancestors, become a hero to the young white club members, and eventually win the love of a young maiden from Chicago, daughter of wealthy environmentalists. The result is an epic wooing and a colorful wedding that skillfully play off of Longfellow’s original. Here is just a brief passage about the beginning of Hiawatha’s relationship with Kelley Green to give you a sense of Harwood’s style:

“Later in life, the sonnets were to be reserved for Kelley Green, who shared the same hippy heritage and Club privilege. Kelley was a summer resident, brought by her parents for long vacations from Chicago. A child of dilettante artisans, she hadn’t blushed when Hiawatha smiled in amusement at her ironic name. Her response was ‘Oh, I’m the lucky one. They named my sister Keep America.’

“And so their relationship, founded on common ground and nourished by humor, matured into an abiding mutual regard. Kelley was thoughtful, dainty, creative, and perceptive, and nearly as tuned in to her surroundings as Hiawatha was.

“Kelley worshiped Hiawatha at a distance for years before he seemed to take notice. He had noticed all along, of course, his inscrutable Chippewa demeanor belying his interest. So, their relationship enjoyed the bedrock of knowing and loving each other long before the spasm of puberty accelerated their attraction. Each September, Kelley returned to Chicago and school. Hiawatha, owing to the influence and power of Great Daddy, was spared public school education. He might have been the first totally homeschooled child in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, certainly the only transcendentally educated one.”

In the first half of the novel, the poetic prose invites readers to suspend their disbelief. Near super-human characters, fantastic deeds, and loads of Great Lakes lore all come together to poke fun at stereotypes, celebrate the Upper Peninsula, and expand Upper Michigan literature to new dimensions.

However, the idyll ends for Hiawatha and friends when a tragic fire causes them to flee to safety at the remote Julia Island, a mysterious place that will eventually draw them back again and again with astonishing results. But first, after the fire’s devastation, Hiawatha and his family accept an invitation from two of the wealthy club members to visit them in New York. I won’t get into all of their adventures in the Big Apple, but I can’t resist saying that probably my favorite part of the entire book was when Hiawatha became involved with a Broadway musical version of The Last of the Mohicans-that gives you some idea of how far-fetched, and yet not, the story can get at times as it plays with stereotypes, whether of Native Americans, the theatre, the Upper Peninsula, or any other area of interest that enters its pages.

The second half of the novel shifts to a bit more serious tone, but the magic never fades and the ending is both unexpected and yet somehow perfect for such a potpourri of a book.

I would love to say far more about Julia Island, but I think people just need to experience its mesmerizing magic for themselves. I will say that among novels set in Upper Michigan, nothing else quite approaches the effortless mythmaking, playfulness, and sense of place that Harwood blends together in these pages. Frankly, I am a bit jealous that I did not write it myself.

It goes without saying that Michael Jordan biography is very exciting. As a passionate fan you probably want to know more about the career of this fantastic player. So, let’s discuss the top ten great facts about Michael Jordan.

1. Michael started his career in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

He was the best player in the university of course.

2. Joined Chicago Bulls in 1984

Who does not dream to play in NBA? Michael definitely did! He started playing in NBA in 1984 by joining one of the greatest NBA clubs – Chicago Bulls.

3. Won his first season with Bulls

Not every novice can contribute to his first team success during the first season. That’s what Michael did.

4. Got his great nickname very soon

“Air Jordan” and “His Airness” are the amazing nicknames that he earned. As the nicknames suggest Michael was not running – he was flying. His slam dunks are the best in the basketball history and very few other players can achieve the same results.

5. Won two more titles with Bulls in 1992 and 1993

Another two successive titles in 1992 and 1993. This brought him to the three NBA championship titles in his professional career.

6. Left basketball for 1 season in 1993-1994

In the 93/94 season Michael decided to change the sport to pursue a baseball career. He returned back in the next season to shake the world again.

7. Comeback

Jordan rejoined Bulls in 1995 to claim three more titles in 1996, 1997, and 1998.

8. Another retirement. Really?

Michael retired again in 1999 but could not live without playing basketball.

9. Comeback again!

What a great player! He returned to basketball again in 2001 by joining another club: “Washington Wizards”. What a great dedication!

10. Some business involvement

During his career Michael Jordan took part in a few businesses. For example, Nike’s Air Jordan sneakers are very well known across the globe.

In this article we discussed the ten great facts from Michael Jordan’s biography – the player who is loved by millions of people from all over the world!

If you decorate cakes or have ever shopped for cake making supplies, then chances are you are familiar with the Wilton brand. It’s hard to miss their products since Wilton has led sales in baking and cake decorating products for over half a century. Based in the Chicago suburb of Woodridge, Illinois, Wilton has grown enormously from its beginnings as a family cake decorating business during the United States’ Great Depression.

Today Wilton Industries sells over 2,000 different bake ware and food-related products, from instructional manuals and cake pans to pastry bags and food colorings. Wilton’s products aren’t just sold in the United States either. Major retailers in over 150 countries carry Wilton products. And business continues to grow with approximately 400 new consumer products being developed annually.

It all started in 1929 when Dewey McKinley Wilton, with the help of his wife, began a small cake decorating business in Chicago. Then came the stock market crash and the nation’s Great Depression. Surrounded by high unemployment rates and bread lines, Wilton carved out a prosperous niche by creating wedding cakes for Chicago’s famous hotels and clubs. The Wilton family business grew throughout the 1930’s.

Decorating cakes for the rich and famous gave the Wiltons’ reputation a nice boost. So when they opened a cake decorating and candy-making school for caterers and chefs, they had no problem with enrollment.

By 1947, the “Wilton Method” had become a household word among cake decorators, and a leading department store chain, JC Penney, was now promoting and selling Wilton products.

Before long the Wilton brand name become synonymous with cake decorating supplies and schools. All of this publicity laid the foundation for the Wilton’s decorating empire that continues to influence wedding cake trends.

Then in 1977, under the leadership of Wilton CEO Vince Naccarato, three diverse companies were united as Wilton Industries: Wilton Enterprises, Copco and the Weston Gallery.

Today, each division is a recognized leader in its market. Wilton Enterprises is the number one preferred brand name in baking and cake decorating products, Copco is the premier designer and marketer of teakettles and quality kitchenware, and the Weston Gallery is a leader in upscale picture frame design and marketing.

Under the continued leadership of Naccarato, the company enjoys strong sales growth and national distribution, which are largely credited to “category management,” that is basing marketing on tracked trends, and through “supply chain management,” which helps retailers lower costs of merchandising.

According to Austin Chronicle report, the Wilton Method was the unquestionable ruler of cake decorating until the 1980’s when Martha Stewart’s methods gained popularity. Her made-from-scratch cakes and stance that taste is just as important as the decorating challenged Wilton’s use of cake mixes and vegetable shortening.

However, Wilton continues to enjoy great success and to lead the industry. According to Hoover’s November, 2006 business report, Wilton Industries employed 650 people and reported $325 million in sales for the 2005 fiscal year, a 7.8 percent increase from the previous year.

For three quarters of a century, Wilton has offered cake decorating classes throughout the United States and Canada, including the Wilton School of Cake Decorating in northern Illinois. Wilton is partially credited for bringing the intricate, European cake decorating method to the United States and Canada.

In fact, Wilton’s cake decorating classes enroll nearly 200,000 students every year and from all around the world.

While many cake decorators enjoy the Wilton classroom experience, others like the customer below, prefer learning at their own pace at home with video instruction, such as the “Cake Decorating Made Easy” series.

Another ingredient in Wilton’s recipe for success is its annual “Your Take on Cake” contest, which attracts thousands of talented cake decorators from across the United States and Canada who compete for $5,000 in cash and an all-expenses-paid trip to attend The Wilton School’s two-week Master Course for Cake Decorating in Darien, Illinois.

The 1962-63 National Hockey League season had one of the tightest finishes of the ‘Original 6’ era, at least for the top four teams. Just five points separated the first place Toronto Maple Leafs and the fourth place Detroit Red Wings. Toronto edged the Chicago Black Hawks for first place by just one point.

However, beyond Detroit, the NHL dropped off into a deep abyss. The New York Rangers finished with 56 points, 21 less than the Red Wings. The Boston Bruins ended up with just 45, 32 points out of the final playoff position.

Detroit Red Wings – Gordie Howe

Gordie Howe led the Red Wings and the entire league with 86 points. Howe received his sixth and final Art Ross Trophy for the effort. Detroit showed a lack of diversity with Gordie’s point total playing a role in 43% of all the team’s scoring. Still, the Red Wings knocked off the second place Black Hawks in the opening round to earn a shot at the Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup finals.

New York Rangers – Andy Bathgate

For the eighth straight year, Andy Bathgate led the New York Rangers in scoring with 81 points. The team leader since his second year in the league, 1955-56, would not lead again. The following season, the Rangers traded Bathgate to the Toronto Maple Leafs midway through the season. Andy finished second to Howe in the race for the Art Ross Trophy.

Chicago Black Hawks – Stan Mikita

Bobby Hull’s Art Ross winning 84 points from the year before were definitely a distant memory as he finished 1962-63 with just 62 points. That paved the way for Stan Mikita to lead the club for his first time with 76 points. He placed third in the league behind Bathgate and Howe.

Toronto Maple Leafs – Frank Mahovlich

Frank Mahovlich led the Maple Leafs for the second straight season with 73 points, tying him for fourth in the NHL with Henri Richard of the Montreal Canadiens. The Maple Leafs were regular season champs and lost just two games over the two series required to win the Stanley Cup. Mahovlich was silenced in the playoffs with just two assists in nine games. The Leafs were led by Dave Keon with 12 points, playing in all Toronto’s ten games.

Montreal Canadiens – Henri Richard

Henri Richard led the third place Canadiens with 73 points. Montreal had the least wins of all six teams with just 19. However, the Habs tied 23 of 70 games to bring their point total down. Montreal met Toronto in the opening round of the playoffs and lost in five games.

Boston Bruins – Johnny Bucyk

Johnny Bucyk led the hapless Boston Bruins with 66 points, four points more than teammate Murray Oliver. Boston won just 14 games but it was an improvement over the previous season when they recorded their worst winning percentage in team history in a season with 44 games or more. That mark of futility stands today.

Fannie May Chocolates has had a long and somewhat tumultuous history, more indicative of the times than of their wonderfully rich brand of chocolates. Nearly a hundred years ago, H. Teller Archibald opened his now famous chocolate shop in Chicago, Illinois, intent on selling quality chocolates in the neighborhood. Over the next two-and-half decades, Archibald’s dream grew to nearly 50 such stores, scattered conveniently around America. Fannie May was renowned for her gourmet chocolates and strong sense of commitment to excellence, a sense which would shortly lead to a temporary downfall.

With the arrival of World War II, many companies – not just chocolate companies – experienced an unprecedented shortage in the supplies they used to make their own specialty brands of chocolates, and so shifted their recipes temporarily to ingredients that were available. Archibald’s company refused to do this, and paid the price by having to close their many retail stores much earlier in the day, when their original ingredients ran out. They simply refused to compromise quality, even to turn a profit. Sadly, the world doesn’t often reward idealism, and the Fannie May floundered for a time.

Predictably, for such a candy company with a loyal base of customers, Fannie May returned to the scene in full force after the end of the War. A spirited campaign of chocolate-making vaulted off the return of their ingredients, and Fannie May introduced new chocolates that quickly became American favorites. The windfall from enabled them to buy a competitor-company (Fanny Farmer, no relation) in the early 1990s, and expand their operation.

As you might expect, chocolate gifts are some of the best gifts you can buy for your significant other on Valentine’s Day. Men have been buying them for their beloved women for centuries, and there’s little reason why that should change. Although it seems that Fannie May chocolates have more or less dropped out of the running, there are still some other viable gift baskets out there.

Although Fannie May performed admirably for the half-century after World war II, their parent company – Archibald Candy Corporation – didn’t do so well overall, and called it quits. This had the inevitable effect of bankrupting Fannie May, as well; although they would not be long without a capable suitor. Alpine Confections Corporation realized the utility of the history, profitability and customer base of Fannie May and bought the company shortly afterward, moving their base of operations to Ohio in the process, in the year 2004. This would not, however, be her final home.

Fannie May was always going to be worth something; particularly with the raves regarding her special Mint Meltaways, and two years after the move to Ohio, she was bought by the national conglomerate 1-800-Flowers.com, Inc for nearly $100 million, keeping the manufacture of her confectionary brands in Ohio, while allowing the headquarters to remain in her birthplace, Chicago Illinois. She has expanded her repertoire beyond chocolates and candy, and now delights her ever-growing fan base with gift baskets, gourmet foods other than chocolate (and, of course, as well as chocolate), and uniquely delicious trademark chocolate combinations.

E-commerce is one of the most competitive markets across the globe today. With online retail biggies ruling this realm, it is difficult for the new players to survive the cut-throat competition. Well, there are some fronts through which they establish themselves digitally. One such area that is somewhat easy to conquer is that of search engine optimization. But, you need not forget that the professional support is necessary to improve your search engine ranking. This is because search engine optimization of an e-commerce website is completely different from that of a regular online portal. An experienced and credible S.E.O company in Chicago can tell you about the differentiating factors.

The factors we discuss below also help you understand how search engine optimization strategies of online retail portals are different.

There are myriad of pages:

A regular website that informs about the services of a company has very limited pages, which makes the search engine optimization somewhat easier. Talking about the e-commerce sites, there is a product page for every product the portal sells. Therefore, the company needs to optimize each page so that the product available on the portal could be found by the potential buyers.

There is always addition of new products:

E-commerce is a domain where the company will be adding new products regularly to expand their sales or to modify the business strategies. And, it is vital that the product pages of these new products are optimized efficiently. Otherwise, you won’t get the expected results.

Speed has to be fast:

Talk to any experienced digital marketer, and he/she will tell you how important the loading time of a website is. Slow websites not only offer a bad experience to your customers but also upsets the search engines like Google. In case of online retail websites, the speed gets slower due to the presence of unnecessary plugins, heavy images, third-party widgets, and inefficient coding. To avoid these issues, you need to connect with a social media marketing Chicago that offers specialized services for e-commerce websites.

There are also category pages:

The category pages are considered the most powerful areas of an e-commerce portal. They need to be efficiently optimized to help you get the best results. The URLs have to be search-engine friendly and content has to be unique and user-friendly. Also deep-links related to product categories have to be built for better results.

All these factors show you can’t use the regular search engine optimization strategies for your online retail or wholesale business. A specialized strategy has to be planned and implemented to get desired results and avoid getting penalized.

The team can help you raise your e-commerce business-related marketing efforts through an efficient S.E.O plan. Several companies from Chicago that seek affordable S.E.O services connect with this agency for the results.

In the early part of the twentieth century there was a famous and powerful Master Mind group referred to as the “Big Six”. These men were of Chicago and its members consisted of Wm. Wrigley Jr., owner of the chewing gum business that has his name even today with an income of over $15,000,000 per year; John R. Thompson who ran a chain of lunch rooms at the time; Mr Lasker owner of Lord and Thomas Advertising Agency; Mr. McCullough owner of the Parmalee Express Company the largest transfer company in America; and Mr. Ritchie and Mr. Hertz owners of the Yellow Taxicab business.

At the time of their Master Mind group the combined income was estimated to be in excess of $25,000,000 or an average of $4,000,000 per man. Out of all these men not one had any special education and all began without and money or major credit, yet they become millionaires many times over.

These men began many years before by forming a friendly group that met at specific times to discuss their business, plans and ideas, and to help each other as much as they could. The entire purpose of the group was to assist each other by sharing ideas and lending money in cases of emergency.

Each member of this group became multimillionaires though their harmonious mastermind group, learning to think at a higher level with a common purpose.

One of the most powerful and strongest corporation of the early twentieth century was the United States Steel Corporation that great out of a single idea from Elbert H. Gary, a small town lawyer from Chicago Illinois.

Gary gathered a special group of men forming a highly successful Master Mind group, the board of directors, who insured the outstanding success of the United States Steel Corporation.

Look around you for any extremely successful business and you’ll discover a focused Master Mind group called their board of directors, who are working in a harmonious and focused and friendly manner, lead by a strong and competent leader.

When the leader becomes weak, or corrupt, or uncaring, or the board of directors loose the harmony and focus then the company will suffer and/or collapse. Just look at what has happen in the past few years with major corporations collapsing after decades of success.

Most people look at a successful and wealth person or corporation and believe their wealth lies in their cash, resources, property and inventory; what most people don’t realize is that the biggest and most important item that makes up a person’s or company’s worth it its knowledge and skill in applying that knowledge.

A mastermind that maintains their harmony, values, and trust could lose everything and still regain their wealth through the power of their Master Mind and accumulated knowledge. But lose the trust, respect and harmony of the members of the group and everything is lost.