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The Aurora Foxes were a baseball team established in 1915 to be a part of the newly formed Class D Bi-State League. The league was made up of teams from Illinois and Wisconsin, with the Foxes representing Aurora Illinois. Unfortunately the Bi-State League only lasted part of the season before folding, and the Foxes only played for 52 games before disbanding. The Foxes finished 4th out of the 6 teams in the league.

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Computerworld is a technology trade journal which has been in publication for over 50 years. In 1967 Patrick J. McGovern had the foresight to create a magazine to inform companies about the benefits of revolutionary new computing technology and how they could use it to grow their business. Computerworld continues to be “The Voice of Business Technology” as an online presence for a global audience today. (About Us)

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Wieboldt’s was a chain of department stores founded in Chicago, Illinois. Its first storefront was opened by William Wieboldt in 1883. This location’s success led to a number of other locations opening throughout the 19th and 20th centuries in the Chicago area. The chain was one of many department stores in the country that sponsored The Cinnamon Bear radio program during the holiday season. The Cinnamon Bear began in 1937 as a children’s radio show centered on the adventures of a toy bear named Paddy O’Cinnamon before moving to a television format in the 1950s. 

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Sandra Boynton began her career as an illustrator designing greeting cards for Recycled Paper Greetings in the 1970s. In the 1980s, Recycled Paper was selling 50 to 80 million Boynton cards each year. Boynton wrote her first book, Hippos Go Berserk, in 1977 and has since written and illustrated more than 50 books for children and adults. Boynton also designs characters and animals for companies to use instead of licensing her illustrations to be adapted. Her creations can be found on calendars, buttons, clothing, wrapping paper, and other items.

"The Big Cheese" illustration is often found on coffee mugs from this era in Boynton's career. 

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The Chicago Herald and Examiner was founded in 1902 as the Chicago Morning American, then was renamed in 1907 as the Chicago Herald. It was renamed again when it merged with another paper to become the Chicago Herald-Examiner.

Felix the Cat got his start in 1919 in animated shorts, created by either Otto Messmer or Pat Sullivan or both, depending on whom you ask*. His popularity skyrocketed, so much so that he was introduced to the “funny pages” in 1923. Sunday strips continued through 1943, and a daily strip ran from 1927 to 1967. Felix continues to be revived and turns up in pop culture to this day.

*(the controversy continues to this day)

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John Glenn was an astronaut and American politician who lived from 1921-2016. Glenn served in the marines before joining NASA as one of the Mercury Seven astronauts. At age forty he was the oldest member on the team. He was the first American to go into space on the Friendship 7 and orbit the planet, a risky endeavor in 1962. 

Glenn had difficulty breaking into politics, but eventually was elected to the US Senate for the state of Ohio in 1974. He was considered as a Vice Presidential candidate to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 presidential campaign, but was not selected. He also unsuccessfully ran for president in the 1984 election, though he remained popular amidst his constituents and held his senate seat for four terms. 

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Edmund Muskie was a U.S. Representative, the 64th governor, and a U.S. Senator for the state of Maine, spanning from 1946 to 1980. With his support for environmental movements and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Muskie’s legislative work embodied “modern liberalism.” 

Muskie was seen as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for the 1972 United States presidential election. Despite polling better than future President Richard Nixon, Muskie’s campaign for the Democratic nomination took a hit after what is referred to as the "Canuck Letter", which intimated that Muskie held negative sentiments towards French-Canadian people. Though the letter—sent to the editor of the Manchester [New Hampshire] Union Leader—was ultimately deemed a forgery orchestrated by the Nixon campaign, its impact on the campaign was significant. During the 1976 election, Muskie was considered for President Jimmy Carter’s vice president but was passed over for Walter Mondale. After the resignation of Cyrus Vance, Muskie became the 58th Secretary of State in 1980. President Carter awarded Muskie the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981 for his leadership during the Iran hostage crisis. The state of Maine has honored Muskie with a public holiday since 1987. Muskie died on March 26, 1996, from heart failure at the age of 81. 

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Inspired by the perseverance of the Forty-Niners, General A. M. Winn established the Native Sons of the Golden West (NSGW) in 1875 to preserve California history. Winn limited membership to descendants of California pioneers who arrived before the state was admitted to the union. In 1886, a sister organization, Native Daughters of the Golden West (NDGW), was established by Lily O. Reichling. The Native Daughters also worked to protect California history. However, the Native Daughters focused on other projects including environmentalism and child welfare. In 1909, the two organizations began working together to help homeless children native to California. Their goal was to connect homeless children with childless homes.

While the Native Sons and Daughters cared deeply about native born Californians, including Native Americans, the organization opposed Asian and Mexican immigration, and worked to evacuate Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans in the 1940s. Today, the organizations state that all races are welcome to join.

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The Sydney Rescue Society, formed in 1890, was a philanthropic, non-denominational organization that ran refuges and homes for women and children in Sydney and its surrounding suburbs. The society formed eight years after the founder, G.E. Ardill, opened a Women’s Refuge  called 'Home of Hope for Friendless and Fallen Women’. The society was founded on the principles of the New Testament and campaigned for temperance, the reform of alcoholics and prostitutes, and the protection of infants, women, and girls. While the organization successfully helped many women and children, there was controversy surrounding Adrill’s use of pregnant women for labor in his commercial laundry facility. The profits from the laundry were used to finance Adrill’s other operations. Regardless of this criticism, the society is still in operation today albeit under a new name, Integricare Sydney, and has since identified other missions relevant to modern issues. 

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