In Chicago, a disastrous fire destroys nearly four square miles of the city, leaving 300 people dead and 100,000 homeless. The city soon redevelops and rebuilds, emerging as a major industrial and economic center.

Notorious gangster Al Capone was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to eleven years in prison. Capone had entereted into a plea agreement with the US Attorney to avoid a trial, but the presiding judge rejected it and insisted that Capone be tried, stating: “It is time for somebody to impress upon the defendant that it is utterly impossible to bargain with a Federal Court.

Pullman Palace Car Company workers initiated a boycott of Pullman train cars through the American Railway Union. The boycott, observed by 150,000 members of the American Railway Union, stopped rail traffic in and out of Chicago and affected rail traffic across the country. The US Attorney General issued an injunction against the striking workers, and President Grover Cleveland sent federal forces to protect trains being run by non-union strikebreakers. Pro-union mobs destroyed trains and buildings, leading to the jailing of union and strike...

Ida B. Wells (1862–1931) was an African American activist and journalist whose work focused on exposing and putting an end to violent crimes against African Americans, especially lynching. Wells was born in Mississippi and began her career in journalism after suing the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad for forcibly removing her from a whites-only railroad car. In 1889, she bought an interest in and became editor of the Memphis Free Speech. In 1892, after a triple lynching in Memphis, Wells began an editorial campaign to address the...