Latest news with #GeorgePullman
Chicago Tribune
11-05-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Today in Chicago History: ‘Big' Jim Colosimo gunned down inside his cafe
Here's a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on May 11, according to the Tribune's archives. Is an important event missing from this date? Email us. Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago) Flashback: Chicago's place at the forefront of labor history1894: About 2,000 Pullman Co. factory workers on the city's Southeast Side began a protracted and bloody strike. When the 1893 depression caused business to plummet, George Pullman sharply reduced wages to cut costs. Yet he held firm on rents, which paymasters subtracted from employees' shrinking paychecks. Desperate, Pullman workers appealed to the American Railway Union, which was holding its national convention in Chicago. The union voted to support the Pullman strike, instructing its members not to handle any trains containing Pullman cars. By July, sympathy strikes were underway in 23 states. Episodes of violence led President Grover Cleveland to order federal troops to intervene, however, and the strike collapsed. 1920: 'Big Jim' Colosimo, father of the Chicago Outfit, was shot and killed by a person who had been hiding in a cloakroom inside Colosimo's Cafe on South Wabash Avenue. His murder was never solved. 1924: Cardinal George W. Mundelein, recently elevated at the Vatican by Pope Pius XI as prince of the Roman Catholic church, returned to Chicago on Mother's Day. Flashback: Mercy Hospital's major milestones1933: A special lead-protected wing was opened on the grounds of Mercy Hospital that housed an 800,000-volt X-ray machine — the most powerful in the world at the time — for treatment of cancer patients. It was the first facility in the Midwest to have the equipment. 1987: The speed limit on the Illinois Tollway and rural interstates was increased to 65 mph from 55 mph. Subscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago's past.
Indian Express
05-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
This Word Means: Starbase
Starbase is the newest 'city' in Texas, coming up in the area where Elon Musk-owned SpaceX operates. Essentially, it is the latest company town. AND WHAT IS A COMPANY TOWN? A company town is a township where a single company employs most of the residents and owns the majority of the housing and stores. Jamshedpur in Jharkhand is one example. In the US, company towns call back to a bygone era where industrialists held the kind of power to physically concentrate their workforce around their site of operations. Pullman in Illinois is one such example, named after industrialist and rail mogul, George Pullman. WHY THIS AREA? Located in the southern tip of Texas, the area houses the launch site for SpaceX's Starship system. Over the past decade, SpaceX has invested in the surrounding area, building a powerful space flight system capable of taking people to Mars and conducting suborbital test flights of the Starship rocket. Texas, as a state, is favoured for its lack of a state tax and relatively cost of living. There are no business taxes, while personal taxes are not levied here, making it an increasingly popular site of business. WHAT WILL THE NEW CITY LOOK LIKE? Presently, the new city covers about 3.9 sq km of land comprising primarily SpaceX facilities and company housing, as well as Elon Musk's own Texan residence. The area also has access to the Boca Chica State Park and the Boca Chica Beach. According to a report in The New York Times, the Starbasers live in a mix of Airstream aluminium trailers, modular homes and refurbished midcentury houses, and drive Cybertrucks. The company city houses a road called Meme Street and a bust of Musk, which was recently vandalised. Around 500 people are believed to live in the area. Starbase has 238 registered voters, which the NYT report identified as predominantly men with an average age of 27. Most residents have no prior voting history in Texas. The area will house a privately-funded school, named Ad Astra in keeping with the starry nomenclature in the area, which will cost $20 million. The school will cover grades K-12. In a way, yes. Saturday's vote also elected the Starbase city government with a mayor and two commissioners who control planning, taxation and other administrative issues. All three are SpaceX employees. Under Texan law, municipalities enjoy a range of powers, from creating zoning rules, hiring staff to out town functions and managing revenues. As a town Until Starbase's incorporation, SpaceX needed permission from Cameron County authorities to close a highway and shut down public access to the Boca Chica Beach and the Boca Chica State Park to keep people safe during rocket launches. Thus, greater municipal control of the area could likely ease the restrictions and bureaucratic approval surrounding SpaceX's rocket launches and testing.
