In the 1927 Chicago mayoral election, Republican candidate William Hale Thompson (campaign poster shown) defeated Democratic incumbent William Emmett Dever. Dever had enforced Prohibition despite his opposition to it, which led to rising violence in the city. Thompson, who had been mayor from 1915 to 1923, was openly backed by the mobster Al Capone. He promised to end the enforcement of Prohibition, bitterly attacked his opponents throughout the campaign, and claimed that the United Kingdom was conspiring to take back control of the United States. Dever's supporters attempted to push back against Thompson's rhetoric and claims; they insisted that Dever had the attitude and policies appropriate for the city. Thompson, the last non-Democrat to win a Chicago mayoral election, damaged Chicago's reputation across the United States, and historians rank him among the most unethical mayors in American history.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1927_Chicago_mayoral_election
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1610:
Polish–Muscovite War: The outnumbered forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth defeated the Tsardom of Russia at the Battle of Klushino. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Klushino
1945:
The Brazilian cruiser Bahia was accidentally sunk by one of its own crewmen, killing more than 300 and leaving the rest adrift in shark-infested waters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_cruiser_Bahia
1954:
Four CIA officers arrived in Guatemala to begin Operation PBHistory in an attempt to justify the United States' overthrow of President Jacobo Árbenz one week prior. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_PBHistory
1988:
Kylie Minogue's first album, Kylie, was released, going on to top the charts in the UK, New Zealand, and Japan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylie_%28album%29
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
all-American: 1. Comprising things that are wholly from the United States of America; completely made in the United States. 2. Regarded as embodying the ideal qualities of the United States; (specifically) of a person: courageous, heroic; honest, wholesome, etc. 3. (US, chiefly sports) Of a person or a team, or some other thing: regarded as the best in the United States. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/all-American
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets "iffy", and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. --Erma Bombeck https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Erma_Bombeck