The Kardashians are one of the most famous families in pop culture. Their reality TV journey began 14 years ago. On October 14th, 2007, the first episode of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” aired on television, marking the start of a hugely popular television series. Producer Ryan Seacrest noticed the attention the family was receiving after a scandal involving Kim Kardashian and decided to capitalize on their popularity by creating a reality TV show about them. The show offers a glimpse into the lives of the Kardashians and Jenners as they expand their business and strive to stay current over the years.
Their TV show contributed to their increased fame online, and their social media presence has grown significantly. However, this growth did not come without criticism. Many questioned why Kim Kardashian was even famous, including one reader of the Personality Parade, published in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The common answer was that she became famous for her scandal, but used that to promote her two businesses, and that the reality TV show helped her ride the wave of popularity. Now, almost everyone has heard the name Kim Kardashian, and their products are found throughout makeup and beauty stores worldwide.
Chuck Berry is one of two rock and roll icons that had a role in this week in history. Chuck had a large impact on the development of rock and roll as a music genre, and because of this he was respected and idolized by many. This is especially true when it comes to his 60th birthday celebration. On October 16th, 1986, Kieth Richards organized two concerts at the Fox Theatre in Saint Louis, Missouri in honor of Chuck Berry’s birthday. These concerts featured a star-studded cast, which is what makes them so notable. Among the special guests performing were Etta James, Linda Ronstadt, Bobby Keys, Steve Jordan, Eric Clapton, Julian Lennon, and Joey Spampinato. They performed around 30 songs together at each show, including many group jams and popular songs from the musicians involved. The Quincy Herald-Whig wrote on October 17th, 1986, that it was a concert, a film, and a party all at the same time. Not only did they perform the shows, but they also released a documentary about his birthday celebration titled “Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll” the following year. This not only included clips from the performances, but also videos from their rehearsals and interviews with berries friends, including John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen. I think it’s safe to say that Chuck Berry’s 60th Birthday Celebration was just as legendary as himself.
My search tip of the week is one I thought of while looking for pieces about Chuck’s rocking party. When researching events that include the word “birthday”, I recommend searching for the person’s name as an exact phrase, and including “any of” the words that are related to the topic. Otherwise, you will get hundreds of results announcing the birthdays of unrelated individuals. When I looked for Chuck Berry with the filter “all of the words”, I got results about anyone with the first name Chuck and anyone with the last name Berry. This made it super difficult to find what I was looking for. However, when I changed the filter to “exact phrase”, I only got results about anyone named Chuck Berry as a whole. This helped me find relevant results a lot faster!
Al Capone was one of the most infamous criminals in the 1920s. He was a major player in the mob violence of that era and managed to evade the FBI for quite some time. Although they were aware of his role, they needed evidence to arrest and prosecute him. Eventually, they gathered enough evidence of tax evasion. After serving several shorter prison sentences, he went on trial for his crimes in July of 1931. Initially, he pleaded guilty but later changed his plea. In 1931, on October 18th, he was convicted of tax evasion after pleading not guilty in his criminal trial. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison and had his property seized as he owed at least $215,000 (roughly $4.5 billion in 2024) in back taxes, reported in the Kewanee Star Courier. Capone ended up only serving 7 of the 11 years in various prisons including Alcatraz, before being released early after paying all fines and taxes.
Many fans of the Chicago Cubs went almost their entire lives without seeing the Cubs win a World Series. However, Cubs fans in the early 20th century got to witness the team dominate the baseball sphere for years. In the team’s early years, they had some fantastic seasons, including the 1906 season where they obtained a 0.763 winning percentage. They then went on to continue to appear in the World Series for the next two years, becoming back-to-back champions. On October 14th, 1908, the Chicago Cubs defeated the Detroit Tigers in the fourth and final of five games in the series, claiming the victory. Their success was celebrated by Cubs fans all over, including in Moline, Illinois, where they published a piece on the front page headlined “Cubs Champs of World Now”. It was then 108 years until the Chicago Cubs won their next World Series title in 2016, but their fans never wavered.
Explore the “Read All About It” archives to read stories that spotlight our partners and their communities, announcements from our team, updates on current projects, and so much more. Discover articles about engagement, outreach, primary sources, community, digitization, education, and other topics of interest. Delve into the happenings in this week in history and take a deep dive into the events and people who helped shape our communities, our nation, and the world.
Hear Ye, Hear Ye, READ ALL ABOUT IT!
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