When Thomas Brunk was born on 15 December 1854, in Kentucky, United States, his father, James Thomas Brunk, was 22 and his mother, Martha Depledge, was 31. He died on 30 December 1930, in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, at the age of 76, and was buried in Jacksonville, Morgan, Illinois, United States.
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The Lager Beer Riot came at a time in Chicago's history where large waves of Irish and German immigrants moved to the city. The Riot was started because the Mayor of the city renewed enforcement of an old liquor ordinance mandating that taverns be closed on Sundays and to raise the cost of a license to sell liquor from $50 to $300 each year. This didn't sit well with the German immigrants because they felt like it was directed towards them and their heritage. There was only one death throughout the time of the riot, though protesters claimed that it was more.
William Rand opened a small printing shop in Chicago. Doing most of the work himself for the first two years he decided to hire some help. Rand Hired Andrew McNally, an Irish Immigrant, to work in his shop. After doing business with the Chicago Tribune, Rand and McNally were hired to run the Tribune's entire printing operation. Years later, Rand and McNally established Rand McNally & Co after purchasing the Tribune's printing business. They focused mainly on printing tickets, complete railroad guides and timetables for the booming railroad industry around the city. What made the company successful was the detailed maps of roadways, along with directions to certain places. Rand McNally was the first major map publisher to embrace a system of numbered highways and erected many of the roadside highway signs that have been adopted by state and federal highway authorities. The company is still making and updating the world maps that are looked at every day.
The country was in great economic distress in mid-1877, which caused many workers of the Railroad to come together and began the first national strike in the United States. Crowds gathered in Chicago in extreme number to be a part of the strike which was later named the Great Railroad Strike. Shortly after the strike began, the battle was fought between the authorities and many of the strikers. The conflict escalated to violence and quickly each side turned bloody.
German: variant of Brunke .
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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