Tag: history
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Gordon C. Baird (1946 – 2026) RIP
We are sad to bring you the news of the sudden passing of Gordon C. Baird (emeritus SUNY Fredonia) on November 3, 2026. Baird authored many important papers in his long career, but for Mazon Creek paleontology, he might be best remembered for his foundational work towards understanding sideritic nodule preservation. That work included a…
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ESCONI November 2026 General Meeting, Friday, November 13th, 2026 at 8:00 PM via Zoom – “Lyell in Chicago: A Historic Collection Illustrates a Missing Chapter in 19th Century Geology”
The ESCONI November 2026 General Meeting will be held on Friday, November 13th, 2026 via Zoom. Roy Plotnick will present “Lyell in Chicago: A Historic Collection Illustrates a Missing Chapter in 19th Century Geology.” From June 17–24, 1841, Charles Lyell followed the footsteps of Roderick Murchison by collecting in “Silurian” localities in Wales and the Welsh…
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Mazon Monday #348: Grammysioidea hayi
Grammysioidea hayi is a very rare Mazon Creek bivalve clam. The holotype specimen was found by Andy Hay in the early 1980’s, on the channel side of ESCONI Hill, where the hill projects out into the water. In life, the animal was likely sedentary.
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ESCONI Events for November 2026
Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings! Friday, November 13th General Meeting – 8:00 PM via Zoom. ESCONI member, Roy Plotnick, will be presenting “Lyell in Chicago: A Historic Collection Illustrates a Missing chapter in 19th Century Geology.” Saturday, November 14th Junior Study Group Meeting – 2:00 PM at the Lizzadro…
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Fossil Friday #341: Mazon Creek Coprolite
Kane McLuckie and his father, Robert, brought one of Kane’s recent fossil finds to our Mazon Creek Fossil Day event. It’s a large Mazon Creek coprolite found near their house. Coprolites are fairly common. If you find one, get out a magnifying glass and have a closer look. You can all kinds of things in…
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Throwback Thursday #341: Rockford Brick and Tile Company
I was looking through some old newsletters looking for interesting bits of ESCONI history and ran across the announcement for the opening of the Fossil & Prairie Park Preserve in Rockford, IA. It opened officially 36 years ago in October 1990.
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What Happened to the Neanderthals?
The New York Times has an interesting article about the Neanderthals. Are they us? Amid the daunting saga that is human evolution, the Neanderthals, so recent and closely studied, are in many ways the accessible celebrities of the story. Their fate seems to offer a toehold on the big questions about how we came to…
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Throwback Thursday #340: Happy 152nd Birthday, Charles Knight!
Charles Knight was born on October 21st, 1874. That would make him 152 today. Unfortunately, he passed away on April 15th, 1953 at the age of 78. Knight was an American wildlife and paleoartist during the early 1900s. He is probably best known for his many detailed paintings of dinosaurs and prehistoric life created for…
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Throwback Thursday #339: The Rocks We Live On
For today, we have an article written by Billy Kelly for the October 1955 edition of the ESCONI. Bill wrote many articles for the newsletter over the years. He and his wife Wylma were very generous with their time. They went on many field trips, including this one to Silvania, OH in 1959 (see Throwback…
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Mazon Monday #344: Recap for Mazon Creek Fossil Day 2026
Mazon Creek Fossil Day 2026 at the Coal City Public Library was a huge success! We had a great turnout and some wonderful fossil displays. Many attendees brought fossils of their own, either to have them identified or simply to share their finds with fellow fossil enthusiasts.
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Throwback Thursday #338: A Very Special Book
Recently, Matt Brown, McCarter Collections Manager, Fossil Vertebrates at the Field Museum, showed me a book that is special on several levels.
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Mazon Monday #343: 1990 Mazon Creek Open House
The Mazon Creek Open House was first held in early 1984. It was an extension of the Mazon Creek Project at Northeastern Illinois University. Both the Mazon Creek Project (see Mazon Monday #5) were sponsored by Northeastern Illinois University.
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Throwback Thursday #337: Looking Back At ESCONI for October 2026
ESCONI highlights from 25, 50, and 70 years ago
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Throwback Thursday #336: Vacation Trip to Oregon
The October 1959 edition of the ESCONI newsletter included this little burb from the newsletter editor, George Darrow, about his vacation to Oregon during the summer of 1959.
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Mazon Monday #341: Titanoscorpio douglassi
Titanoscorpio douglassi is known from just three specimens, but the holotype is a breathtaking three-inch claw on display at the Prehistoric Life Museum in the basement of Dave’s Down to Earth Rock Shop (see Throwback Thursday #94) in Evanston, Illinois. And yes, it really is breathtaking!
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Throwback Thursday #335: A Look Back At “Brag Night” in the 1960’s
We hope you’ll come out to “Brag Night” this Saturday, September 19th, 2026! We are sure there will be some very nice treasures to see! “Brag Night” on the first meeting after summer vacation has been an ESCONI tradition for a long time. The first one seems to be 1952. Here is the announcement.
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Throwback Thursday #334: Gorgeous George in 1976
This is “Gorgeous George”, when he was on display in the main gallery in 1976. He and the Lambeosaurus were star attractions at the museum from 1956 to 1992. He was incorrectly called a Gorgosaurus for most of its “life”. That was corrected in 1999 and he is now known as a Daspletosaurus, a rare species of tyrannosaur. …
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Throwback Thursday #333: Looking Back At ESCONI for September 2026
ESCONI highlights from 25, 50, and 70 years ago
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Mazon Monday #338: Howellitubus whitfieldorum… The Mazon Creek Worm That Wasn’t
The history of Mazon Creek paleontology is filled with fossils that have been reinterpreted as new species when new information became available. Animals have been moved from one group to another, species have been renamed, and some fossils once thought to represent animals have turned out to be something else entirely. There are even some,…
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Throwback Thursday #332: Another Don Auler Painting at the Rock Swap
Some Don Auler art was on display at the recent ESCONI Rock Swap. Rick Rock had this painting of an owl on black shale up for sale. Long-time contributors B.J. and Mike Kukulka purchased it and graciously let us post it here.
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PBS Eons: When Earth Was a Toxic Wasteland
PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about the Permian Mass Extinction, the Earth’s worst mass extinction. Watch Eons: Life and Death on Pangea on the free PBS App: https://to.pbs.org/EonsApp or on the web here: https://pbs.org/eons ← use this link if you are outside of the U.S. For 3 million years, microbes ruled…
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Throwback Thursday #331: Happy (Belated) Unearth Day, SUE!
Last Wednesday was SUE’s Unearth Day! SUE was found by Sue Hendrickson on August 12th, 1990. Sue hung back at camp, while the rest of the team from the Black Hills Institute went to town to fix a flat tire on one of their trucks. Sue decided to explore some area around the camp. She…
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Mazon Monday #336: 1980’s Pit 11 Collecting
Keeping with the history theme, here’s a photo from a field trip to Pit 11 most likely from the 1980’s. You can see Braidwood Station in the background. Construction on August 1st, 1975 and completed in 1988.
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Throwback Thursday #330: All Illinois Rock Swap and Silent Auction 1976
August 28, 2026 will mark the 50th Anniversary of the “All Illinois Rock Swap and Silent Auction”. It was held on August 28th and 29th, 1976 at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL. The event was held in Parking Lot K. Long-time ESCONI member Rich Rock was Chairman. And really, who has a…
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Mazon Monday #335: Richardson Collecting at Pit 11 in 1974
A few years ago, Charlie Shabica donated a collection of historical documents to ESCONI, and these photographs were among the materials. They document a Mazon Creek field trip in July 1974 led by Eugene Richardson Jr., Curator of Fossil Invertebrates at the Field Museum.
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Throwback Thursday #329: Looking Back At ESCONI For July/August 2026
The newsletters are typically sparse in the summer, but here is a bit of ESCONI history for your summer reading pleasure. 25, 50, and 70 years ago…
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Throwback Thursday #328: Go on… Introduce yourself, tiny frog
The Field Museum made an intriguing historical post to LinkedIn last week. It was a meet-and-greet between two frogs…
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Rare Pompeii Ceiling Is Restored From Fragments, Depicting Scene From Myth
The New York Times has an interesting article about the restoration of a fresco at Pompeii. The fresco was restored from hundreds of plaster fragments recovered from the ruins of a house. The house, now called the “House with the Bakery”, was discovered by researchers in 2023. The fragments of plaster were like a “magnificent”…
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Throwback Thursday #327: Walter Cronkite and… dinosaurs!
David Bressan of the History of Geology group on Facebook has an interesting post about the 1991 A&E documentary series “Dinosaur!”. Walter Cronkite was the host. Several episodes are available to watch on YouTube. I vaguely remember watching the series when it aired. Revisiting it today is fascinating as it offers an opportunity to see…
