Today in Chicago History: Foie gras banned by City Council. Sacré bleu!
By Kori Rumore
Published on April 26, 2026.
The Chicago Tribune archives reveal that in 1946, the Exposition Flyer caused the death of 45 people and injuries of 75 people when it hit a stopped Advance Flyer in Naperville. The Chicago Cubs became the first Major League team to have organ music at a game, but the team had to stop playing organist Ray Nelson's restricted ASCAP arias due to his restricted repertoire. The City Council voted to ban foie gras, the fatty livers created by force-feeding ducks and geese, effective Aug. 22, 2006. The ban was repealed by May 14, 2008. In 1969, an appeal by then-Tribune reporter Michael Sneed led a movement to free the 52-year-old pachyderm from captivity at Brookfield Zoo, where he was kept chained to a wall for 29 years.
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