Chicago timeline
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Fire at Our Lady of the Angels School kills 92 students and 3 nuns
On December 1, 1958, a fire broke out in the basement of Our Lady of the Angels catholic school in Chicago, educational home to approximately 1,600... Read more
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Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy Appear in First Televised Presidential Debate
The 1960s were a significant changing of the guard in U.S. leadership and also in how Americans chose their leader. During the 1960 debates... Read more
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Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 Crashes on Take-Off
Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706, registration N137US, was a Lockheed L-188 Electra aircraft which crashed on take-off from Chicago's O'Hare... Read more
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Northwest Expressway in Chicago is Renamed John F. Kennedy Expressway
The Kennedy was originally constructed along the route of Avondale Avenue, an existing diagonal street, and the northwest railroad corridor, in the... Read more
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University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration Completed
SSA was designed by one of Chicago's most celebrated architects, Mies van der Rohe and was completed in 1965. During this period, the University... Read more
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Lake Point Tower Completed
Lake Point Tower is a high-rise residential building located on a promontory of the Lake Michigan lakefront in downtown Chicago, just north of the... Read more
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1968 International Special Olympics Summer Games
The First International Special Olympics Games (Summer Special Olympics) were held in Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois. These were the very... Read more
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Riots Erupt at the Democratic National Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, from August... Read more
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'Police Riot' at the Democratic National Convention
August 28, 1968 came to be known as the day a “police riot” took place. The title of “police riot” came out of the Walker Report, which amassed a... Read more
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Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Dies
Over the last twenty years of his life, Mies developed and built his vision of a monumental "skin and bones" architecture that reflected his goal... Read more
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1970 International Special Olympics Summer Games
13-15 August 1970 The Second International Special Olympics Summer Games take place in Chicago, Illinois, with 2,000 athletes from all 50 U.S.... Read more
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Illinois Central Commuter Train Crash
Thirty-nine people were killed and more than 200 injured Monday when an electric commuter train that was trying to back up after apparently... Read more
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Sears Tower Completed
Willis Tower, formerly named Sears Tower, is a 108-story 1,451 feet (442 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its completion in 1974,... Read more
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Chicago Loop Derailment
AT LEAST 12 persons were killed and more than 180 injured Friday as four cars of a Chicago Transit Authority train toppled frown elevated tracks in... Read more
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American Airlines Flight 191 Crashes during Take-off
At just after 3 p.m. on May 25, 1979, an American Airlines DC-10 crashed shortly after takeoff killing all 271 on board and two on the ground. The... Read more
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First Taste of Chicago food festival
In 1980 a group of restaurateurs approached the Mayor of Chicago with the idea of a food festival on the Fourth of July, and Taste of Chicago was... Read more
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Ronald Reagan Speaks at the International Business Council in Chicago
Almost two months ago, in accepting the Presidential nomination of my party, I spoke of the historically unique crisis facing the United States. At... Read more
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Midway Releases Ms. Pac-Man as an Unauthorized Sequel
Ms. Pac-Man is an arcade video game produced by Midway as an unauthorized sequel to Pac-Man. It was released in North America in 1981 and became... Read more
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Chicagofest 1981
I had a random concert conversation with a colleague of mine, Jonathan. He asked me if I could guess which Chicago venue he had seen Cheap Trick in... Read more
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Chicago Tylenol Murders
The Chicago Tylenol murders occurred when seven people died after taking pain-relief capsules that had been poisoned. The Tylenol poisonings,... Read more
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Geraldo Rivera opens up Al Capone's safe on live TV
The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault was a one-time live American television special broadcast in syndication in April 1986 hosted by Geraldo Rivera.... Read more
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Mayor Washington kicks off Taste of Chicago
Let's eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we must eat again! Read more
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The Chicago Flood of 1987
Torrential downpours descended upon the Chicago region as repeat waves of thunderstorms "trained" over areas from Rockford to Chicago's North Side.... Read more
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Chicago Heat Wave of 1995
The heat wave in July 1995 in Chicago was one of the worst weather-related disasters in Illinois history with approximately 525 deaths over a 5-day... Read more
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Crystal Bowersox Moves to Chicago
Bowersox went to the Toledo School for the Arts, then moved to Chicago at 17, where she busked and played open-mic nights, as well as Uncommon... Read more