Chicago History

• Native American tribes populate the area: Illinois, Miami, Potawatomie, Ojibwa, Menominee, Ho-Chunk

• They name it Shikaakwa, an Algonquin word which roughly translates to "stinking onion" due to the marshy wetland conditions and smell of wild onion plants.

1400

1492

• “In Fourteen Hundred and Ninety-Two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue”
  Christopher Columbus discovers a new land which he mistakes for Asia, based on the accounts of the explorer Marco Polo. He thinks he has landed in India and he calls the native peoples he finds there, Indians.

1500

1504

• Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer, sailed to Brazil and observed that the land and coast was much longer than anticipated. From this he surmised that his own observation of Brazil and Christopher Columbus’ discovery was not India or Asia but an entirely separate continent, a new world, the fourth continent after Europe, Asia, and Africa.

1508

• Cartographer, Martin Waldseemueller, drew a world map where he named the new continent America, after Amerigo Vespucci.

1600

Native American tribes have established hunting and fishing villages and trade with other tribes down the river

France claims the territory and establishes international fur trade. The North American headquarters is in Canada.

1620

• The Mayflower lands in Cape Cod after a 66 day voyage from Plymouth, England. September 6 - November 9

1627

• The Company of New France is established in Montreal on the St. Lawrence River to export furs from the new world territories back to France

1673

• Father Jacques Marquette and French-Canadian fur-trader Louis Joliet explore the rivers and map what is called The Northwest Territory in attempt for France to find the Northwest passage across the continent to the Orient, and to convert the natives to Christianity. Joliet noted that at the Chicago Portage a canal could be constructed to link the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River.

1682

• French explorer, Rene-Robert Caveiler de La Salle, in search of a route to China, mapped the Ohio River to the Mississippi River all the way to the Gulf of Mexico and named the whole area Louisiana for his King, Louis XIV of France, in 1682. (Note: this is not the same La Salle, during the same timeframe, for whom Catholic Schools are named. Schools are named for Jean-Baptist de La Salle, the patron saint of teachers)

1700

Chicago is a center for the international fur-trade: beaver, bear, black fox, deer, otter, and marten

The Potowatami tribe, allied with France, displaces other tribes in the area

Most of the middle of the continent and the area along the Mississippi River is claimed as New France

1703

• Mount Gay Rum established in Barbados

1717

• The Upper Louisiana Territory / Illinois country and French Canada is a French Colony, as is Lower Louisiana / to the Gulf Coast

1754

• The French and Indian Wars begin with British attempt to take the Ohio River valley occupied by the French. France had tribal allies, and the British allied with the Iroquois Federation, was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Washington. Conflicts in the colonies were an extension of the Seven Years War between France and England in Europe.

1762

• France secretly gives Louisiana to Spain, Treaty of Fontainebleau 1762 towards the end of the French and Indian War

1763

• The Seven Year War in Europe and colonies around the world (French and Indian War - British Colonies vs New France, both with native tribes as allies) France (allied with Spain) is defeated by Great Britain. The Treaty of Paris 1763, France relinquishes its claims the Upper Louisiana territories east of the Mississippi and in Canada except for New Orleans, to Britain. Britain takes Spanish Florida. Spain keeps Cuba and the Phillipines, and gets Upper Louisiana west of the Mississippi from France.

1773

• The Boston Tea Party. December 16

1775

• American Revolutionary War begins; the American colonies seek independence from Britain. This is partially provoked by taxes imposed by the British on the American colonies to pay for the French and Indian Wars which ended in 1763.

1776

• The American Declaration of Independence from Britain

1778

• Jean Baptiste Point DuSable married Kitihawa (Catherine), a Potawatami woman in Illinois

1783

• American Revolutionary War ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris 1783, and acknowledges the sovereignty of the United States

• Treaty of Paris, September 3, 1783, the United States gains control of territory from the British; the area west to the Mississippi River and North to Canada, except Florida which was a colony of Spain.

1785

• US Congress passes the Land Ordinance of 1785. Western territories were surveyed and parcels sold to pay off the national debt. An area was divided into square lots; this was the origin of the street grid system in many newer cities.

1787

• The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 establishes federal governance of Northwest Territory and outlines the requirements to divide the area into new states. The area roughly encompasses what today are the Great Lakes states (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and parts of Minnesota) east of the Mississippi River and Northwest of the Ohio River.

1788

• Jean Baptiste Ponte DuSable settles the north bank of the Chicago River on the shores of Lake Michigan (Date could be as early as 1779).

1789

• George Washington, President. 1789-1797

1790

• George Washington and the first Congress establish the Tariff Act which created the Revenue Marine (later the US Coast Guard) to enforce trade laws and protect against smuggling. August 4

1791

• The Hatian Revolution begins. (1791-1804) Haiti wins independence from colonial France.

1792

• The French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1803) France vs. Great Britiain

1793

• The French Monarchy is overthrown with the beheading of King Louis XVI.

1795

• The Greenville Treaty, ended disputes and defined the boundary between a Federation of Native American tribes led by Miami Chief Little Turtle and the US. This included much of Ohio and various lands north of the Ohio River including a parcel at the mouth of the Chicago River.

1797

• John Adams, President. 1797-1801

1798

• The US Department of the Navy was established

1799

• Napoleon Bonaparte comes to power in France.

1800

1800

• DuSable sold his house and farm in Chicago and moved his family to Missouri.

1801

• Thomas Jefferson, President 1801-1809

1803

• The original Fort Dearborn is built on the south bank of the Chicago River on the shores of Lake Michigan. It was built by Captain John Whistler (Grandfather of artist James McNeil Whistler) and named for Henry Dearborn, the US Secretary of War under President Thomas Jefferson.

• Transfer of land in Louisiana Purchase from (Napoleon) France to (Thomas Jefferson) US. Land from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains.

• The Napoleonic Wars begin between France and other countries in Europe. 1803-1815

1804

• John Kinzie, Fur-trader from Quebec, purchases house and land previously built and owned by DuSable.

• Lewis and Clark Expedition from St. Louis to Pacific Northwest, commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson. 1804-1806

• Haiti wins independence from colonial France. Haitian Revolution 1791-1804

1808

• The American Fur Company was started in New York by John Jacob Astor

1809

• James Madison President 1809-1817

1812

• The war of 1812 between Britain and the United States (1812-1815). Concurrently Britain was amid the Napoleonic Wars with France (1803-1815).

• Fort Mackinac, between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, falls to the British and native tribe allies. July 17

• The Battle of Fort Dearborn killed 38 military and 14 civilians in an ambush (near 18th and Calumet - Battle of Fort Dearborn Park). Fort Dearborn Commander Captain Nathan Heald had orders to relocate to Fort Wayne. Captain William Wells (for whom Wells Street is named) died defending the Americans. August 15

• John Kinzie and family were given safe passage to Detroit by the Potawatami tribe and were spared the Fort Dearborn massacre

1815

• Napoleon abdicates after the Battle of Waterloo. June 22

1816

• John Kinzie returns to Chicago and occupies the house again

• The second Fort Dearborn is built.

• The 1816 Treaty of St. Louis ceded land 10 miles north and south of the Chicago River, giving the US Government control of the Chicago River

1817

• James Monroe, President. 1817-1825

• Construction begins on the Erie Canal (1817-1825)

1818

• Illinois becomes the 21st State and enters the Union as a Free state

• Jean Baptiste Point DuSable died in St. Charles , MO. August 28

1819

• Illinois Black Laws (Black Codes) 1819-1865. Any black persons living in Illinois were required to carry a Certificate of Freedom, otherwise they were assumed to be escaped slaves. Free blacks were prohibited from voting, bearing arms, or bringing a lawsuit against a white person.

1821

• A treaty signed in Chicago on August 29, ceded land in Michigan by 3 native tribes (Ottowa, Chippawa, Potawatomi) and allowed for a road to be built from Detroit to Chicago.

1822

• US Congress makes land grant to Illinois for the construction of the Illinois Michigan Canal to link the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River.
  

• The fur trade dwindles due to overtrapping and reduced animal populations

1825

• Opening of the Erie Canal which connected the Atlantic Ocean through New York City ports via the Hudson River to the Great Lakes.

• Mark Beaubien establishes the Sauganash Tavern (bar, restaurant, and hotel), located at Wolf Point. 1825

• John Quincy Adams, President. 1825-1829

1829

• Andrew Jackson, President 1829-1837

1830

• The state of Illinois begins to survey Chicago for a canal to link the rivers to the Great Lakes.

• Congress passes the Indian Removal Act.

• The 1830 survey plat map for the Chicago end of the I&M Canal is drawn up into 58 square blocks with service alleys.

• The first land lots were sold to finance the I&M Canal. September 4, 1830

1832

• The Black Hawk War ends, the last battle with Native Americans in the Chicago area. April - July

1833

• The Town of Chicago is established August 12, 1833

• Chicago population = 350.

• Chicago Treaty of 1833 pushes Native American tribes west of the Mississippi River

• First Chicago newspaper published, the Chicago Weekly Democrat

1834

• Baubien, founder of the Sauganash Tavern, becomes the lighthouse keeper.

1836

• Construction of the Illinois Michigan Canal begins, connects the Chicago River at Bridgeport to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru.

1837

• The City of Chicago is incorporated March 4, 1837

• William B. Ogden elected as Chicago's first mayor on May 2, 1837-1838

• Martin VanBuren, President 1837-1841

• Chicago population = 4000.

• At the time of the incorporation Chicago's city boundaries were: east to the lake, north to North Avenue, south to 22nd Street, west to Wood Street.

• US Financial Crisis deflation and unemployment for 7 years, until 1844. May 10, 1837 New York bank crisis, led to bank failures.

• Chicago's first business license issued - C.D. Peacock Jewelers

• Chicago's first theater company

1840

• Chicago population approximately 4,400

1841

• William Henry Harrison, President. 1841

• James Tyler, President. 1841-1845

1845

• The Potato Famine in Ireland, 1845-1851, spurs Irish emigration.

• James Polk, President. 1845-1849

1846

• The planet Neptune is observed for the first time; previously it had been predicted through calculations.

1847

• The Chicago Tribune begins publishing “World’s Greatest Newspaper”

1848

• Construction completed of I&M Canal. It begins commercial and passenger traffic.

• Chicago's first telegraph

• California gold rush begins when gold flakes found in Sutters Mill

• Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) established, 1848. trades commodities.

1849

• Zachary Taylor, President. 1849-1850

• California Gold Rush 1849-1855

1850

• The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 imposed steep fines on anyone assisting runaway slaves or interfered with their capture; runaway slaves were also denied a jury trial.

• Millard Fillmore, President. 1850-1853

• Chicago population approximately 30,000

1852

• The City allows the Illinois Central Railroad to build tracks and a trestle off the shoreline of Michigan Avenue and what was Lake Front Park if they also build a breakwall further out in the lake to protect the shoreline. This created a lagoon which was later filled in and became Grant Park.

• The Studebaker Brothers of South Bend, Indiana began producing wagons for transportation

1853

• Franklin Pierce, President. 1853-1857

1854

• Chicago is the world's largest grain port

• Chicago population 30,000; up from 4000 in 1837

• Cholera outbreak in London 1854 leads Dr. John Snow to create a map that leads to the discovery the source at a well, and pioneers a scientific method of epidemic tracking.

1855

• Lager Beer Riot, April 21, 1855

• Levi Day Boone, mayor 1855-1856

1856

• The Chicago Historical Society is founded (Chicago History Museum).

1857

• James Buchanan, President. 1857-1861

• Iwan Ries tobacco shop opens. It is Chicago’s oldest family owned business (as of 2021).

1858

• The Lincoln-Douglas debates states rights with regard to slavery. Seven, 3-hour debates between Abraham Lincoln and Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois. Lincoln lost the Senate election to unseat Douglas, but two years later won the Presidency.

• Silver Rush begins with discovery at Comstock Lode

1859

• The first commercial oil well was drilled. Titusville, Pennsylvania by Colonel Edwin Drake

• Construction begins on the 120-mile Suez Canal (1859-1869) linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea for passage to the Indian Ocean

1860

• Abraham Lincoln in nominated in Chicago for President of the United States. May 18, 1860

• Abraham Lincoln wins the Presidential election with 40% of the vote, beating three opponents including rival Stephen Douglas. November 6, 1860

• Southern states began seceding from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America

• The Pony Express mail service ran between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California. April 1860-October 1861

• Chicago population approximately 112,000

1861

• Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as President. March 4, 1861

• American Civil War begins, April 12

1862

• Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation which frees more than 3-million slaves

• Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act which chartered the building of the Transcontinental Railroad

• The Homestead Act encourages settlement west of the Mississippi River for farming

1863

• Construction begins on the Transcontinental Railroad 1863

• Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address, September 19th

• Abraham Lincoln makes Thanksgiving a national holiday, originally designated as the last Thursday in November.

1865

• The Thirteenth Amendment is passed, it ended slavery in the United States

• American Civil War ends, April 9

• President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated, April 14, 1865

• Andrew Johnson, President 1865-1969

• Abraham Lincoln's funeral train and procession in Chicago. May 1865

1866

• Edward P. Brennan was born in Chicago

1867

• The Pullman Company is established.

• The Eight-hour workday movement stages protests in Chicago on May 1, 1867 which are quickly put down.

1868

• Lincoln Park Zoo was founded

1869

• Transcontinental Railroad opens 1869

• The Suez Canal opens 1869

• Ulysses S. Grant, President 1869-1877

• George Westinghouse patents his invention, the compressed air-brake, which vastly improves railroad safety.

• Riverside, the first planned suburb in the United States, was drafted by Frederick Law Olmstead, landscape architect, with meandering streets (no grid) and no alleys. 1869

• The Chicago Club was founded

1870

• Standard Oil Company founded by John D. Rockefeller. 1870

• Approximate start of “The Guilded Age” in the United States 1870s-1900. A term coined by Mark Twain in his book The Guilded Age: At Tale of Today, which was a sparkling and sinister account of the industrial era.

1871

• The I&M Canal pays off its debts and also begins using steam powered boats instead of mules

• The Palmer House Hotel opens. September 26, 1871

• Chicago population = 300,000+

• Mayor Roswell B. Mason

• The Great Chicago Fire; October 8-10. left 100,000 homeless, >300 dead, 17,000 buildings destroyed, and caused $200 million in damages. map

• Rubble from the fire is pushed into the lake causing the lagoon off Michigan Avenue to be filled in

• The Great Peshtigo Forest Fire, Wisconsin claimed 1200 lives and 1.2 million acres. October 8, 1871

• Lt General Philip H. Sheridan assigned command of state and federal troops to restore order after the Great Chicago Fire. October 10, 1871.

• Joseph Medill, mayor 1871-1873

• John Jones becomes the first black man elected as Cook County Commissioner 1871

1872

• Engine Company 21, Chicago’s First Black Fire Company is established. They go on to invent the fire pole and became recognized for their fast response times.

• Susan B. Anthony is arrested for illegally voting in the presidential election

1873

• Lord & Thomas advertising agency is founded in Chicago, 1873. It became FCB in 1942.

• Panic of 1873 financial crisis and stock market crash in Europe and bank failures in the US

• The first Chicago Public Library opens on the southeast corner of LaSalle and Adams, following a donation of >8,000 books from England’s Queen Victoria after the fire of 1871 and a 1872 Ordinance by City Council. January 1

1874

• The Second “Little Big” Fire in Chicago. Burned 47 acres, killed 20, destroyed 812 buildings between South Clark Street and Michigan Avenue at Van Buren Street. It destroyed neighborhoods spared in the earlier fire; neighborhoods of Jewish immigrants of Russian and Polish origin, and of middle-class African-Americans. Insurers refused to underwrite Chicago until the City upgraded it’s fire suppression systems and restructured the fire department. July 14, 1874

1875

• Chicago Yacht Club established 1875

• First steel mill in Chicago 1875

1877

• National Railroad Strike. July 1877.

• Rutherford B. Hayes, President. 1877-1881

1879

• Carter Henry Harrison III, mayor 1879-1887

1880

• Chicago population approximately 500,000

• Founding of architecture firm Holabird & Simons, later known as Holabird & Root

• France breaks ground to build the first Panama Canal at sea level, but gives up later after years of fighting tropical disease and hardship (1880-1888)

1881

• Pullman Town opens; a planned community for Pullman Company employees.

• The Pritzker Family settles in Chicago, from Kiev. 1881.

• James Garfield, President. 1881

• Chester A. Arthur, President 1881-1885

1882

• Peter J. McGuire, United Brotherhood of Carpenters proposes Labor Day holiday, September 5th (about equal distance between 4th of July and Thanksgiving holidays - adopted by the Knights of Labor in 1884.

1883

• The General Time Convention declares the Standard Time system which establishes 4 time zones across the continental United States. October 11

• "The day of two noons" Standard Time is implemented by the railroad system across the country. November 18

1884

• The Knights of Labor adopt the Labor Day holiday. It does not become a national holiday until 1894

• The first steel frame skyscraper is built by William LeBaron Jenney. The Home Insurance Building on the Northeast Corner of LaSalle and Adams was 10 stories and 138 feet tall. It was demolished in 1931.

1885

• The Studebaker Carriage Company Building, factory and showroom was built on Michigan Boulevard

• Cholera, Typhus, and Disentary outbreak due to polluted water, heavy rainwater spilling sewage into lake.

• The world's first modern skyscraper was built on LaSalle and Adams street. A 10-story, steel frame, fireproof construction designed by William LeBaron Jenney.

• Grover Cleveland, President. 1885-1889

1886

• A growing number of labor strikes and planned protests demanding an 8-hour work day. May 1-3

• Haymarket Riot. May 4, 1886

• Westinghouse Electric is formed to compete with Edison Electric, it escalates the AC/DC standards war between the two inventors.

1887

• Four men were hanged for their involvement in the Haymarket Riots, November 11, 1887.

• The Newberry Library was established

• John A. Roche, mayor 1887-1889

1889

• Hull-House, Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr, Settlement House Movement. September 18 , 1889.

• Sister Frances Xavier Cabrini arrives in New York to begin her missionary work for immigrants.

• DeWitt Clinton Cregier, mayor 1889-1891

• Benjamin Harrison, President 1889-1893

• The Auditorium Theater opens and becomes the tallest building in Chicago. 1889

• Creation of the Sanitary District of Chicago, May 29, 1889; now called the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.

• The City of Chicago annexed surrounding towns: Hyde Park, Lake View, Jefferson, and Lake

• The Mayor appoints committee organizers for the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago

1890

• The University of Chicago is established with a donation from John D. Rockefeller

• Chicago Population exceeds 1 million.

1891

• The Chicago Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution was established. March 20, 1891.

• Land in Lake Park (now Grant Park) is dedicated to building the new Art Institute in preparation for the World Fair in 1893.

• Provident Hospital opens at 29th Street at Dearborn. It is the first training center for African-American nurses in the US

1892

• Sanitary District of Chicago begins digging 3 canals which will reverse the flow of the Chicago River and protect the city's water supply.

• The first elevated train "L" line was completed and connected the Jackson Park, Columbian Exposition site, to downtown

• The first University of Chicago classes are held in Hyde Park

1893

• The World's Fair "The Columbian Exhibition" takes place in Chicago, May 1 - October 30 and is attended by 27.5M people

• Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld pardons 3 men imprisoned as a result of the Haymarket Riot, June 26

• Hempstead Washburne, mayor 1891-1893

• Carter Henry Harrison III, mayor 1893. Murdered October 28, the night before the end of the World Fair.

• George Bell Swift, mayor 1893

• John Patrick Hopkins, mayor 1893-1895

• Grover Cleveland, President 1893-1897 (second term)

• Two more "L" train lines are completed

• Panic of 1893 financial crisis spurred by crop failures and a run on gold

• Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, MD performs the first successful open heart surgery

• Union Pacific Railroad declares bankruptcy

• An 1893 Chicago Ordinance limits building height to 130 feet

1894

• Pullman Strike, May 11, 1894; 4000 workers leave Pullman manufacturing plant; June 1894 nationwide boycott of Pullman Cars by American Railway Union (ARU); July 1894 federal injunction and soldiers ended strike; ARU president, Eugene Victor Debs, imprisoned for violating injunction.

• President Grover Cleveland makes Labor Day a National Holiday, the first Monday in September

• The "White City" remaining buildings of the Columbian Exhibition catch fire and burn down February and July 1894

• The Columbian Museum of Chicago opens in the former Palace of Fine Arts which was built for the 1893 World Fair. Trustees change the name to the Field Columbian Museum in honor of the World Fair and philanthropist Marshall Field.

1895

• Douglas Park establishes Chicago's first park outdoor swimming pool

• Catherine O’Leary dies. 1895

1896

• Democratic National Convention nominates William Jennings Bryan for Presidental candidate at the Chicago Colosseum.

• Douglas Park opened a double ring racetrack. 1896-1905.

1897

• William McKinley, President. 1897-1901

1898

• Pullman Town to be sold by order of the federal government.

• Studebaker Building converted into artist studios and becomes the Fine Arts Building

• Hawaii becomes a US Territory

1899

• Al Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York

1900

1900

• Completion of the Sanitary and Ship Canal, which empties into the Des Plaines River and replaces the I&M Canal.

• Dam to the sanitation canal is blown up - reversing the flow of the Chicago River. January 2

• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum is published in Chicago

• Chicago population in 1900 was approximately 1.7 million; >75% immigrants (34%) or first generation, mostly from Europe.

• Chicago had 377 automobiles.

1901

• Lake Park is renamed Grant Park

• The street rationalization plan is proposed

• Theodore Roosevelt, President. 1901-1909

1902

• Studebaker introduces its first motor powered car, it has an electric motor

• Dr. Daniel Hale Williams becomes the first surgeon to successfully repair a spleen

1903

• Carter Henry Harrison IV, mayor 1897-1905

• Ford Motor Company incorporated in 1903

• Wright Brothers successful flights of a heavier-than-air powered aircraft. December 17, 1903

• Iroquois Theater Fire, 602 died. December 30

• Construction of the Panama Canal begins (1903-1914)

• J.L. Kraft started selling cheese out of a wagon in Chicago

1904

• Chicago successfully bid for the 1904 Olympics, but the event was moved to St. Louis instead to coincide with the World Fair that year.

1905

• The White City Amusement Park opens near 63rd Street in Hyde Park (1905-1934), parts remain open until the 1950s.

1906

• Upton Sinclair published The Jungle, which exposed horrible conditions in the meatpacking industry.

• Edward F. Dunne, mayor 1905-1907

• San Francisco earthquake and fire April 18-23

• The Chicago White Socks defeats The Chicago Cubs in the World Series

1907

• The "Local Option" allowing districts to restrict or prohibit alcohol by Illinois state law

• Fred A Busse, mayor 1907-1911

• The Chicago White Stockings (Cubs) won the baseball World Series

1908

• The Ford Model-T car introduced, October 1908

• The Garfield Park Conservatory opened

• The Chicago White Stockings (Cubs) won the baseball World Series for a second year in a row (and the last time for 108 years - until 2016)

1909

• The NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founders include: W. E. B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Mary Church Terrell, February 12

• Burnham Plan of 1909 redesigns the City and includes multi-level streets

• Montgomery Ward wins court battle to keep lakefront free and clear of buildings

• The Chicago street naming and grid numbering system is implemented starting on September 1, 1909

• William Howard Taft, President. 1901-1913

1910

• Union Stockyard fire of 1910 at 44th and Loomis kills 21 firefighters and is the greatest loss of firefighters in US history until 2001. December 22

• Chicago population approximately 2.2 million.

1911

• Standard Oil Company monopoly broken up by US anti-trust laws

• The 4 independent "L" train lines to and around the loop were unified under the Chicago Elevated Railways Collateral Trust (CER). 1911

• The renumbering of Chicago's streets is completed. April 1, 1911

• Grant Park was the site of an international airplane competition with $80,000 in prize money

1912

• The RMS Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean en route to New York City from Southampton, England. April 14

• The Greater North Michigan Avenue Association is established. (originally the North Central Business District Association)

1913

• Showmen's League of America, for circus and carnival workers was founded in Chicago in December 1913. The first president was Buffalo Bill Cody.

• Statue in honor of Goethe "Mastermind of the German People" dedicated in Lincoln Park

• The YMCA on Wabash opens

• Ida B. Wells co-founds The Alpha Club, a black women’s suffrage movement, at 31st and State Street. She staged a march on Washington DC the same year.

• Woodrow Wilson, President 1913-1921

1914

• World War I, August 1914 - 1918

• Wrigley Field built. 1914

• Approval to extend landfill off Michigan Avenue to approximately current boundary

• Panama Canal construction completed (1903-1914), 48 miles linking the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean

1915

• William Hale Thompson, mayor 1915-1923

• The US Coast Guard was established by an act of Congress which combined the Revenue (Marine) Cutter Service and the Life-Saving Service.

• The Eastland Disaster - steamboat capsizes on Chicago River, killing 844. July 24, 1915. It was the first disaster response of the newly formed US Coast Guard.

• The Kraft Brothers purchased a factory and began producing processed cheese in Stockton, IL

1916

• Navy Pier, originally called Municipal Pier, opens to the public

• Carl Sandberg publishes the poem Chicago, where he describes it as the "City of the Big Shoulders."

• Amelia Earhart graduates from Hyde Park Academy in Chicago

• Chicago has 65,651 automobiles.

1917

• City of Chicago adopts the 6-point stars and stripes design April 4, 1917

• Unites States joins the allies and enters World War I, April 6, 1917

• Lions Club International is founded in Chicago by Melvin Jones, June 7, 1917

• Mother Cabrini dies at Columbus Hospital, Chicago. December 22, 1917

1918

• Congress passes The Standard Time Act which divides the country into 4 time zones. March 19

• World War I ends November 1918, commemorated as Armistice Day 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month.

• Influenza Pandemic 1918-1919

• The sunken SS Eastland ship is recommissioned as the USS Willmette gun boat

• The USS Commodore is beached north of Monroe Street at the Illinois Naval Reserve plot of lakefront property; it remained there until 1930.

• The Association Against the Prohibition Amendment is founded by William Stayton; 1918. It ran publicity campaigns in 1928 to call for the repeal of prohibition.

• 56 circus performers and workers were buried in a mass grave called “Showman’s Rest” at Woodlawn Cemetery following one of the deadliest train wrecks in US history on June 22nd.

• Total solar eclipse passes across the United States

1919

• Wingfoot Express blimp catches fire over downtown Chicago and crashes through roof of Illinois Trust and Saving Bank. July 21, 1919

• Race Riots across US "Red Summer," some of the worst were in Chicago. July 27, 1919. Three days, 38 dead.

• Prohibition ratified across the United States January 1919, went into effect January 1920, repealed in December 1933

• Al Capone moves to Chicago from Brooklyn (approximate year)

• The Chicago Butter and Egg Board established 1919; later known as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)

• Plans approved to develop lakefront between downtown and Hyde Park. This area is now Museum Campus, it is south of the “forever free” park space.

• Approval for the planning of Municipal Grant Park Stadium (Soldier Field) was granted and architects Holabird & Roche selected

1920

• Prohibition enforcement begins January 16, 1920

• Chicago population approximately 2.7 million.

• The Michigan Avenue Bridge (DuSable Bridge), a double-decker trunnion bascule bridge, is completed.

• The Drake Hotel opens

• Fannie May Candies opens

1921

• Warren Harding, President. 1921-1923

• Former US President Howard Taft is sworn in as Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. July 11

• The first Miss America Pageant is held. September 1921 in Atlantic City

• The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery. November 11

• Opening day in the newly constructed Field Museum of Natural History in its current Grant Park location.

• Chicago opens the world’s largest Post Office at 433 W. VanBuren to handle the growing demands of the mail order capital of the world.

• The Port of Chicago was established to build a deep water port at Lake Calumet

1922

• Bessie Coleman becomes the first African American woman to stage a public flight in the United States

• The Wrigley Building is constructed on Michigan Avenue

• Construction begins on Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. May 5. It opens April 18, 1923

• Molly Pitcher Club, a women’s anti-prohibition group 1922 opposed the regulation of personal habits

• The Tomb of King Tutankhamen is discovered in Egypt by British Archeologist, Howard Carter.

• The Union of Soviet Social Republics (USSR) is established. December 30

1923

• Calvin Coolidge, President. 1923-1929. First radio broadcast by US President. December 6

• The first issue of Time Magazine is published. March 2

• The “Hollywood” sign in Los Angeles is installed; it originally reads “Hollywoodland”

• Transcontinental Airmail service begins

• Insulin for the treatment of diabetes becomes generally available

• An 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan kills 142,000 people. September 1

• Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio founded. October 16

• The 1923 Chicago Zoning Ordinance allows for buildings higher than 260 feet

1924

• Soldier Field football stadium constructed (originally named Municipal Grant Park Stadium). Official opening day, October 9, 1924.

• The 4 separate "L" train companies consolidate under the Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT), and become divisions within the company: South Side, North Side, Metropolitan, Lake Street and Loop.

• The Chicago Temple Building is constructed on Washington Street. It is the oldest congregation in Chicago and the oldest remaining skyscraper in the City.

• The S.W. Straus Building (currently the Metropolitan Tower) is constructed on Michigan Avenue. Atop the building is a pyramid, a bell carillon, and a blue light in the shape of a beehive.

1925

• The Tribune Tower is completed. The Gothic archtecture by Howells and Hood won the building design competition

• The Goodman Theater is established

1926

• Route 66 established. November 11, 1926

• Chicago Blackhawks hockey team founded. 1926

• The Oriental Theater on State Street was built. 1926

• The east-west portion of upper and lower Wacker Drive is completed, and named after Charles Wacker, Chairman of the Chicago Plan Commission. October 1926

• All Nations Pentacostal Church on 3716 Langley Ave. was the first church in Chicago built by a woman pastor, Elder Lucy Smith. December

1927

• Charles Lindbergh and "The Spirit of St. Louis," is the first trans-atlantic flight. New York to Paris, May 20-21, 1927.

• The Stevens Hotel (now the Chicago Hilton and Towers) opens. 1927

• Clarence Buckingham Memorial Fountain is dedicated in Grant Park, August 26, 1927

• The Jewelers Building (35 E. Wacker) is completed

• The Chicago Municipal Airport (Midway Airport) opens

1928

• The Bowman and Spearman bronze statues of Indians on horseback by Ivan Mestrovic are installed in Grant Park

1929

• St. Valentines Day Massacre, February 14, 1929. 7 dead.

• The Graf Zeppelin, piloted by Hugo Eckener flew over Chicago as part of a round the world voyage. August 28, 1929

• The Palmolive Building (919 N. Michigan) is completed

• Stock Market Crash. October 29, 1929

• Great Depression 1929-1939

• William Hale Thompson, mayor 1927-1931

• Herbert Hoover, President. 1929-1933

1930

• The Merchandise Mart is completed. When it opened on May 5, 1930 it is the largest building in the world with more than 4 Million square feet of floor space.

• The Lindbergh Beacon is installed atop the Palmolive Building

• Chicago population approximately 3.4 million.

• First Mickey Mouse comic strip. January 13

• Pluto, the 9th planet, was discovered on February 18, announced on March 13. (designated junior planet in 2006)

• Mahatma Gandhi goes on a 200 mile protest, the Salt March. March 12-April 5

• BBC Radio reports today “There is no news.” April 18

• National Pan-Hellenic Council is founded in Washington DC. May 10

• The Adler Planetarium opens. May 12

• The Shedd Aquarium opens. May 30

• US Department of Veteran Affairs established. July 21

• A new Naval Reserve Armory is built on a new pier extending out into the lake off the former Coast Guard grounds.

1931

• Jane Addams wins the Nobel Peace Prize

• Anton Joseph Cermak, mayor 1931-1933

• Comic strip character Dick Tracy created by artist Chester Gould, based on the gangster era. October 4, 1931

• Al Capone sentenced to prison, October 17, 1931

1932

• Babe Ruth hits the famed "called shot" home run at Wrigley Field. 1932.

• Amelia Earhart is the second person to fly solo across the Atlantic.

• The Old Post Office (1922) is renovated and expanded

1933

• Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak is shot and killed in Miami as a result of a failed assassination attempt on the life of President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. February 15, 1933

• Chicago host the World's Fair, The Century of Progress, summers 1933 and 1934

• Italian aviator, Italo Balbo and a squadron of seaplanes arrive at the World Fair in Chicago. July 15, 1933

• Adolph Hitler comes to power when appointed Chancellor of Germany. January 30

• Great Depression/US Economy in 1933: Half of US banks failed, unemployment 30%, stocks were at 20% of value.

• Prohibition is repealed December 5, 1933

• Frank J. Corr, mayor 1933

• Edward J. Kelly, mayor 1933

• Franklin D. Roosevelt, President 1933-1945

1934

• Union Stockyards fire, 80 acres burned near Halsted between 41st and 42nd street, the second largest fire in Chicago history. May 19

• The "Century of Progress" World Fair 1933 makes an encore performance. Summer of 1934

• John Dillinger is shot by the FBI in an alley next to the Biograph Theater, July 22

• The New International Amphitheater opens, replacing the building lost in the Stockyards Fire in May. December 1

1935

• Jay Berwanger, Halfback from the University of Chicago Maroons football, won the first Heisman Trophy

• Monopoly board game by Parker Brothers goes on sale. February 6

• Persia is renamed Iran. March 21

• The Dust Bowl era in the western United States

• The Works Progress Administration (WPA) is created. May 6

• Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in Akron, Ohio. June 10

• The Leo Burnett advertising agency is established in Chicago. August 5

• First car to drive 300 miles per hour, Utah Salt Flats. September 3

• Nuremberg Laws revoke citizenship of Jews in Germany. September 15

• Dedication of the Hoover Dam. September 30

• The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) is created. November 8

• Frank Lloyd Wright’s, Falling Water house is completed

1936

• A second effort to rename duplicate streets having the same name is initiated.

• Jesse Owens wins the 100 meter dash Olympic gold medal in Berlin. August 3

• King Edward VIII abdicates the English throne. December 11

1937

• Wrigley Field bleachers and scoreboard constructed. 1937.

• The Republic Steel Strike. 1937.

• The Lakeshore Outer Drive bridge over the Chicago River is completed

• Hindenberg disaster. May 6, 1937

• Amelia Earhart's plane disappears over the Pacific Ocean. July 2, 1937.

1938

• Construction of the State Street subway began, 1938. Federal funding for this public works project was granted in 1937 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

• Chicago Cubs won the National League Pennant.

1939

• Europe enters World War II. September 1, 1939

• University of Chicago discontinues its Football program. 1939.

1940

• Chicago population approximately 3.4 million.

1941

• The United States enters WWII after the bombing of Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941

1942

• Enrico Fermi produces the first self-sustained nuclear reaction in his lab under Stagg Field on the University of Chicago campus, December 2, 1942.

• Foote Cone and Belding (FCB) advertising agency established, succeeding the former Lord & Thompson agency.

1943

• Chicago-style deep dish pizza is introduced at Pizzeria Uno

• Muddy Waters, famed blues musician, moves to Chicago from Mississippi

• The State Street subway tunnel is completed. October, 1943

1944

• Paul Harvey began broadcasting in Chicago. 1944

1945

• Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in office

• Harry Truman, President. 1945-1953

• Roosevelt University is founded and renamed (original name Thomas Jefferson)

• Ebony Magazine is established by John H. Johnson, the beginning of the Johnson Publishing empire.

• World War II ends. Europe, May 7, 1945. Japan, September 2, 1945

• Orchard Field (later renamed O'Hare Airport) opens 1945

• Conrad Hilton buys the Stevens Hotel and the Palmer House Hotel

1946

• The Calumet-Sag Project is approved by the US Congress to facilitate barge traffic between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River

• Mother Frances Cabrini canonized in Rome, July 6, 1946. Mass held at Soldier Field, Chicago. First naturalized American citizen to become a Catholic Saint. Patron saint of immigrants and hospital administrators.

• Cold War begins with Soviet Union

1947

• The Magnificent Mile is coined and used to describe North Michigan Avenue

• Kukla, Fran, and Ollie television show (1947-1979) by Chicagoan, Burr Tilstrom, debuts on WBKB-Chicago.

• The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is created and replaces the Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT). 1947

1949

• Chicago's airport renamed after Edward "Butch" O'Hare, a WWII pilot and Medal of Honor recipient from Chicago.

1950

• Chess Records begins it’s legendary American Rock and R&B label

• Korean War begins. 1950-1953

• The Tri-State Highway opens

• The Calumet Expressway opens; it is later renamed the Bishop Ford Freeway

• Chicago population 1950 Census = 3.6 million

1951

• The Edens Expressway opens. It is names for William G. Edens, a banker who helped fund and promote the “good roads movement.”

• The Dearborn Street subway tunnel opens. 1951

1952

• Queen Elizabeth II, at age 25, succeeds her father, King George VI of England. February 6

1953

• Korean War ends

• Dwight D. Eisenhower, President 1953-1961

• The Tri-State Highway is renamed the Robert Kingery Expressway for the former Director of Public Works for the State Department and the Chicago Regional Planning Association.

• Redevelopment of the Chicago Port at Calumet Harbor and renaming after Senator Dan Dougherty. Construction is completed in 1958, a deadline established in advance of the 1959 dedication of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

1954

• Grant Park North underground parking lot opened. It was 3 levels and could park 1,850 cars.

• The 1957 Chicago Zoning Ordinance introduced new standards for construction and development

1955

• Richard J. Daley, mayor 1955-1976

• First Ann Landers column by Eppie Lederer

• O'Hare International Airport officially opens to commercial flights

• The Prudential building is the first Chicago building granted air rights by the Illinois Central Railroad

• Ray Kroc opens his first McDonald’s franchise location in DesPlaines, IL

• The Congress Expressway opens; it is later renamed for President Eisenhower

• 14-Year old Emmitt Till is lynched and brutally murdered in Mississippi (August 28). His mother, Maime Till, has his body returned to Chicago and the funeral held with an open casket.

• Rosa Parks is arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. December 1, 1955

1956

• Federal-Aid Highway Act, signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, established the Interstate Highway system in the US. June 29, 1956

1958

• Port of Chicago constructed

• Our Lady of the Angels School Fire

1959

• The Second City, sketch improv comedy, opens

• The Pan-American Games were held in Chicago. Swimming pool in Portage Park

• Queen Elizabeth II visit Chicago on US & Canada trip to commemorate opening of St. Lawrence Seaway

• Alaska and Hawaii become the 49th and 50th US States

1960

• Chicago population approximately 3.5 million.

• The Northwest Expressway opened in Chicago. It was later renamed for President Kennedy

• The original McCormick Place Convention Center is built (burns down in 1967)

1961

• John F. Kennedy, President 1961-1963

• The Dan Ryan Expressway opens; it is named after the former Cook County Commissioner

1962

• United States begins running combat missions in Vietnam, January 1962

• Cuban Missile Crisis

1963

• Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., August 28, 1963.

• President John F. Kennedy is assassinated. November 1963

• The Northwest Expressway was renamed in honor of President Kennedy

• Lyndon Johnson, President 1963-1969

• Fannie May Candies introduces the “Mint Meltaway”

1964

• Inaugural Chicago International Film Festival. 1964

• Lincoln Park, Farm in the Zoo opened.

• The Congress Expressway is renamed in honor of President Dwight D. Eisenhower

• The Southwest Expressway opens, it is later renamed the Adali Stevenson II, former Illinois Governor and UN Ambassador.

• The Beatles gave their first concert in Chicago, it was held at the International Ampitheather.

1965

• Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) announce the Chicago as the northern city for the civil rights campaign.

• Construction on the John Hancock Center begins. 1965

• Grant Park South Garage opens and has 3 levels and 1,350 underground parking spaces

• The Beatles performed in Chicago for the second time, the venue was Comiskey Park, and had ice cream at Margie’s Candies. August 22

• Air Force Veteran and Astronaut from Gary, IN, Frank Borman, circled the moon in 1965. A section of the 80-94 Expressway was later renamed for him.

• Miss (Jane) Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees was first broadcast on American television. December 22, 1965

1966

• Martin Luther King and his family move into an apartment in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood to support the Chicago Freedom Movement civil rights campaign.

• Freedom Rally at Soldier Field by Martin Luther King, Jr. July 10, 1966

• The Beatles played their last Chicago concert at the International Amphitheater

• Illinois Supreme Court case establishing air rights to the Illinois Central Railroad

• The US Department of Transportation is established by President Lyndon B. Johnson. 1966

• The Main Post Office gets clogged for a week with 10 million pieces of mail

• The Calumet Expressway is renamed for Bishop Louis Henry Ford, Pastor of the St. Paul Church of God in Christ in Chicago.

• The series “Star Trek” with William Shatner as Captain James Kirk premiers.

1967

• The original McCormick Place Convention Center (built 1960) burns to the ground, January 16, 1967.

• A record snowfall dumps 23 inches of snow on Chicago January 26-27.

• Vietnam War protests in Washington DC, New York, and San Francisco. April 1967.

• The US Coast Guard was granted administration of bridges and navigable waterways

• Marina City building completed. Architect, Bertrand Goldberg

• The Picasso sculpture is unveiled in Daley Plaza (previously Civic Center Plaza), August 15. Mike Royko reported that it looked like a “giant insect.”

1968

• The Tet Offensive in Vietnam. January 1968

• Anti-Vietnam War protests on college campuses across the US.

• Senator Robert Kennedy enters race for Democratic Party nomination. March 16, 1968. He is killed in Los Angeles, June 5, 1968

• The Gold Standard repealed for US currency. March 18, 1968

• Martin Luther King, Jr. killed in Memphis. April 4, 1968

• Civil Rights Act signed into law April 11, 1968

• Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Anti-war protesters vs police clash. August 22-30, 1968

• Apollo 7 launched by NASA to be first televised television broadcast from orbit

• Yale University announces it will begin to admit women. November 14, 1968

• The first International Special Olympics Games was held at Soldier Field.

• Lake Point Tower construction completed. 1968

1969

• John Hancock building completed

• Architect, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe dies, Age 83.

• Richard Nixon, President. 1969-1974

1970

• The John Hancock building opens

• Construction begins on the Sears Tower. By structural engineer Fazlur Khan.

• Chicago population 3.4 million.

• The Kent State shooting of student Vietnam War protestors. May 3, 1970

• Ernie Banks 500th home run. May 12, 1970, at Wrigley Field

1971

• The Chicago Bears Football Team plays its first home game at Soldier Field and defeats the Pittsburgh Steelers. September 19, 1971.

• The new McCormick Place Convention Center is completed (1967 fire destroyed the original building)

1972

• Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) introduces futures trading. 1972.

• Navy Pier ceased operations in commercial shipping in favor of the newer sites and Port of Chicago facilities at Lake Calumet and later the Iroquois Landing terminal (1978) on the south side of the City.

1973

• The Standard Oil Building (Aon Center) is completed

• The Lakefront Protection Ordinance was signed into law. Declaration that the Chicago lakefront is to be "forever open, clear and free" dates back to 1836 or earlier.

1974

• The Sears Tower is completed making it the tallest building in the world

• The Sears Tower Skydeck is opened to the public

• Steppenwolf Theater Company begins

• President Nixon resigns. August

• Gerald Ford, President. 1974-1977

1975

• United States completes withdrawal from Vietnam. April 30, 1975

• Water Tower Place skyscraper completed in Chicago. 1975

1976

• Mayor Richard J. Daley dies in office (1955-1976).

• Michael A. Bilandic, mayor 1976-1979

1977

• The final stage of the underground Monroe Street parking garage opens 3800 parking spaces. Above ground is a landscaped park containing an ice rink and Daley Bicentennial Plaza.

• The first year of the Chicago Marathon

• Evel Knievel jumped a shark tank on a motorcycle at the Chicago Amphitheater and crashed in practice. January 31

• Jimmy Carter, President. 1977-1981

1978

• The Petrillo Music Shell opens a “demountable” structure, so as to not violate the “free and clear” status of Grant Park.

• Historic Landmark designation for The Fine Arts Building July 7, 1978

1979

• Big snowstorm January 13-14, dumping 21 inches of snow on Chicago

• Jane Byrne, mayor 1979-1983

• Pope John Paul II gave a public mass in Grant Park. An estimated 1.5 million people attended.

• Disco Demolition at Comisky Park. July 12

1980

• Chicago population approximately 3 million.

1981

• Pullman Company closes permanently

• Taste of Chicago launched in Grant Park after the successful initial one-day event held the previous year.

• Ronald Regan, President. 1981-1989

1983

• Harold Washington, mayor 1983-1987

• The first commercial cell phone call was made from Soldier Field, Chicago to Alexander Graham Bell’s great grandson in Germany. October 13.

1984

• Broadcast towers are added to the top of the Sears Tower

• Chicago ordinance standardizing honorary street designations

1985

• Chicago Hilton and Towers Hotel reopens after $185 Million renovation completed. October 1, 1985.

• The State of Illinois building (later renamed for Governor James Thompson) , designed by Chicago architect, Helmut Jahn opens. May 1985

1986

• Chicago Bears win Superbowl XX in 1986

• Completion of Lake Shore Drive S-curve reconstruction 1982-1986

• Oprah Winfrey starts Harpo Productions, Inc.

• Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster. January 28

1987

• Mayor Harold Washington dies in office (1983-1987)

• David Duvall Orr, mayor 1987

• Eugene Sawyer, mayor 1987-1989

• Chicago Teachers Strike for 4 weeks

1988

• Wrigley Field's first night game. August 8, 1988.

1989

• Richard M. Daley, mayor 1989-2011

• George H. W. Bush, President. 1989-1993

1990

• 1990s CME and CBOT begin to use computers for high speed trading.

• Judd Goldman Adaptive Sailing Program in Burnham Harbor

• Chicago population approximately 2.8 million.

1991

• 1991 Gulf War, Iraq

• Chicago Bulls Basketball wins the first of 3 consecutive championships 1991-1993

1992

• The Great Chicago Flood. New pilings for the Kinzie Street bridge caused the Chicago River to flood into basements all through the Loop. April 13, 1992

• The Robert Redford directed film starring Brad Pitt, "A River Runs Through It" is released. Roger Ebert gave it 3 1/2 stars, out of 4 (thumbs up).

• Chicago Bulls Basketball wins the second of 3 consecutive championships 1991-1993

1993

• The three-peat. Chicago Bulls Basketball wins the third of 3 consecutive championships 1991-1993

• Bill Clinton, President. 1993-2001

1995

• Heat wave in July resulted in 739 deaths

1996

• Chicago Bulls Basketball wins the first of 3 more consecutive championships 1996-1998

• Dolly the Sheep was the first cloned mammal.

1997

• Chicago Bulls Basketball wins the second of 3 more consecutive championships 1996-1998

1998

• The repeat of the three-peat. The Chicago Bulls Basketball wins the first of 3 more consecutive championships 1996-1998.

• The construction of the Museum Campus was completed

1999

• Blizzard breaking single day snowfall record with 18.6 inches on January 2 of 21.6 inch total snowfall

2000

2000

• Chicago population approximately 2.9 million.

• Chicago Zoning Reform Commission was established by Mayor Daley. Many reforms were approved in 2004.

2001

• September 11th, 2001 World Trade Center attack

• War in Afghanistan

• George W. Bush, President. 2001-2009

2002

• Completion of the modernized Soldier Field stadium

• The Department of Homeland Security is established

• United Airlines files for bankruptcy protection in the fallout of the 9/11 attacks

2003

• Meigs Field closes. The airfield is bulldozed in the middle of the night

• A fire escape porch collapse in Chicago kills 13 people

• Maime Till-Mobley, mother of Emmitt Till, dies at the age of 81. January 6

• Space Shuttle Columbia is destroyed on re-entry, killing all 7 astronauts. February 1

• Fred Rogers of the Mr. Rogers Neighborhood television show dies at age 74

• The US bombs Baghdad and the Iraq War begins, Saddam Hussein is captured in December.

• The US Census announces that hispanics are the new largest minority population in the US with 37 million, surpassing African Americans

2004

• Millennium Park opens, July 16, 2004

• Chicago Merchantile Exchange (CME) and Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) partially combine to fend off competition

• A monument to the firefighters lost in the 1910 Stockyard Fire is dedicated at Exchange Avenue and Peoria Street.

• The East-West Tollway is renamed the President Ronald Regan Memorial Highway. It passes near his birthplace and childhood home in Tampico, IL and Dixon, IL.

2005

• Chicago White Sox win the World Series. 2005

• Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans, levees break and flood 80% of the city. Thousands fled the area, tens of thousands more were stranded and homeless. Relief efforts were hampered and strongly criticized. More than 1000 people died. (August 23)

2006

• E-coli outbreak on spinach sickens more than 100 people

• Google buys YouTube for $1.65 Billion

• The New Orleans Saints play their first game in the Superdome since hurricane Katrina

2007

• Chicago bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, was selected for the final round in 2009, but ultimately Rio was chosen as the 2016 host city.

• The Northwest Tollway is renamed the Jane Addams Expressway, for the Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Hull House Settlement.

2009

• Barack Obama, President 2009-2017

• The Sears Tower is renamed Willis Tower

• The Aqua building completed by Studio Gang. It is the tallest building in the world designed by a woman architect

• Trump tower building completed

2010

• Chicago Blackhawks hockey team wins the Stanley Cup. 2010.

• Chicago population approximately 2.7 million.

2011

• Rahm Emanuel, mayor 2011

• Major blizzard shuts down Lake Shore Drive, O’Hare Airport, and school districts with 21.2-inches of snow and 50 mph winds. Groundhog Day

• Maggie Daley, former Chicago First Lady, dies of cancer

• The Field Museum wins the Best Bathroom in the country award

• The last remaining towers of the Cabrini Green are torn down

2012

• Hurricane Sandy kills more than 200 people on the east coast of the US and the Caribbean

• Encyclopedia Brittanica stops publishing printed volumes and publishes online only

• Queen Elizabeth celebrates her Diamond Jubilee - her 60th year as Queen.

• London hosts the Summer Olympics

• The Mayan Calendar ends, and the world does not

2013

• President Obama is inaugurated for his second term as President of the United States

• Two bombs explode near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing 3 people and injuring 264

• In an interview with Oprah Winfrey - Lance Armstrong admits to doping during his Tour de France wins

2014

• Maggie Daley Park opens, December 13

• Ebola virus outbreak in Western Africa

• Catholic Church canonizes Pope John Paul II

• President Obama normalizes relations with Cuba and is the first US President to visit Cuba in 54 years.

2015

• Chicago Blackhawks hockey team wins the Stanley Cup for the 3rd time in 5 years.

• Maggie Daley Park officially dedicated

• The 606 trail park opens, it has been converted from an old rail line, it now connects neighborhoods on the north and west sides of the City.

• The U.S. Supreme Court declares same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states. June 26

2016

• Cubs win the World Series after 108 year losing streak

• Chicago population approximately 2.7 million

• More than half of the US states have legalized medical cannabis

2017

• Donald Trump, President 2017-2021

• Total solar eclipse passes across the United States

2018

• North and South Korea walked together in the Winter Olympic Games 2018 in Peyongchang, South Korea

• Portion of East Congress Parkway is renamed for civil rights activist and investigative journalist and suffragist Ida B. Wells

• Fannie May Candies is acquired by Ferrero

• SpaceX launches a Tesla electric car into space on the Falcon Heavy spacecraft headed for Mars.

• Hawaii’s Mount Kilauea erupts

• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wedding

2019

• Long time head of the City of Chicago Finance Committee, Ed Burke, resigns amid Federal investigations.

• Chicago elects Lori Lightfoot its first LGTBQ and African-American woman as Mayor

• The old main Post Office opens as commercial space after decades of vacancy followed by redevelopment.

• The autonomous SpaceX Dragon successfully docks with the International Space Station

• Illinois becomes the 11th state to legalize cannabis for recreational use May 31 (into effect Jan 1, 2020).

2020

• The sale and use of cannabis for recreational goes into effect January 1. First day sales in Illinois top $3.2M, first week $11M.

• The St. Regis, formerly known as the Wanda Vista, is completed and becomes the third tallest building in Chicago. Construction began in 2016.

• COVID-19 is declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11. President Trump declares a National Emergency (March 13), schools are closed, sporting events and large gatherings are cancelled to stop the spread of the outbreak, which as of the declaration date, has no vaccine or cure, and had 118,000 cases across 110 countries worldwide. Stay at home orders are enacted in cities and countries throughout the world.

• The CARES Act for economic recovery is signed by the President. March 27

• COVID deaths exceed 1 million worldwide. September 28.

• Chicago population approximately 2.7 million.

• President Trump and First Lady Meliana test positive for the Corona Virus. October 2.

• Joe Biden and Kamala Harris win the Presidential election.

• The first vaccinations for COVID-19 is approved for emergency use by the FDA: Pfiser, December 11, and Moderna, December 18. It is a first of its kind mRNA vaccine and requires cryogenic freezing and two doses. Johnson & Johnson has also developed a standard vaccine which only requires one dose.

• COVID accounted for 10% of deaths (350,831) in the US in 2020, the third greatest cause of death after heart attack 21% (696,962) and cancer 18% (602,350), and above that of accidental deaths 5.9% (200,995) and 9th place - Influenza and Pneumonia (53,544). 2020 was the deadliest year in US history (3.4 million), an increase of 18.5%.
  The US total population approximately 331 million.

2021

• Joe Biden is sworn in as 46th President of the United States. Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first female Vice President and the first in the executive branch from African-American and South Asian Indian descent.

• The US COVID death count exceeds 500,000. February 22

• Drug overdose deaths exceeded 100,000 for the first time ever in a 12-month period; a 29% increase. April

• Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan resigns as Chairman of the state Democratic Party after more than 50 years. February 22

• German-born Chicago architect, Helmut Jahn dies. (January 4, 1940 - May 8 2021)

• Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, and husband of Queen Elizabeth II for 72 years, dies at age 99. April 9

• A record number of immigrants flood into the US through Mexico following a new open borders policy.

• US exits Afghanistan, August 31, after 20 years of occupation following the attacks of September 11th 2001. Within days, control of the country falls back into the hands of the Taliban.

• A booster vaccine (third dose) for the COVID-19 Delta variant is approved for emergency use for adults and distributed. The original vaccines are approved for use on children age 5-12 years old.

• As of October there have been > 700,000 COVID deaths in the US and >77% of the population over the age of 12 has had at least one COVID shot. World wide more than 5 million people have died due to COVID.

• Blue Origin launches William Shatner (age 90), actor who played Captain Kirk on “Star Trek,” into space, October 4

• Chicago’s Lakeshore Drive is officially renamed Jean Baptiste Ponte DuSable Lakeshore Drive in honor of Chicago’s first permanent non-native resident.

• The Omicron variant of the COVID virus is identified and reported as a concern in South Africa. (November 26)

• The Washington National Cathedral in Washington DC bells toll 800 times to mark the death of 800,000 in the United States due to the COVID virus (December 15).

2022

• The death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic reaches 1 million people in the US. May 16

• The Mid-America Club, atop the Aon Center, closes after 64 years (1958-2022). May 30

• Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Platinum Jubilee which marks 70 years as monarch of Great Britain. February 6

• Marilyn Miglin, founder of Marilyn Miglin Cosmetics and eponymous Oak Street boutique, dies. March 15

• Google announces it will be the new tenant of the former Thompson Center in the Loop; the former State of Illinois Building designated a landmark and designed by Chicago architect, Helmut Jahn.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin invades neighboring Ukraine. February 24

• Queen Elizabeth II of England dies at the age of 96, having reigned longer than any female monarch in history, 70 years, 214 days. September 8

• King Charles III of Great Britain becomes King at age 72 upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth. September 8

• Hurricane Ian becomes the second most destructive hurricane (after hurricane Katrina) in the United States in 20 years; it hit the western tip of Cuba, made landfall on the Gulf Coast of Florida, and tore through the Southeastern United States reaching as far north as North Carolina. Winds were recorded at 150 miles per hour. September 28

• The COVID-19 Pandemic killed fewer people in the US in its third year, about 267,000 people (2020 > 350,000, 2021 > 475,000), it was the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer, and greater than the fourth leading cause which was accidental death by injury and overdose, about 225,000.

  2023

• Brandon Johnson elected Mayor of Chicago, April 4. Inauguration, May 15.

• Chicago selected as location of 2024 Democratic National Convention

• Newton Minow, former FCC Chairman, dies May 6.

• Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt dies, December 16

2024

• A total solar eclipse passes across the US, April 8

Sources: see also - links within timeline content

Chicago Public Library, Encyclopedia of Chicago
WBEZ (ret. May 28, 2017)
History of Illinois (ret. May 28, 2017)
Haymarket and May Day, Encyclopedia of Chicago (ret. May 28, 2017)
Labor Day, Brittanica (ret. May 28, 2017)
Stock Market Crash, History.com (ret. May 28, 2017)
Prohibition, Encyclopedia of Chicago (ret. May 28, 2017)
Lager Beer Riot, Encyclopedia of Chicago (ret. May 28, 2017)
Frances Xavier Cabrini. Wikipedia (Ret. May 28, 2017)
Chicago Mayors, Chicago Public Library (Ret, May 28, 2017)
Red Summer, Brittanica (Ret. May 28, 2017)
Map of the Northwest Territory, Encyclopedia of Chicago (Ret. June 5, 2017)
Illinois Michigan Canal, Encyclopedia of Chicago (Ret. June 5, 2017)
The General Time Convention, The Midwest Railway Historical Society November 18, 1971
 Three-peat Champions, Sports Illustrated. August 1, 2016
PeyongChang2018, Olympic Committee (ret. February 25, 2018)
Chicago. History.com (ret. March 23, 2018)
Chicago History Timeline, Chicago Public Library (ret. March 23, 2018)
History of Chicago Parks, Chicago Park District (ret. March 23, 2018)
US Census Population Clock (ret. December 24, 2020)
CDC Covid Tracker (Ret. December 24, 2020)