Timeline of Chicago history

Prior to 1800s

1673: French-Canadian explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet, on their way to Québec, pass through the area that will become Chicago.

1677, Father Calude Allouez arrived to try to convert the natives to Christianity

1682: French explorer René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, passes through Chicago en route to the mouth of the Mississippi River.

1696: Jesuit missionary Francois Pinet founds the Mission of the Guardian Angel. It is abandoned four years later.

1705: Conflicts develop between French traders and the Fox tribe of Native Americans.

1780s: Jean Baptiste Point du Sable establishes Chicago's first permanent settlement near the mouth of the Chicago River.

1795: Six square miles (16 km²) of land at the mouth of the Chicago River are reserved by the Treaty of Greenville for use by the United States.

1796: Kittahawa, du Sable's Potawatomi Indian wife, delivers Eulalia Point du Sable, Chicago's first recorded birth.

1800s-1840s

1803: The U.S. Army constructs Ft. Dearborn near the mouth of the Chicago River.

1812

June 17, Jean La Lime is killed by John Kinzie, making him the first recorded murder victim in Chicago.

August 15, the Battle of Fort Dearborn.

1816: The Treaty of St. Louis is signed in St. Louis, Missouri. Ft. Dearborn is rebuilt.

1818: December 3, Illinois joins the union.

1830

August 4, Chicago is surveyed and platted for the first time by James Thompson.

1833 Chicago incorporated as a city

1837

C. D. Peacock jewelers was founded. It is the oldest Chicago business still operating today.

Chicago receives its first charter.

Rush Medical College is founded two days before the city was chartered. It is the first medical school in the state of Illinois which is still operating.

1840

July 10, Chicago's first legally executed criminal, John Stone was hanged for the rape and murder of Lucretia Thompson, a farmer's wife.

Population: 4,470.

1847: June 10, The first issue of the Chicago Tribune is published.

1848

Chicago Board of Trade opens on April 3 by 82 local businessmen.

Illinois and Michigan Canal opens and traffic begins moving through the city at a much higher rate.

Galena and Chicago Union Railroad enters operation becoming the first railroad in Chicago

1850s-1890s

1850: Population: 29,963.

1851: Chicago's first institution of higher education, Northwestern University, is founded.

1852: Mercy Hospital becomes the first hospital in Illinois.

1853: October: State Convention of the Colored Citizens held in city.

1854: A cholera epidemic took the lives of 5.5% of the population of Chicago.

1855: April 21, Lager Beer Riot.

1856: Chicago Historical Society founded.

1857

Iwan Ries & Co. Chicago's oldest family-owned business opens. Still in operation today, it is the oldest family-owned tobacco shop in the country.

Mathias A. Klein & Sons(Klein Tools Inc.), Still family owned and run today by fifth and sixth generation Klein's.

1860

September 8, the Lady Elgin Disaster.

Population: 112,172.

Daprato Statuary Company (Currently Daprato Rigali Studios) founded by the Daprato brothers, Italian immigrants from Barga.

1866: Chicago Academy of Design founded.

1867: Construction began on the Water Tower designed by architect W. W. Boyington.

1868: Rand McNally is formed as a railway guide company.

1869 The first Illinois woman suffrage convention was held in Chicago

1870: Population: 298,977.

1871: October 8–October 10, the Great Chicago Fire.

1872: Montgomery Ward in business.

1877: Railroad strike.

1878

Chicago Academy of Fine Arts established.

Conservator newspaper begins publication.

1880: Polish National Alliance headquartered in city.

1881: Unsightly beggar ordinance effected.

1885: Home Insurance Building is world's first skyscraper.

1886: May 4, the Haymarket Riot.

1887: Newberry Library established.

1889: Hull House founded.

1890: The University of Chicago is founded by John D. Rockefeller.

1892

June 6, The Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad, Chicago's first 'L' line, went into operation.

Masonic Temple is, for two years, the tallest building in the world, using highest occupied floor criteria.

1893

May 1–October 30, The World's Columbian Exposition (World's Fair); World's Parliament of Religions held.

October 28, Mayor Carter Harrison, Sr. was assassinated by Patrick Eugene Prendergast.

Sears, Roebuck and Company in business.

First Ferris wheel built by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr..

Art Institute of Chicago building opens.

Universal Peace Congress held.

Chicago Civic Federation founded.

1894

May 11–August 2, the Pullman Strike.

Ženské Listy women's magazine begins publication.

1896

1896 Democratic National Convention held; Bryan delivers Cross of Gold speech.

Abeny beauty shop and Tonnesen Sisters photo studio in business.

1897: The Union Loop Elevated is completed.

1899

Cook County juvenile court and Municipal Art League established.

Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building constructed.

1900s-1940s

1900

Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal opens; the Chicago River is completely reversed.

Municipal Reference Library active (approximate date).

Labor strike of machinists.

Population: 1,698,575.

1902: Meatpacking strike.

1903

December 30, Iroquois Theater Fire

City Club of Chicago formed.

1905

The Industrial Workers of the World was founded in June

Chicago Defender newspaper begins publication.

1906

Municipal court established.

The Chicago White Sox defeated the Chicago Cubs in the only all-Chicago World Series.

Sinclair's fictional The Jungle published.

1907: Adolph Kroch opens a bookstore which will evolve into Kroch’s and Brentano’s

1908

The Chicago Cubs win the World Series for the second year in a row

Binga Bank in business.

1909: Burnham's Plan of Chicago presented.

1910: Population: 2,185,283.

1913

Great Lakes Storm of 1913

Wabash Avenue YMCA opens.

1914: Alpha Suffrage Club active.

1915: July 24, the SS Eastland Disaster.[1]

1916: Rebuilding of the American Fort

1918: Micheaux Film and Book Company in business.

1919

July 27, the Chicago race riot of 1919.

Real estate broker Archibald Teller opened the first Fannie May candy store.

1922: Chicago Council on Global Affairs established.

1925

Goodman Theatre established.

The Tribune Tower was completed on Michigan Avenue. The building's large Gothic entrance contains pieces of stone from other famous buildings: Westminster Abbey, Cologne Cathedral, the Alamo, the Taj Mahal, the Great Pyramid, and the Arc de Triomphe.

1927: Originally called the Chicago Municipal Airport, Chicago Midway International Airport opened. It was renamed in 1949 to honor the Battle of Midway in World War II. Midway was the world's busiest airport until 1959.

1929

February 14, the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

Oscar De Priest becomes U.S. representative for Illinois's 1st congressional district.

1930

May 12, Adler Planetarium opened, through a gift from local merchant Max Adler. It was the first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere.

May 30, Shedd Aquarium opens.

The Merchandise Mart was built for Marshall Field & Co. The $32 million, 4.2 million square foot (390,000 m²) building was the world's largest commercial building. It was sold it to Joseph P. Kennedy in 1945.

1933: March 6, Mayor Anton Cermak was killed while riding in a car with President-elect Roosevelt. The assassin was thought to have been aiming for Roosevelt.

1933-34: Century of Progress World's Fair.

1934: July 22, John Dillinger was shot by the FBI in the alley next to the Biograph Theater.

1935

January 19, Coopers Inc. sells the world's first briefs.

Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago is awarded the very first Heisman Trophy

1937: Labor strike of steelworkers.

1938: Community Factbook begins publication.

1944: Premiere of Williams' play The Glass Menagerie.

1945: Ebony magazine begins publication.

1948: Chicago Daily Sun and Times newspaper begins publication.

1950s-1990s

1950: Chess Records in business.

1954: Johnson Products Company in business.

1955: The first McDonald's franchise restaurant, owned by Ray Kroc, opened in the suburb of Des Plaines.

1958

December 1, Our Lady of the Angels School Fire.

The last streetcar ran in the city. At one time, Chicago had the largest streetcar system in the world.

1959: Second City comedy troupe active.

1960

September 26: Nixon-Kennedy televised presidential debate held.

The first of the Playboy Clubs, featuring bunnies, opened in Chicago.

1963 - Donald Rumsfeld becomes U.S. representative for Illinois's 13th congressional district.

1967: January 26–January 27, Major snowstorm deposits 23 inches of snow, closing the city for several days.[2]

1968: August 26–August 29, 1968 Democratic National Convention.

1969

October: Weathermen's antiwar demonstration.

December 4: Black Panther Fred Hampton assassinated.

The Chicago 8 trial opens.

The 100-floor John Hancock Center was built.

1970

Soul Train television program begins broadcasting.

Casa Aztlán (organization) founded.

1971: Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center founded.

1972: Vietnam Veterans Against the War headquartered in Chicago.

1973: Sears Tower, the tallest building in the world for next 30 years, was completed.

1974: Steppenwolf Theatre Company founded.

1977: Chicago Marathon begins.

1978

Heavy snowstorm and city's perceived slow response lead to upset of incumbent mayor.

First BBS goes online on February 16.

1979

May 25, the American Airlines Flight 191 crashes.

Chicago's first female mayor, Jane M. Byrne, takes office.

Woodstock Institute headquartered in city.

1983

Harold Washington became the first African-American mayor.

Ordinance banning handguns takes effect.

1984

The Chicago Cubs reach the postseason for the first time since 1945

Heartland Institute headquartered in city.

1986

Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions, Inc. in business.

The Chicago Bears win Super Bowl XX

1988

Lights are installed in Wrigley Field

Christian Peacemaker Teams headquartered in city.

1990: Population: 2,783,726.

1992: April 13, the Chicago Flood.

1995

The Chicago Heat Wave of 1995.

Your Radio Playhouse begins broadcasting.

Kroch’s and Brentano’s, once the largest privately owned bookstore chain in the US, closes.

1996 - City website online (approximate date).

1998: The Chicago Bulls won their sixth NBA championship in eight years

2000s

2001: Chicago International Speedway is opened.

2002: Lakeview Polar Bear Club founded.

2003

Meigs Field closed.

Chicago Film Archives founded.

2004: Millennium Park opens.

2005

The Chicago White Sox win their first World Series in 88 years.

Regional Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning established.

2006

May 1, the 2006 U.S. immigration reform protests draw over 400,000.

Cloud Gate artwork installed in Millennium Park.

2008: November 4, US President-elect Barack Obama makes his victory speech in Grant Park.

2010

June 28: US supreme court case McDonald v. City of Chicago decided; overturns city handgun ban.

Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup.

City of Chicago Data Portal launched.[3]

Population: 2,695,598.

2011

Rahm Emanuel becomes mayor.

Population: 2,707,120; metro 9,504,753.

2012: 38th G8 summit and 2012 Chicago Summit are to take place in Chicago.

2013

Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup scoring 2 goals in 17 seconds to defeat the Boston Bruins

Robin Kelly becomes U.S. representative for Illinois's 2nd congressional district.

2014: November 2: Wallenda performs high-wire stunt.

2015

606 linear park opens.

Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup yet again for the third time in six years, establishing a "puck dynasty" nationwide and arguably becoming the best team in the NHL.

Video of the Shooting of Laquan McDonald is released by court order, and protests ensue.

2016: Cubs win the world series. Protesters successfully disrupt a rally for presidential candidate Donald Trump.

2017 - January 21: Women's protest against U.S. president Trump.