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| January 2010 |
| Billie Silvey |
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| Chicago Timeline |
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| The first 100 years of Chicago history was celebrated in this poster from the 1933 World's Fair. |
| 1673—French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet are first Europeans in the Chicago area.
Potawatomi Indians called the swampy area Checaugou or skunk cabbage. 1779—African American Jean Baptiste Point DuSable builds a trading post and establishes a permanent settlement. 1795—Treaty of Greenville signed after Indians defeated at Battle of Fallen Timbers. 1803—U.S. Army builds Fort Dearborn at what is now south end of Michigan Avenue bridge. 1812—Fort Dearborn destroyed and some settlers captured or killed by American Indians. Rebuilt in 1816. 1818—Illinois becomes twenty-first state in Union. 1830—Chicago’s population is about 50. First streets laid out. 1832—Chief Black Hawk defeated. 1833—Chicago incorporates as a town of about 350. First newspaper and school. 1837—Chicago incorporated as a city, population reaches 1,000. 1847—Chicago Tribune founded. 1848—first railroad tracks, Illinois and Michigan Canal opens; Chicago Board of Trade, grain market. 1850—population reaches 29,963 with 50% of residents immigrants; gas streetlights installed. 1865—Union Stock Yards, meat processing; Lincoln nominated U. S. President, Civil War. 1871—The Great Fire. 1879—Art Institute of Chicago founded. 1884—Home Insurance Building—nine-story steel structure—first skyscraper . 1890—Chicago becomes 2nd largest city in U.S. 1891—University of Chicago founded. 1893—World’s Columbian Exposition opens. 1909—Daniel Burnham develops The Chicago Plan . 1914—European immigrants; African Americans from South. 1920s—Speakeasies, bootlegging, Al Capone and Eliot Ness. 1933—World’s Fair—Century of Progress, electricity . 1942—First Atomic Reaction—Fermi, University of Chicago. 1943—Chicago’s first subway opened. 1940s—Economy booms, musicians from Mississippi Delta. 1951—Carl Sandburg wins Pulitzer. 1955—Ray Kroc opens first McDonald’s. 1968—Riots erupt at Democratic National Convention. 1973—Sears Tower completed, tallest building the in world. 2008—Barack Obama elected President of U.S. 2009—Chicago's bid to host Olympics fails. |
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