Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Oct. 10, according to the Tribune’s archives.
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Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
High temperature: 86 degrees (1962)
Low temperature: 27 degrees (1964)
Precipitation: 3.94 inches (1954)
Snowfall: None
Holy Name Cathedral, left, and St. James Episcopal Church, right, lay in ruins after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. Between them, in the background, stands the old water tower. (Chicago Tribune archive)
1871: As a gentle rain began to fall, the Great Chicago Fire burned itself out. There was nothing left to burn. The fire had reached all the way to the city’s northern border, which was then at Fullerton Avenue.
Almost 18,000 buildings were destroyed, much of the city was leveled, 90,000 people were homeless and about 300 people had died.
A young real estate developer named William D. Kerfoot was the first to erect a building in the devastated business district.
On Washington Street between Clark and Dearborn streets, he and some friends put up a wooden shack. Affixed to it was a crude sign: “ALL GONE BUT WIFE, CHILDREN AND ENERGY.”
The first “Peanuts” comic strip to appear in the Chicago Tribune was published on Oct. 10, 1950. (Chicago Tribune)
1950: Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts” comic strip appeared in the Tribune for the first time.
The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Edmonton Oilers (during their NHL debut) 4-2 at Chicago Stadium on Oct. 10, 1979. The game also marked the first for “five million dollar boy” Wayne Gretzky. (Chicago Tribune)
1979: Edmonton Oilers rookie Wayne Gretzky made his NHL debut against the Chicago Blackhawks at Chicago Stadium. He was held to one shot in each of the last two periods after taking four cracks at Hawks goalie Tony Esposito in the opening session. The Hawks won 4-2.
“I never imagined what Chicago turned out to be like,” Gretzky said. “In Edmonton, you can drive from one end of the city to the other in 20 minutes. But we get 16,000 people for every hockey game. Here, they tell me you have more than 3½ million people, but you only see about 10,000 people in the stands. That seemed strangest of all.”
Treasure Island Foods grocery store at 3460 N. Broadway in the Lakeview neighborhood on Oct. 3, 2018. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
2018: Treasure Island Foods stores closed officially ending a 55-year run in Chicago.
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