5 days ago
Today in Chicago History: 844 people drowned aboard the Eastland in the Chicago River
Here's a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on July 24, according to the Tribune's archives.
Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.
Here are Chicago's hottest days — with temperatures of 100 degrees or higher — on recordWeather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
1915: The SS Eastland — packed with Western Electric Co. employees and their families for a day trip to Michigan City, Indiana — rolled to its side in the Chicago River between LaSalle Drive and Clark Street. More than 840 people of the 2,500 aboard died, many of them trapped inside the vessel as water poured in when the ship tipped over only a few feet from the riverbank.
1934: Chicago recorded its hottest temperature — 105 degrees.
1939: Columbia University halfback and future Hall of Famer Sid Luckman signed his first contract with the Chicago Bears after he was selected by the team with the second pick of the 1939 NFL draft.
The 6-foot, 197-pound Brooklyn native was voted first-team All-Pro five times in the 1940s.
The Bears have won nine championships in their 99-year history. Luckman was the quarterback for four of them, in 1940, 1941, 1943 and 1946. In 1943 he won the Joe F. Carr Trophy as the NFL's most valuable player. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.
The dark secret behind the success of Sid Luckman, the greatest Bears quarterback everSubscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago's past.
