Today in Chicago History: Fire engulfs Union Stock Yards

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19-05-2025

Here's a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on May 19, according to the Tribune's archives.
Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.
Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
High temperature: 94 degrees (1977)
Low temperature: 36 degrees (1993)
Precipitation: 1.53 inches (1949)
Snowfall: None
1934: 'Big Jim' O'Leary's palatial gambling mecca at 4183 S. Halsted St. was destroyed when the second-biggest fire in Chicago history blazed, taking out nearly 90% of the Union Stock Yards, injuring 50 firefighters and killing hundreds of cattle.
During Chicago's auto racing heyday, a NASCAR race in Soldier Field ended in a razor-slim victory by Fireball Roberts
1935: Midwest Auto Racing Association hosted its first car race at Soldier Field.
The venue hosted its first NASCAR race in 1956 — the Grand National.
1971: Ald. Fred Hubbard disappeared with $100,000 from the Chicago Plan, a federally funded jobs program he had headed. He was arrested by FBI agents in August 1972 at a poker game in a suburb of Los Angeles. Hubbard was brought back to Chicago, where he pleaded guilty to 16 counts of embezzlement and was sentenced to two years in prison in January 1973.
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After serving all but 10 weeks of his prison term, he ended up driving a cab. Later, Hubbard used a false name, Andrew Thomas, to land a job as a substitute teacher in the Chicago Public Schools. The ruse was discovered in 1986 when Hubbard, then 57, was accused of propositioning a 13-year-old girl at a grade school. In recent years, he was back behind the wheel of a taxi, but he lost that livelihood in 1991 when his driver's license was suspended.
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1982: The Chicago Park District included a $20 million dome for Soldier Field on its list of projects.
'We're just finishing a $32 million renovation of Soldier Field,' Park Board President Raymond Simon said. 'But if you look 10 years down the road, and if Soldier Field were utilized 150 days a year, we would be making a lot of money.'
The Tribune Editorial Board responded by saying it had endorsed a domed sports arena near the lakefront since 1964, but argued that taxpayers should not foot the bill: 'They are carrying a heavy enough burden without having to worry about status symbols, however attractive.'
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