25-07-2025
Today in Chicago History: Douglas Aircraft Co. builds assembly plant near Orchard Place
Here's a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on July 25, according to the Tribune's archives.
Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.
Walter Payton: The life, career of the Chicago Bears Hall of Famer better known as 'Sweetness'Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
1889: Nineteen sea lions arrived at Lincoln Park Zoo from Santa Barbara, California. They were captured by Capt. Cyrus Alvah Eastman, who hand-fed the sea lions fish throughout their weeklong train journey to Chicago.
'They get used to a man quickly, ' he told a Tribune reporter. 'I've no doubt they will eat from the keeper's hand in a short time.'
Months later, zoo neighbors complained to commissioners about the noise created by these animals: ' … during the long watches of the night most of them, having no place to rest, swim back and forth in the pond and bark incessantly to express their disapproval of their cramped quarters,' the Tribune reported on Oct. 22, 1889.
O'Hare International Airport: From farm to global terminal1942: After the Douglas Aircraft Co. announced plans to construct an assembly plant on 1,347 acres at Orchard Place, near the intersection of Mannheim and Higgins roads south of Des Plaines, work began to demolish homes, level land and create a spur line of the North Western Railroad at the site.
The site later became O'Hare International Airport.
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