Weather records <\/strong>(from the National Weather Service, Chicago<\/a>)<\/p>\n 1848:<\/strong>\u00a0Pioneer<\/a>\u00a0became the\u00a0first locomotive<\/a>\u00a0to operate in Chicago. It pulled a train on its inaugural run from a railway station near Canal and Kinzie streets on the Galena and Union Railroad that stretched as far as Des Plaines.<\/p>\n Chicago, the sin city<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n 1910:<\/strong> The Chicago Vice Commission<\/a> was created to take up \u201cthe big problem of raising the moral conditions<\/a> of the city,\u201d the Tribune reported.<\/p>\n 1940:<\/strong> Col. Benjamin O. Davis Sr.<\/a>, a native of North Chicago, became the first Black general in any branch of the U.S. military when he was promoted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to brigadier general of the Army.<\/p>\n In 1942, Davis joined then-Lt. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in Britain as an adviser on race<\/a>. Eisenhower later accepted Davis\u2019 recommendation that racially integrated platoons be created in the European theater.<\/p>\n \u201cMost of the remaining racial barriers were dropped in 1948, the year Davis retired from the Army,\u201d the Tribune reported when Davis died in 1970<\/a> at age 93.<\/p>\n Davis\u2019 son \u2014 Benjamin O. Davis Jr.<\/a> \u2014was a pioneering military officer who was the leader of the fabled Tuskegee Airmen during World War II and the first African American to become a general in the Air Force.<\/p>\n Both men are buried at Arlington National Cemetery<\/a>.<\/p>\n Vintage Chicago Tribune: Will \u2018Halloween\u2019 ever really end? How the Tribune reviewed each horror flick in the series.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n 1978:<\/strong> \u201cHalloween\u201d<\/a> \u2014 set in the fictional Haddonfield, Illinois, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis \u2014 premiered.<\/p>\n Tribune\u2019s famed movie critic Gene Siskel loved it after he seeing it at the Chicago International Film Festival. He called it \u201cone of the scariest films I have ever seen\u201d<\/a> and ranked it\u00a0eighth<\/a>\u00a0on his list of favorite motion pictures for 1978. The Library of Congress inducted \u201cHalloween\u201d into the\u00a0National Film Registry in 2006<\/a>\u00a0for its technical innovations including the extensive use of Panaglide from the almost silent, staring, slow-moving killer\u2019s \u2014 originally known as \u201cThe Shape\u201d \u2014 perspective.<\/p>\n 1973:<\/strong> \u201cI called Mr. Holland right after our last game Monday and told him that a change of uniforms<\/a> would probably do me a lot of good,\u201d Chicago Cubs pitcher Ferguson \u201cFergie\u201d Jenkins told reporters in early October.<\/p>\n The future Hall of Famer<\/a> got his wish \u2014 he was traded to the Texas Rangers<\/a> in exchange for third baseman Bill Madlock and utility player Vic Harris.<\/p>\n Jenkins had a career-high 25 wins during the 1974 season with the Rangers.<\/p>\n 1995:<\/strong> A bus loaded with high school students was hit by an express commuter train at a crossing in Fox River Grove, tearing the bus body from the chassis<\/a> and killing seven aboard the bus. No one on the train was injured.<\/p>\n The bus had been stopped<\/a> by a red traffic signal at U.S. Highway 14 (Northwest Highway) immediately after crossing the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. The rear of the vehicle hung out over the tracks and was hit by the morning commuter train, which was traveling at a high speed. A preliminary NTSB investigation indicated a flaw in the electronic components intended to override the highway traffic signals when a train approached.<\/p>\n Want more vintage Chicago?<\/p>\n Subscribe to the free\u00a0Vintage Chicago Tribune<\/a>\u00a0newsletter, join our\u00a0Chicagoland history Facebook group,<\/a> stay current with Today in Chicago History<\/a> and follow us on Instagram<\/a>\u00a0for more from Chicago\u2019s past.<\/p>\n Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@chicagotribune.com<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0mmather@chicagotribune.com<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\n
![\"Norma](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CTC-L-FLASH-RAILROAD-B-2C-0715-EM_188749153.jpg\")
Norma Danielson, left, and Herta Reilly, in pre-Civil War costumes, get a ride on the Pioneer, a century-old locomotive, as it rolled under its own power during a preview of the Chicago Railroad Fair on July 14, 1948. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)<\/p>\n\n
![\"Col.](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CTC-L-AP-BENJAMIN-O-DAVIS-1940-01.jpg\")
Col. Benjamin Davis Sr. behind his desk in his New York office on Oct. 25, 1940. Davis became the first Black general in U.S. Army history with his promotion by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the rank of brigadier general. (Preston Stroup\/AP)<\/p>\n\n
![\"Texas](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CTC-L-AP-FERGUSON-JENKINS-RANGERS-1974-01.jpg\")
Texas Rangers pitcher Ferguson Jenkins pitches to Oakland A’s outfielder Joe Rudi in the ninth inning of a game in Oakland, California, on Sept. 8, 1974, as he won his 22nd game of the season against 11 losses. (AP)<\/p>\n![\"Seven](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CTC-L-SCHOOL-BUS-METRA-CRASH-1995-01.jpg\")
Seven Cary-Grove High School students were killed Oct. 25, 1995, when the school bus in which they were riding was struck by a Metra commuter train on tracks crossing Algonquin Road in Fox River Grove. (Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n