Here\u2019s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on July 13, according to the Tribune\u2019s archives.<\/p>\n
Is an important event missing from this date? Email us<\/a>.<\/p>\n Weather records <\/strong>(from the National Weather Service, Chicago<\/a>)<\/p>\n High temperature: 104 degrees<\/strong> (1995)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Low temperature: 52 degrees<\/strong> (1975)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Precipitation: 1.6 inches<\/strong> (2024)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n 1787:<\/strong> Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance<\/a>, providing for the organization of the Northwest Territory, which included Illinois.<\/p>\n 1894:<\/strong> Patrick Eugene Prendergast<\/a> was hanged for shooting and killing Chicago Mayor Carter Henry Harrison<\/a> on Oct. 28, 1893.<\/p>\n Mirroring his father\u2019s political career, Carter Henry Harrison Jr. also served as Chicago\u2019s chief executive. Both former mayors are buried in Graceland Cemetery.<\/p>\n 1904:<\/strong> A train full of children returning home from a Sunday school picnic was hit by a freight train in Glenwood in what is known as the Picnic Wreck<\/a>. Eighteen were killed and scores were injured, most of them packed into the second and third cars. The toll was horrible, with some families suffering multiple deaths and injuries. Louisa Geringer, her 15-year-old stepson and 3-year-old daughter all died; a daughter and cousin were injured. Bridgeport, home of the Doremus Congregational Church, was hit hard by the tragedy.<\/p>\n 1912:<\/strong> U.S. Sen. William Lorimer<\/a> of Illinois was expelled from the U.S. Senate for election rigging following Tribune\u2019s reports of corruption<\/a>.<\/p>\n Vintage Chicago Tribune: Summer Olympians from the area who won gold<\/a><\/p>\n Also in 1912:<\/strong> Harry Hebner<\/a>, who learned how to swim at a YMCA in Chicago, won a gold medal during the Olympics in Stockholm with a time of 1 minute, 21 seconds in the 100-meter backstroke. Not bad for a man who as a child thought he might be \u201ctoo heavy for swimming.\u201d<\/p>\n 30 years after deadly Chicago heat wave, threats persist as climate change elevates risks<\/a><\/p>\n 1995:<\/strong> The temperature hit 106 degrees<\/a> at Chicago\u2019s Midway Airport and hovered between the high 90s and low triple digits for the next five days. Dozens of bodies filled the Cook County medical examiner\u2019s office. On a single day \u2014 July 15 \u2014 the number of heat-related deaths reached its highest daily tally<\/a> of 215; refrigerated trucks were summoned to handle the overflow of corpses.<\/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\n