More than 50 years ago, a nine-year-old girl died in a fire, leaving her widower father alone and distraught. He spent the next weeks of his life placing memorials for her across the city—and today, only one remains. Read more
Lena Soderberg's centerfold shoot in November 1972 (the magazine's best-selling issue ever) became the Lena test image, coded into the DNA of the web. Read more
The man who famously parlayed $8,000 into the Playboy empire died today at 91. We look back at what he meant to Chicago, and what Chicago meant to him. Read more
It’s meant to honor those killed in a POW camp. It was created to symbolize unity. Yet, now, a symbol of a regime that espoused white supremacy is comfortably situated inside a cemetery surrounded by a black community. Read more
For decades, economists at the university have argued against antitrust law. The current generation is realizing things may have gone too far. Read more
Labor-run papers used to be commonplace. More unique is the longest-running labor-owned radio station, which was based in Chicago and once hosted the Beatles. Read more
A sudden freak wave killed eight people on the shore of Lake Michigan in 1954. That incident (and the specter of an atomic bomb detonating just offshore of Chicago) led a brilliant meteorologist to examine the mysteries of storm surges. Read more
