Chicago is home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States. The community is diverse in a variety of ways—there are followers of many nationalities, ethnicities, and races from the US and around the world, members of various faith traditions, and converts and those who were raised in the faith. For National More
On this day in 1871, a fire began on DeKoven Street in a barn owned by Catherine and Patrick O’Leary. Fueled by a gale-force wind, this blaze grew into the Great Chicago Fire. Advancing northward over three days, the inferno destroyed three and a half square miles in the heart of the city, leveling more More
National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15. The Chicago skyline you see today was largely influenced by a Peruvian American architect who was born in Colombia and raised in Puerto Rico. Bruce Graham worked at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill from 1951 to 1989, where his projects included the Inland Steel Building More
In a nonpandemic world, thousands of revelers in Germany and around the world would be enjoying Oktoberfest around this time. While you may be saying “Pröst!” virtually these days, we hope you still feel the Gemächlichkeit with your loved ones. Chicago’s first substantial German community took shape in the 1850s when immigrants from Bavaria and More
On the first day of October, Nigeria and Nigerians around the world celebrate Independence Day. The day marks the country’s proclamation of independence from British rule on October 1, 1960. In Chicago, the Nigerian community numbers about 30,000 people, the city’s largest African community. The first major influx of Nigerians to the Chicago area—and to More