History

Watch Geoffrey Baer take part in the oldest and longest freshwater sailboat race, as he joins the crew of the Radiance in a journey from Chicago to Mackinac Island. Along the way, discover iconic sights, hear Lake Michigan lore, and learn about the history of the race and region.

Riverview Park delighted Chicagoans for 64 summers, from 1904-1967. A massive parachute tower, beloved roller coasters, spooky fun houses, the world's largest carousel: relive them all in this Chicago Story about the beloved amusement park that used to stand at Belmont and Western.

Ten years ago today, Apple released the first iPhone, redefining our relationship to technology and heralding the beginning of the smartphone era. Revisit the legacy of the groundbreaking device and its creator in a Chicago Tonight segment that aired after Steve Jobs's death in 2011.

As the Chicago Pride Parade approaches, look back at a conversation with Malcolm Boyd, one of the first American clergymen to come out of the closet. "The majority loses its rights the moment it doesn't recognize the rights of minorities," he says.

The Edgewater Beach Hotel played host to weddings, big bands, scandals, and celebrities like Nat King Cole and Bette Davis during its heyday. Experience some of the "Magic by the Lake" in this episode of Chicago Stories.

Today is John F. Kennedy's centenary. 34 years ago, WTTW's John Callaway hosted a discussion on the legacy of the 35th president of the United States on the twentieth anniversary of his assassination. 

In 1984, WTTW hosted a discussion of the Vietnam War with a group of veterans and four Steppenwolf Theatre actors playing soldiers onstage, including Gary Sinise. Revisit it here.

84 years ago today, in the midst of the Great Depression, Chicago opened an extravagant World's Fair. The exposition celebrated "A Century of Progress" in the city and highlighted technological innovations such as the twelve-sided House of Tomorrow, which featured an electric dishwasher and air conditioning, and a Sky Ride that ferried visitors over the entire fair.

Revisit a 1981 WTTW documentary about Pilsen in advance of a new documentary about the community called My Neighborhood. Many of the issues remain the same, but the community has also been transformed in the more than thirty years between the shows.