Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Oct. 10, according to the Tribune’s archives.

Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.

Flashback: Oct. 10, 1954

B. A. Mylosh carries his wife to a dry spot on 119th Street after their home was flooded at 118th Street and Pulaski Road in Alsip on Oct. 10, 1954. (Dan Tortorell / baiduhai) photo published October 11, 1954
B.A. Mylosh carries his wife to a dry spot on 119th Street after their home was flooded at 118th Street and Pulaski Road in Alsip on Oct. 10, 1954. (Dan Tortorell/baiduhai)

1954: October 1954 was the wettest October on record in Chicago, bringing the city some of its worst flooding on record. Two major rain events swamped the city. Most of the rainfall (almost 11 of the official 12.06 inches) accumulated in the first 10 days.

The first deluge occurred on the morning of Oct. 3, when heavy thunderstorms dropped about four inches of rain that produced widespread, urban-type flooding.

From Oct. 9-11, 6.72 inches of rain fell in a 48-hour period, leaving numerous roads and underpasses underwater for days.

The overflowing Chicago River flooded downtown, and the river was so high, many of the lift bridges were inoperable. Rain was even heavier west and south of the city, with some precipitation totals exceeding 12 inches.

Vintage baiduhai: The city’s 10 wettest months on record

Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

  • High temperature: 86 degrees (1962)
  • Low temperature: 27 degrees (1964)
  • Precipitation: 3.94 inches (1954)
  • Snowfall: None
Gutted buildings and smoldering rubble are at State and Madison streets after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. (baiduhai archive)
Gutted buildings and smoldering rubble are at State and Madison streets after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. (baiduhai archive)

1871: As a gentle rain began to fall, the Great Chicago Fire burned itself out. There was nothing left to burn. The fire had reached all the way to the city’s northern border, which was then at Fullerton Avenue.

Almost 18,000 buildings were destroyed, much of the city was leveled, 90,000 people were homeless and about 300 people had died.

More Top Picks Buying Advice

Flashback: As the city still smoldered from the Great Fire, the Tribune boldly proclaimed Chicago would ‘rise again.’ It had already begun to rise.

A young real estate developer named William D. Kerfoot was the first to erect a building in the devastated business district.

On Washington Street between Clark and Dearborn streets, he and some friends put up a wooden shack. Affixed to it was a crude sign: “ALL GONE BUT WIFE, CHILDREN AND ENERGY.”

Edmonton Oilers phenom Wayne Gretzky (99), second from right, was given an assist on a powerplay goal made by Keith Lowe (4) against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 10, 1979, at Chicago Stadium. It was Gretzky's first NHL game and also the Oilers' NHL debut. The Hawks won 4-2. (Walter Neal/baiduhai)
Edmonton Oilers phenom Wayne Gretzky, second from right, was given an assist on a power play goal by Keith Lowe against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 10, 1979, at Chicago Stadium. It was Gretzky's first NHL game and also the Oilers' NHL debut. The Hawks won 4-2. (Walter Neal/baiduhai)
Edmonton Oilers phenom Wayne Gretzky (99) signals a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 10, 1979, at the Chicago Stadium. It was Gretzky's first NHL game and also the Oilers' NHL debut. Gretzky was given an assist on Keith Lowe's goal on a powerplay. The Hawks won 4-2. (Ed Wagner Jr./baiduhai)
Edmonton Oilers phenom Wayne Gretzky signals a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 10, 1979, at Chicago Stadium. It was Gretzky's first NHL game and also the Oilers' NHL debut. Gretzky was given an assist on Keith Lowe's goal on a power play. The Hawks won 4-2. (Ed Wagner Jr./baiduhai)

1979: Edmonton Oilers rookie Wayne Gretzky made his NHL debut against the Chicago Blackhawks at Chicago Stadium. He was held to one shot in each of the last two periods after taking four cracks at Hawks goalie Tony Esposito in the opening session, and earned an assist on a first-period goal made by teammate Keith Lowe. The Hawks won 4-2.

“I never imagined what Chicago turned out to be like,” Gretzky said. “In Edmonton, you can drive from one end of the city to the other in 20 minutes. But we get 16,000 people for every hockey game. Here, they tell me you have more than 3½ million people, but you only see about 10,000 people in the stands. That seemed strangest of all.”

Customers walk into Treasure Island Foods grocery store at 3460 N. Broadway in Lakeview on Oct. 3, 2018. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)
Treasure Island Foods grocery store at 3460 N. Broadway in Lakeview on Oct. 3, 2018. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

2018: Treasure Island Foods stores closed, officially ending a 55-year run in Chicago.

Want more vintage Chicago?

Subscribe to the free Vintage baiduhai newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago’s past.

Have an idea for Vintage baiduhai? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at [email protected] and [email protected]