Described as “the greatest gathering in history” and the “grandest spectacle in modern times,” Chicago Day smashed all attendance figures at the 1893 World's Fair. On October 9, over three-quarters of a million of people gathered on the fairgrounds to commemorate the twenty-second anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and to celebrate the great city that emerged from the flames to host the Columbian Exposition. One float in the evening parade offered a most poignant reflection of [...]

The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition celebrated the twenty-second anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 with “Chicago Day” on October 9, 1893. With around three-quarter-of-a-million people filling the fairgrounds, it was thought to be the largest peaceful gathering in human history. Among the visitors was one special guest who had survived the Fire due to the dedication her “mother,” ten-year-old Fannie Belle Becker. The article below, from the October 10, 1893, issue of the Chicago Tribune, describes the [...]

October 9, 1893, was “the greatest gathering in history” and the “grandest spectacle in modern times.” Chicago Day at the 1893 World’s Fair shattered all previous attendance records with 713,646 paid admissions to the Fair and over three-quarters of a million of people inside the gates of the White City. The event commemorated the night of October 9, 1871, when the Great Fire ripped through downtown Chicago. Having risen from the ashes and rebuilt, Chicago served as host to [...]