Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Oct. 25, according to the Tribune’s archives. If you believe an important event is missing from this date, please email us.
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### Weather Records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
– **High temperature:** 79 degrees (1963)
– **Low temperature:** 14 degrees (1887)
– **Precipitation:** 1.94 inches (1883)
– **Snowfall:** 0.3 inches (1962)
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### 1848: First Locomotive Operates in Chicago
The locomotive *Pioneer* became the first to operate in Chicago. It pulled a train on its inaugural run from a railway station near Canal and Kinzie streets on the Galena and Union Railroad, which stretched as far as Des Plaines.
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### 1910: Creation of the Chicago Vice Commission
The Chicago Vice Commission was established to address “the big problem of raising the moral conditions of the city,” according to the Tribune.
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### 1940: Col. Benjamin O. Davis Sr. Becomes First Black General
Col. Benjamin O. Davis Sr., a native of North Chicago, became the first Black general in any branch of the U.S. military when President Franklin D. Roosevelt promoted him to brigadier general of the Army.
In 1942, Davis joined then-Lt. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in Britain as an adviser on race. Eisenhower later accepted Davis’s recommendation to create racially integrated platoons in the European theater. Most remaining racial barriers were dropped in 1948, the year Davis retired from the Army.
Davis died in 1970 at age 93. His son, Benjamin O. Davis Jr., was a pioneering military officer who led the famed Tuskegee Airmen during World War II and became the first African American general in the Air Force. Both men are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
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### 1978: Premiere of “Halloween”
The horror film *Halloween*—set in the fictional Haddonfield, Illinois, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis—premiered on this day.
The Tribune’s famed movie critic Gene Siskel, who saw it at the Chicago International Film Festival, called it “one of the scariest films I have ever seen” and ranked it eighth on his list of favorite movies for 1978.
In 2006, the Library of Congress inducted *Halloween* into the National Film Registry for its technical innovations, including extensive use of Panaglide from the almost silent, slow-moving killer’s perspective originally known as “The Shape.”
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### 1973: Fergie Jenkins Traded to Texas Rangers
Chicago Cubs pitcher Ferguson “Fergie” Jenkins got his wish for a uniform change when he was traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for third baseman Bill Madlock and utility player Vic Harris.
Jenkins went on to have a stellar season with the Rangers in 1974, recording a career-high 25 wins.
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### 1995: Fatal Fox River Grove Bus-Tram Collision
A tragic accident occurred when a bus loaded with high school students was hit by an express commuter train at a crossing in Fox River Grove.
The collision tore the bus body from its chassis and killed seven students aboard. No one on the train was injured.
The bus had been stopped by a red traffic signal on U.S. Highway 14 (Northwest Highway), just after crossing the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. The rear of the bus hung over the tracks and was struck by the high-speed commuter train.
A preliminary NTSB investigation indicated a flaw in the electronic system designed to override highway traffic signals when a train approaches the crossing.
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Want more vintage Chicago stories? Stay tuned for more from the Tribune archives.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/25/chicago-history-october-25/