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Today in Chicago History: The Rev. Martin Luther King felled by rock during Marquette Park protest

Martin Luther King Jr., center right, and supporters pause before a realtor's office during their fair housing march through Marquette Park on Aug. 5, 1966, in Chicago. On the neighborhood's reaction to the march, King later said, “I have never seen, even in Mississippi and Alabama, mobs as hateful as I’ve seen here in Chicago.” (Chicago Tribune historical photo)
Martin Luther King Jr., center right, and supporters pause before a realtor’s office during their fair housing march through Marquette Park on Aug. 5, 1966, in Chicago. On the neighborhood’s reaction to the march, King later said, “I have never seen, even in Mississippi and Alabama, mobs as hateful as I’ve seen here in Chicago.” (Chicago Tribune historical photo)
By | krumore@chicagotribune.com | Chicago Tribune
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Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Aug. 5, according to the Tribune’s archives.

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

Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

  • High temperature: 102 degrees (1918)
  • Low temperature: 51 degrees (1994)
  • Precipitation: 2.72 inches (1924)
  • Snowfall: Trace (1932)
Leo Burnett, left, is named the 1966 marketing man of the year and receives congratulations from Rome G. Arnold, center, president of the Chicago chapter of the American Marketing Association, and from Mayor Richard J. Daley, right, on Feb. 11, 1966. (Chicago Tribune historical archive)
Leo Burnett, left, is named the 1966 Marketing Man of the Year and receives congratulations from Rome G. Arnold, center, president of the Chicago chapter of the American Marketing Association, and from Mayor Richard J. Daley, right, on Feb. 11, 1966. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

1935: Leo Burnett started the Chicago ad agency that created the Jolly Green Giant, Pillsbury Doughboy and Morris the Cat commercials.

Capt. George A. Stone, pilot of a Northwest Orient Airlines Stratocruiser, told officials the propellers of his aircraft, which was carrying 68 people including him, failed to reverse as he attempted to land at Midway Airport on Aug. 5, 1955. (Chicago Tribune)
Capt. George A. Stone, pilot of a Northwest Orient Airlines Stratocruiser, told officials the propellers of his aircraft, which was carrying 68 people including him, failed to reverse as he attempted to land at Midway Airport on Aug. 5, 1955. (Chicago Tribune)

1955: Capt. George A. Stone, the pilot of a Northwest Orient Airlines Stratocruiser, was credited when all 68 people survived a crash landing at Chicago’s Midway Airport. The crash occurred in the same area as a Braniff International Airways on July 17, 1955.

Vintage Chicago Tribune: Plane crashes that stunned our city

“Stone told officials of Northwest Orient Airlines that the propellers of the plane failed to reverse as he made a normal landing after a flight from Minneapolis,” the Tribune reported.

Aides shield the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. after he was struck by a rock in Marquette Park during an Aug. 5, 1966, march in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)
Aides shield the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. after he was struck by a rock in Marquette Park during an Aug. 5, 1966, march in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

1966: During a march in Marquette Park to protest racial inequality in housing, Martin Luther King Jr. was struck by a rock.

“I’ve been in many demonstrations all across the South, but I can say that I have never seen — even in Mississippi and Alabama — mobs as hostile and as hate-filled as I’ve seen here in Chicago,” King told reporters afterward.

Vintage Chicago Tribune: The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. leads ‘the first significant freedom movement in the North’

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