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Today in Chicago History: City’s role in development of atomic bomb revealed

Enrico Fermi, right, demonstrates his neutron velocity selector to Walter H. Zinn between sessions of a meeting at Argonne National Laboratory on Dec. 2, 1946, commemorating the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction achieved four years earlier. (Ray Gora/Chicago Tribune)
Enrico Fermi, right, demonstrates his neutron velocity selector to Walter H. Zinn between sessions of a meeting at Argonne National Laboratory on Dec. 2, 1946, commemorating the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction achieved four years earlier. (Ray Gora/Chicago Tribune)
By | krumore@chicagotribune.com | Chicago Tribune
PUBLISHED:
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Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Aug. 6, 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: 101 degrees (1947)
  • Low temperature: 48 degrees (1994)
  • Precipitation: 2.17 inches (1951)
  • Snowfall: None
A cluster of balloons are released from Stagg Field at the University of Chicago on Oct. 9, 1946, during an experiment led by Dr. Marcel Schein. Just four years earlier, the first atom was spit under the stands in the photo at Stagg Field. (Joe Mastruzzo/Chicago Tribune)
A cluster of balloons are released from Stagg Field at the University of Chicago on Oct. 9, 1946, during an experiment led by Dr. Marcel Schein. Just four years earlier, the first atom was spit under the stands in the photo at Stagg Field. (Joe Mastruzzo/Chicago Tribune)

1945: After the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan, Chicago’s role in the breakthrough experiment was publicly revealed.

Vintage Chicago Tribune: The Atomic Age is born at the University of Chicago’s football stadium

“Five thousand scientists, laboratory technicians, and research workers have been laboring day and night at the University of Chicago for the last three years to wrest the secret of atomic energy from the universe,” the Tribune reported.

A squash court under Stagg Field was used for the covert operation.

Barbra Streisand performed on Aug. 6, 1966, at Soldier Field. "There was certainly nothing stuffy about the performance," Thomas Willis wrote in the Tribune. (Chicago Tribune)
Barbra Streisand performs on Aug. 6, 1966, at Soldier Field. "There was certainly nothing stuffy about the performance," Thomas Willis wrote in the Tribune. (Chicago Tribune)

1966: Barbra Streisand performed in the rain, backed by a 35-piece orchestra, at Soldier Field.

Revisiting ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ filming locations 40 years later

2009: Filmmaker John Hughes died of a heart attack at age 59, while he was visiting family in New York.

In this Aug. 6, 2011 file photo, Richard Dent poses with a bust of himself during induction ceremonies at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. (Tony Dejak/AP)
Bears great Richard Dent poses with a bust of himself on Aug. 6, 2011, during induction ceremonies at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. (Tony Dejak/AP)

2011: Chicago Bears defensive end Richard Dent was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@chicagotribune.com and mmather@chicagotribune.com

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