History of Chicago and south branches of the Chicago River, which flows through the city's downtown. The three white stripes represent the North, West and South sides of the city, Lake Michigan being the east side. The most famous and serious disaster was the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. On December 30, 1903 the "absolutely fireproof", five-week-old Iroquois Theater was engulfed by fire. The fire lasted less than thirty minutes; 602 people died as a result of being burned, asphyxiated, or trampled. The S.S. "Eastland" was a cruise ship based in Chicago and used for tours. On 24 July 1915—a calm, sunny day—the
Crime in Chicago closed out the bloodiest May in Chicago in over 2 decades, leaving 66 murdered and nearly 400 shot. Chicago recorded over 876 people shot over 4 July weekend. August 2016 marked the most violent month Chicago had recorded in over two decades with 92 murders, included the murder of Nykea Aldridge, cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade. By September 2016, Chicago had reached 500 people murdered and 3,000 people shot, surpassing totals for all of 2015 in just 9 months. By October 2016, Chicago had surpassed 600 homicides and over 2,800 people shot, marking a 32 percent increase in murders