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
Harris Theater (Chicago) Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago, Music of the Baroque, Old Town School of Folk Music, and Performing Arts Chicago. After the 2003 opening, small dance companies aspired to perform in the state-of-the-art theater; one such troupe, Luna Negra Dance Theater, achieved its goal and performed there in 2006 and 2007. In 2010, Frommer's noted that the major local dance troupes performing regularly at the theater included Columbia College Chicago, Hubbard Street, Joffrey, Muntu, and River North Dance Company. The 2009 edition of Fodor's cited Music of the Baroque's seven performances at the Harris Theater each