The Shedd Aquarium first opened its doors on May 30, 1930, after years of planning and a generous $2 million donation by John G. Shedd, a Chicago businessman who led Marshall Field & Co. to become the largest wholesale and dry goods company in the world.

Since opening 85 years ago, the aquarium has undergone several expansions and upgrades. Abbott Oceanarium opened in 1991 and is home to beluga whales, sea lions and Pacific white-sided dolphins. Shedd’s newest attraction, Wild Reef, features sharks, stingrays and vast coral exhibits.

Roughly two million patrons visit the Shedd Aquarium each year.

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Read more about the history and historic architecture of Shedd Aquarium
To vote for the name of Shedd’s newest Pacific white-sided dolphin, click here

Chancelor Johnathan Bennett, known as Chance the Rapper, was born in Chicago on April 16, 1993. Chance grew up on Chicago’s South Side and attended Jones College Prep High School. He recorded his first mixtape while still in high school, releasing his second mixtape two years later in 2013. He released his first studio album, a collaborative album titled Surf, on May 28 of this year.

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Read more about Chance the Rapper’s appearance on this week’s Saturday Night Live

Albert Abraham Michelson was born in December of 1852 in Prussia, immigrating to the United States with his family two years later. After serving briefly in the U.S. Navy, Michelson taught physics at the Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland and later at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1892, he was appointed head of the physics department at the University of Chicago.

It was during his time in Chicago that Michelson became well-known in the field of physics. His work to measure the speed of light gained him notoriety and helped him receive the Nobel Prize in 1907. While Michelson was not successful in determining the speed of light, his experiments eventually paid off and the speed of light was discovered just two years after his death. 

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Read more about the life and accomplishments of Albert A. Michelson

The Lyman Trumbull House in Alton was the home of politician Lyman Trumbull, who served as an Illinois State Representative, Illinois Secretary of State, a State of Illinois Supreme Court justice and later a U.S. Senator. Serving in the Senate for nearly two decades, Trumbull is best known for his work on the 13th Amendment, co-writing the language for the constitutional amendment that would outlaw slavery.

Trumbull lived in his Alton home from 1849 until around 1863. The 1-1/2 story all-brick home was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1975.

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Read more about the life and accomplishments of Lyman Trumbull
Learn more about Lyman Trumbull’s Alton home

Fred Hampton was born on August 30, 1948, in the Chicago suburb of Maywood. Right after high school he became heavily involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and eventually became the Youth Council President.

During his leadership, he managed to racially integrate a group of 500 young people who lobbied city officials. Their goal was to create better academic services and recreational facilities for African-American children.

Hampton joined the Black Panther Party in 1968. He is famous for negotiating a gang truce on local television and forming a coalition that included students from several different organizations. The Chicago Black Panther Party became very big in Chicago, and the FBI and Chicago Police Department placed the chapter under heavy surveillance.  

In 1969, 12 officers opened fire on the Black Panther Group and ended up killing 21-year-old Hampton and the Illinois Panther leader, Mark Clark. The attendance at his funeral was tallied at over 5,000 people, but it wasn’t until years later that law enforcement officials admitted any wrongdoing in his killing.

December 4 is now known as Fred Hampton Day.

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Read more about the life and accomplishments of Fred Hampton