Chicago Tribune history

The first stock-yards—”The Bull’s Head”—was not opened until 1848, and then the only animals received for packing were those driven in on foot.

In May, 1850. the establishment was removed to the Masonic Building at No.

Scripps, in June, 1852. already alluded to, he and the late Gov.

The issue of a tri-weekly edition was begun in February, 1853.

The spring of 1855 found two men in Chicago from opposite points of the compass but bent on a similar mission.

As already shown, it had previously absorbed the Gem of the Prairie, the Democratic Press, and the Western Citizen, or Free West (Zebina Eastman’s paper)—the last having been consolidated with The Tribune’s weekly edition in 1856.

1858: The paper is merged with the Democratic Press, forming the Chicago Daily Press and Tribune.

1861: Tribune Company is incorporated; the paper is renamed the Chicago Tribune.

Mediill occupied the position of editor-in-chief from the retirement of Doctor Ray in November, 1863. until Aug.

Lincoln in 1864, followed by triumph of the of the Federal arms, the restoration of the Union with the wiping out of slavery—the great drama ending with the assassination of the man whose patriotic and sagacious pollcy had achieved all these beneficent consequences.

After being engaged in other pursuits of a speculative character some eighteen months Doctor Ray became associated with THE TRIBUNE as an editorial writer in May, 1865, but withdrew a few weeks later.

Frederick H. Hall joined the stuff of The Tribune as a reporter in November, 1867.

About the beginning of 1868 he assumed the editorship of the Chicago Evening Post (not the present concern), remaining until his death on Sept.

In the great fire of October, 1871 the “fire-proof ” quality of the building was found to be a delusion and a snare.

A new building of Lake Superior sandstone, five stories in height. was erected on the site of the fortner one in the following year, and was taken possession of on the first of the first anniversary of the fire in October, 1872. and this has continued to be the home of the paper ever since.

In 1873 he became city editor, its successor to Samuel J. Medill. who had been detailed as Washington correspondent of the paper, remaining until ISSS, when lie was assigned to the general editorial depart- ment, where he is now engaged.

After an eight-year period in which the paper was dominated by liberal maverick editor Horace White, Medill regained control in 1874.

During the trials of the “whisky ring ” in 1875 he was transferred to Collector of Interrnal Revenue. but died before the close of his first year, March 12.

Bross in this city in January, 1876. will be of interest here:

Medill helped to obtain for Chicago the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.

In 1901, two years after Medill's death, it installed its first color press.

1911: The company falls under the control of two grandsons of Medill, Robert R. McCormick and Joseph Medill Patterson.

WDAP radio station was bought by the Chicago Tribune back in 1924 and changed its name to WGN (AM), with WGN standing for “World’s Greatest Newspaper” – the newspaper’s self-description.

Today, Tribune’s original broadcast property is a 50,000-watt Midwest powerhouse. It was first to broadcast the World Series, the Indianapolis 500 and the Kentucky Derby, and broke new ground by introducing microphones in the courtroom during the famous 1925 Scopes “monkey trial” in Tennessee.

The newspaper’s highly regarded sports editor, Arch Ward, established the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 1933, which formed part of Chicago’s Century of Progress exposition.

1948: WGN-TV begins broadcasting in Chicago, and WPIX-TV in New York City.

After McCormick died in 1955, the Tribune moved toward a more moderate (if still Republican) editorial stance, as it increasingly became the product less of individual personalities than of a large business corporation.

The first prize was won in 1961 for Carey Orr’s editorial cartooning, and George Bliss, a reporter, won a prize the following year for his reporting.

1963: Tribune acquires the Sun-Sentinel newspaper in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

When Harold Grumhaus became publisher and Clayton Kirkpatrick became editor in 1969, the newspaper started publishing from a more broad perspective with wider commentary.

Reaching a great journalistic achievement, the Chicago Tribune printed the complete 246,000 word text of the Watergate tapes on May 1, 1974.

Years later, the formation of Tribune Broadcasting Company in 1981 signaled the growing importance of television in the company’s business mix.

1982: Tribune Entertainment Company is established.

1985: Los Angeles station KTLA-TV is acquired for $510 million.

1991: Following a protracted strike, the company divests the New York Daily News.

1993: CLTV News, Chicago's first 24-hour, local news cable channel, is launched; an educational publisher arm, Tribune Education, begins to be built through acquisitions.

1995: Tribune acquires a 12.5 percent stake in the upstart Warner Bros. (WB) Television Network.

1997: The company acquires Renaissance Communications Corp. and its six television stations for $1.1 billion.

In June 2000, Tribune acquired Times Mirror Company, effectively doubling the size of the company and adding seven daily newspapers to the Tribune fold, headlined by the Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun and the Hartford Courant.

2002: The company trades two of its Denver radio stations for two television stations in Indiana; Chicago magazine is acquired for $35 million.

The Tribune Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on December 8, 2008.