The Weirdest Things That Have Ever Happened in Chicago

Chicago is know for a wad of things : great computer architecture , amazing intellectual nourishment , all that other stuff and nonsense . However , unless you live here , you may not clear that Chicago is also reasonably bloody weird at times – dead people vote , our river feed backwards , and people have been known to die inrather bizarre ways . Still , none of those can top these 11 time that real life in Chicago somehow became stranger than an episode ofThe Twilight Zone .

When Chicago was convinced it had a “devil baby”

base in 1889 , Hull House gained national acknowledgement not just for the services offered to Chicago ’s immigrant population , but also thanks to founder Jane Addams ’ social activism … and the supposed existence of a Devil Baby . rumour of the Devil Baby begin to spread through every ethnic grouping in Chicago sometime around 1913 , and Hull House quickly became besieged with visitors and inquiries . The storey got so out of mitt that in 1916,The Atlanticeven get off a journalist outto shroud the storey .

The day Dave Matthews Band crapped on a boat full of tourists

On a beautiful August daytime in 2004 , Dave Matthews Band ’s tour heap was rolling through the city , an unscrupulous bus where the natural law of " no No . 2 ’s on the bus " clearly did n’t be . Upon laying his eyes on the Kinzie Ave bridge , the machine driver of the tour bus agnise it would be theperfectplace to dump 800lbs of human wasteland . Just as he hit “ release ” , an architecture tour boat pass under the bridge , and 120 unsuspicious tourists were dowse in DMB ’s crap . While the number one wood was charged and Dave Matthews has apologized extravagantly ( and donated $ 50,000 to both the Chicago Park District and the Friends of the Chicago River ) , the legend of “ Poopgate ” lives on , recently spawning both amemorial for victimsand even a “ documentary . ”

That time the Virgin Mary appeared under the Kennedy Expressway

Back in 2005 , a Chicago - orbit woman was driving down Fullerton on her elbow room home from work when she noticed something foreign : the image of the Virgin Mary on the wall of a viaduct . She mentioned it to a few friend and within 24-hour interval , the viaduct was filled with candles , blossom , religious artifacts … and throngs of people and national media . The incident even inspired a local play – the aptly named “ Our Lady of the Underpass . ”

When Al Capone punked Geraldo Rivera in front of America

In 1986 , America had one question on its mind : what would Geraldo Rivera find inside Al Capone ’s top - orphic vault ? bushed bodies ? bar of amber ? Jimmy Hoffa ? On April 21st , millions tuned into the live broadcast ofThe Mystery of Al Capone ’s vault . According to one viewer , the much - hyped two - hour broadcast feature “ … everything we could ever hope to [ know ] about Capone , Prohibition , Chicago , the twenty , ‘ The Untouchables ’ , tax nonpayment , The Lexington Hotel , how to blow up concrete wall , hidden vault , and what should ( or could ) be privileged . Medical examiners were receive to the site , so they could be there to take care of the corpses that would undoubtedly be inside . IRS agents were there to scoop up all the booty . ” After a long lead - up , it was the second both America andan overly excited Geraldo Riverahad been wait for : the opening of the hurdle . Suspense was gamy as the rubble settled and Geraldo and his mustache entered the vault … only to discover it was completely empty , save for a bottleful . One single , measly bottle .

That time a man supposedly died from eating too much ice cream

In 1892 , a 21 - twelvemonth - old Frenchman namedGombien Jean * emigrated to Chicago and took a Book of Job at the Leland Hotel . While work in the hotel ’s buttery on his very first day , Jean got his very first taste of ice ointment and quickly fell into a down spiral of ice pick addiction that led to his ill-timed death five days later . When questioned by the police , his coworkers – who seem onlyslightlysuspicious – claimed that Jean did nothing but eat ice emollient “ morn , noon , and night ” for five Day directly until his stomach literally stop dead , stimulate him to die .

Seems legit , proper ? Both the police andthe Chicago Tribuneseemed to think so . gratefully , these days we can use up pints of Ben and Jerry ’s far aside from the pry eyes of coworkers , and if we were to croak while doing so , we can rest tell that a coroner willproperlydiagnose our cause of death .

We can also rest reassure that our last name wo n’t be list as our first name on all death reputation . What a time to be animated !

walkers public sculpture chicago weird things in chicago

Flickr/Shutter Runner

When the mayor introduced a prince in a very “Chicago” way

Back in 1860 , the Prince of Wales decided to pay a sojourn to the fast - rise trading mail that was Chicago . Of of course , the prince needed to be receive into the city by someone with societal standing , power , and a certain level of importance , and so Mayor “ Long John ” Wentworth was put to the chore . However , like many Chicagoans , Mayor Wentworth had little patience for formality . In front of a gang of 50,000 , Mayor Wentworth introduced the Prince of Walesin the following manner : “ Prince , the boys . Boys , the Prince . ” by and by , when asked by a reporter how it felt to posture next to the succeeding King of England , Mayor Wentworth responded , “ I did n’t pose next to the prince . The prince sat next tome . ”

When construction workers caused $1 billion in damage Downtown

The next time you make an idiotic mistake at work , call back this : at leastyourstupid mistake is n’t likely to cause$1 billion worth of damageto the metropolis of Chicago . Unfortunately , a radical of twist workers who were working on the Kinzie Street bridge ( of Poopgate fame ) back in 1992 ca n’t say the same .

You see , they accidentally punctured a muddle in the cap of one of the tunnels under the Chicago River . For some intellect , this was n’t alarming to anyone … until 124 million gallons of water began pouring into the 47 Admiralty mile meshwork of tunnels that work under much of the Loop . Inevitably , the water supply get flooding into the basement of building , criticize out electric top executive and rude flatulency servicing for much of the Downtown area . Everything from City Hall to the Chicago Board of Trade were forced to shut down , trains were rerouted , and it take away weeks for most buildings to convalesce . The good part : the urban center have sex about the government issue for three month prior to the flood , but in rightful Chicago fashion , they took too long approving the $ 10,000 contract require to repair the progeny .

When a neighborhood was named after one of our biggest fraudsters

In the 1880s , a Michigan man named “ Captain ” George Streeter devised a brilliant plan : he dissemble to break up his boat into the shoreline at Superior St , prevail permit from Nathaniel Fairbank to leave his boat on Fairbank ’s ground – and never left . When Fairbank pass and asked Captain Streeter to go forth , Streeter chased him off with a scattergun . For the next 35 years until his death in 1921 , Streeter and his wife squatted on the land and used wildness andcommitted various Acts of the Apostles of fraudin order to game claim against 186 landed estate of select real estate that was n’t in reality his . Despite his horrendous demeanor , the field was eventually mention Streeterville , and there ’s even a statue of Captain Streeter on the corner of Grand and McClurg . Meanwhile , Fairbank – the original landholder – only has a miserable street name after him .

That time over 100 waiters exacted revenge on bad tippers by poisoning them

It seems as if going out for drinks in Chicago in the other 1900s was a fair risky activeness . In 1903 , a bartender identify Mickey Finn wasallegedlyfound to be , well , apply his customers “ the Mickey Finn ” in rescript to incapacitate and rob them . In 1918 , over one hundred followed case , using “ Mickey Finn ” gunpowder – purchase at the waiters ’ union main office – to poison defective dump truck , result in the deaths of at least three people . Suddenly , having a waiter spittle in your soup does n’t seem that bad , now does it ?

The murder case that was solved by a dead woman

On February 21st , 1977 , a nurse name Teresita Basa was come up stabbed to decease in her flat , which had been torched . Months pass away by without any star until one day , the law were contacted by Dr. Jose Chua . accord to Dr. Chua , his wife seemed to bepossessed by the spirit of Teresita Basaand was divvy up specific details about her last – admit the name of her manslayer . Bizarrely , everything Remy Chua said checked out , and Allan Showery was contain , gave a full confession , and eventually plead guilty . While many believed the supernatural write up , Chicago History Coppoints out a logical explanation : Ms. Chua work with both Teresita Basa and Allan Showery and likely assume the details of Basa ’s slaying through less - than - psychic means , but was too afraid to tread forward on her own .

When the mayor was a brothel-owning, rodeo-loving, Al Capone cohort

If you think Chicago ’s most recent mayors have been bad , just be glad you did n’t have to deal with Mayor William “ Big Bill ” Thompson . Mayor Thompson ’s antics ranged from downright bizarre – like holding a argumentation between himself and two live rats , orstaging a rodeoinside Chicago City Council ’s William Chambers – to implausibly shady , like his ownership of a brothel and a be adrift speakeasy , his human relationship with Al Capone and habit of anti - English slurs to gain the funding of Chicago ’s Irish community of interests ( strait conversant ? ) . Mayor Thompson eventually became have sex as “ The Pioneer of Chicago Corruption ” – quite the feat in a city known for its corrupt politics .

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Lisa Chatroop ’s dreaming dinner political party Guest are now Big Bill Thompson , the Devil Baby , and Captain Streeter . study more onDailyUrbanista.comor say hi on Twitter:@Chicagoista .

creepy devil baby doll