Chicago in the Space Age
The atlas holds 25 people and 28 moments here, from 1959 to 2011. The most recorded lives are Martin Luther King Jr., Edmund Hillary and Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.
Notable people
Ada Yonath
in 1977
1 moment here
Israeli crystallographer whose work on ribosome structure and function earned her a share of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.…
Ahmed Sékou Touré
in 1959
1 moment here
Guinean nationalist, trade-union leader, and Guinea’s first president, serving from independence in 1958 until his death in 1984.…
Alexei Leonov
in 1975
1 moment here
Soviet and Russian cosmonaut, aviator, artist, and writer. Leonov became the first person to conduct a spacewalk on 18 March 1965 and commanded Soyuz…
Amy Winehouse
in 2007
1 moment here
British singer and songwriter Amy Jade Winehouse was born in London and became internationally known for the albums Frank and Back to Black.…
Aretha Franklin
in 2011
1 moment here
American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil-rights activist known as the “Queen of Soul.” Her documented movements span childhood relocations…
Carrie Fisher
in 1979
1 moment here
Carrie Frances Fisher was an American actress, writer, and public advocate, internationally known for playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars films.…
Diana, Princess of Wales
in 1996
1 moment here
Diana Frances Spencer (1961–1997) was Princess of Wales from 1981 until her divorce in 1996.…
Dorothy Hodgkin
in 1961
1 moment here
English chemist and X-ray crystallographer Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin determined major biomolecular structures including penicillin, vitamin B12,…
Edmund Hillary
from 1959 to 1960
2 moments here
New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, diplomat, and philanthropist. Hillary became internationally known after reaching Mount Everest’s summit with…
Gerald Ford
in 1974
1 moment here
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 after having served as…
Grace Kelly
in 1971
1 moment here
American actress Grace Patricia Kelly became an internationally prominent film star in the early 1950s, then Princess of Monaco after her 1956…
Heath Ledger
in 2007
1 moment here
Australian actor and music-video director whose career began in Australian television, expanded internationally after his 1998 move to the United…
Joan Fontaine
in 1967
1 moment here
British-American actress Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland, professionally Joan Fontaine, was an Academy Award-winning performer known especially for…
John Eccles
in 1966
1 moment here
Australian neurophysiologist and philosopher John Carew Eccles (1903–1997) was a Nobel laureate noted for research on synaptic transmission.…
John F. Kennedy
in 1960
1 moment here
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was an American naval officer, journalist, congressman, senator, and the 35th president of the United States.…
Martin Luther King Jr.
in 1966
2 moments here
American Baptist minister and civil-rights leader who advanced racial equality through nonviolent protest.…
Mercedes Sosa
in 1986
1 moment here
Argentine folk singer and leading exponent of the nuevo cancionero movement, internationally known for interpreting Latin American popular song and…
Muhammad Ali
in 1959
1 moment here
Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.) was an American boxer, activist, humanitarian, and global cultural figure.…
Oscar Niemeyer
in 1988
1 moment here
Brazilian modernist architect whose career ranged from early work in Rio de Janeiro and New York to Brasília, Paris exile, and later international…
Ravi Shankar
in 1974
1 moment here
Indian sitarist and composer Ravi Shankar (1920–2012) was a leading exponent of Hindustani classical music whose performances, teaching, recordings,…
Ronald Reagan
in 1980
1 moment here
American broadcaster, actor, labor leader, governor of California, and 40th president of the United States.…
Selena
in 1995
1 moment here
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, known mononymously as Selena, was an American Tejano singer, songwriter, fashion designer, and business owner.…
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
from 1964 to 1995
2 moments here
Indian-American astrophysicist whose work established the Chandrasekhar limit and ranged across stellar structure, stellar dynamics, radiative…
Thích Nhất Hạnh
in 1966
1 moment here
Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, teacher, author, and peace activist. Thích Nhất Hạnh helped develop engaged Buddhism, founded the Plum Village…
Moments
- 1959 State-visit stop in Chicago Ahmed Sékou Touré
- 1959 Chicago Golden Gloves championship Muhammad Ali
- 1959 World Book meeting in Chicago Edmund Hillary
- 1960 Faced Nixon in the first televised debate John F. Kennedy
- 1960 Yeti-scallop examination trip Edmund Hillary
- 1961 Lee Lecture at the University of Chicago Dorothy Hodgkin
- 1964 Permanent move to Chicago campus Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
- 1966 Institute for Biomedical Research appointment John Eccles
- 1966 Moves into North Lawndale apartment Martin Luther King Jr.
- 1966 Peace press conference with Martin Luther King Jr. Thích Nhất Hạnh
- 1966 Marches through Marquette Park Martin Luther King Jr.
- 1967 Dial M for Murder in Chicago Joan Fontaine
- 1971 La Leche League conference address Grace Kelly
- 1973 Visit to Chicago Willy Brandt
- 1974 Heart attack during North American tour Ravi Shankar
- 1974 Veterans of Foreign Wars address Gerald Ford
- 1975 Chicago motorcade during United States tour Alexei Leonov
- 1977 Visiting professor at the University of Chicago Ada Yonath
- 1979 Filming The Blues Brothers Carrie Fisher
- 1980 Debates Republican rivals in Chicago Ronald Reagan
- 1986 Performance in Chicago Mercedes Sosa
- 1988 Pritzker Prize ceremony Oscar Niemeyer
- 1995 International Amphitheater concert Selena
- 1995 Death at University of Chicago Hospitals Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
- 1996 Cancer-research fundraiser in Chicago Diana, Princess of Wales
- 2007 Lollapalooza performance Amy Winehouse
- 2007 Films The Dark Knight in Chicago Heath Ledger
- 2011 Chicago comeback show Aretha Franklin