Illinois women gain partial suffrage

Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on June 26, according to the Tribune’s archives.
Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.
Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
- High temperature: 99 degrees (1983)
- Low temperature: 50 degrees (1992)
- Precipitation: 1.55 inches (2020)
- Snowfall: None

1893: Illinois Gov. John Peter Altgeld pardoned the three surviving Haymarket defendants — not as an act of mercy, but because he believed all eight were innocent. Altgeld’s decision created a firestorm of controversy and spelled the end of his political career.

1913: Women in Illinois were successful in gaining partial suffrage. They became the first women east of the Mississippi River to have the right to vote in presidential elections.
Vintage Chicago Tribune: The Great Seiche — or was it? — of 1954. What was behind Lake Michigan’s most unusual phenomenon?
1954: A seiche hit Chicago. Or, did it?
2008: The Chicago Bulls drafted Simeon’s Derrick Rose with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. The Bulls had overcome the second-longest odds in NBA draft lottery history — a 1.7% chance — to vault from ninth to first and win the right to draft Rose.
Rose reigned as the youngest most valuable player in NBA history, with a Rookie of the Year award and three All-Star selections. He was traded to the New York Knicks in 2016, and retired from the NBA in 2024 after 15 seasons.
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