Prairie Avenue is a north–south thoroughfare on the South Side of Chicago, which historically extended from 16th Street in the Near South Side community area of Chicago to the city's southern limits and beyond. The street has a rich history from its origins as a major trail for horseback riders and carriages. During the last three decades of the 19th century, a six-block section of the street served as the residence of many of Chicago’s elite families and an additional four-block section was also known for grand homes. The upper six-block section includes the historic Prairie Avenue District, which was declared a Chicago Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places. Several of Chicago's most important historical figures have lived on the street, especially after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 when many of the most important families in the city moved to the street. Preservation battles regarding properties on the street have been notable with one having been chronicled on the front page of The New York Times. As of 2009, the street is being redeveloped. Redevelopment has extended the street north to accommodate new high-rise condominiums, such as One Museum Park, along Roosevelt Road (12th Street) and bordering Grant Park.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
537:
The current Hagia Sophia building in Istanbul, originally built as a church before it later became a mosque in 1453 and then a museum in 1935, was inaugurated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia
1831:
Aboard HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin left Plymouth, England, on what became an historic expedition to South America that made his name as a naturalist. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_voyage_of_HMS_Beagle
1904:
Scottish author and dramatist J. M. Barrie's stage play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, about a mischievous little boy who can fly, premiered in London. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_and_Wendy
1918:
A public speech by famed Polish pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski in Poznań sparked the Greater Poland Uprising against Germany and Prussia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacy_Jan_Paderewski
2007:
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was assassinated while she was leaving a political rally of Pakistan Peoples Party supporters at Liaquat National Bagh in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Benazir_Bhutto
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
inexorably (adv): In an inexorable manner; without the possibility of stopping or preventing http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/inexorably
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
There never is any such thing as one truth to be found in dramatic art. There are many. These truths challenge each other, recoil from each other, reflect each other, ignore each other, tease each other, are blind to each other. Sometimes you feel you have the truth of a moment in your hand, then it slips through your fingers and is lost. --Harold Pinter http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harold_Pinter