O'Hare International Airport in Chicago began as a manufacturing facility. During the Second World War the government built a large factory at a site called Orchard Place, where Douglas Aircraft produced C-54 transport planes, and an airfield was attached to it. After the war, the city of Chicago took over the site, because Midway Airport was too small for the growing demand for air travel, and it was renamed in 1949 in honour of Edward Butch O'Hare, a naval aviator and Medal of Honor recipient killed in the war. Commercial airline service began in the mid-1950s. O'Hare grew into one of the busiest airports in the world and a major hub for United and American Airlines.
Before and after
- 19441944 becomes the warmest year on record
- 18 January 1944Birth of Alexander Van der Bellen
- 23 January 1944Death of Edvard Munch
- from 24 January 1944 to 17 February 1944Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket
- February 1944Construction of O'Hare International Airport
- from 1 February 1944 to 14 May 1948Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine
- February 1944Colossus, the first programmable electronic computer, goes into operation
- from 2 February 1944 to 10 August 1944Battle for Narva
- 9 February 1944Birth of Alice Walker
More in Art, literature & culture
- 15 August 1914Construction of Panama Canal
- c. 1920sRise of surrealism
- 1 May 1931Construction of Empire State Building
- 1932Construction of Tan Son Nhat International Airport
- c. 1940sRise of Postmodernism
- 6 April 1943Publication of The Little Prince
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.