December 1 Illinois History Minute

It’s December First, and the International Amphitheater opened on Chicago’s south side on this day in 1934. Originally built to host livestock shows, the amphitheater also hosted political conventions, sporting events --- and concerts, including Elvis Presley and the Beatles --- before it was demolished in 1999.

Weekday 580 first aired on WILL-AM on this day in 1977. The program consolidated WILL’s news and public affairs features into a daily morning show hosted by Janet Bond and future Focus 580 host David Inge, plus newscaster Steve Hardin. Weekday 580 went on the air two years before NPR came out with another morning news radio program, Morning Edition.

And Cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy, the creation of writer and Streator, Illinois native Clarence Mulford, made his debut this month in 1905, in the short story “The Fight at Buckskin” in the pages of The Outing Magazine.