October 13 Illinois History Minute

It’s October 13th, the day that the political cartoonist Herblock, was born Herbert Lawrence Block in Chicago in 1909. Herblock published his first political cartoon in the Chicago Daily News at the age of 19. His cartoons needled politicians for more than 70 years, including Senator Joseph McCarthy, for whom Herblock coined the term “McCarthyism”.

Arlington Park racetrack opened in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights on this day in 1927, the same year that Illinois legalized pari-mutuel betting. Arlington Park operated during peak years for horse racing, when six race tracks were open in the Chicago area alone. Now there’s just one, and it isn’t Arlington. The track closed in 2021, and the Chicago Bears now plan to build a new stadium at the site.