Five years ago Wednesday, HuffPost Chicago, the first-ever local edition of The Huffington Post, was born.
Since then, a lot has changed -- and a lot more hasn’t. At a time when Chicago is often reduced by national media as solely a place where violence and corruption have gotten out of control, these headlines fail to tell the whole story about our complicated city.
Here’s some of the moments over those five years that surprised us, broke our hearts, gave us hope but, above all, reminded us why, through the good and the bad, we love our city.
Back on August 14, 2008..
This guy was mayor.
(AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
This guy wasn’t in prison.
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
This guy wasn't president.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
This guy was.
(AP Photo/White House, Eric Draper)
Oprah was still on the air.
(AP Photo/Jim Cole)
Derrick Rose was just a rookie.
(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Speaking of rookies, this gal was 12.
(Photo by Heather Charles/Chicago Tribune/MCT via Getty Images)
And this guy was 4.
(YouTube)
This guy was a congressman.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
This guy was in Congress too.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
"The Interrupters" wasn't racking up awards yet.
(YouTube)
And "Chicago Fire" was just a soccer team, not a TV show staging plane crashes.
(YouTube)
For the record..
It was still the Sears Tower.
(Photo by Getty)
And it was the tallest building in North America.
(Photo by Getty)
But you couldn’t do this yet.
(Tim Boyle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Olympics? In Chicago? Sure!
(AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, Pool)
Uh, nevermind.
(AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Nobody was watching the Blackhawks. (Not those pesky bandwagon fans, at least.)
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Time Out Chicago was in print.
(Photo by Guy F. Wicke via Flickr)
Chicago owned its parking meters.
(Photo by Getty)
People still lived here.
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
And (more than) a few more neighborhood schools were open.
(AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
We lost some friends and family.
Roger.
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Don.
(Photo by Paul Natkin/WireImage)
Maggie.
(Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Hadiya.
(AP Photo/Courtesy of Damon Stewart, File)
Derrion.
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Studs.
(Photo by Paul Natkin/WireImage)
Bernie.
(AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)
Jonylah.
(Family photo via Chicago Tribune/MCT via Getty Images)
These things weren't things yet.
Snowmaggedon?
(AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)
Next?
(Next Restaurant/Facebook)
Protected bike lanes?
(Chicago Department of Transportation/Facebook)
Food trucks legally preparing food on-board?
(The Salsa Truck/Facebook)
Rent you can't afford in Logan Square?
(Photo by missing you... via Flickr)
Neither were these things.
Girl and the Goat?
(Girl and the Goat/Facebook)
The Modern Wing?
(Photo by View Pictures/UIG via Getty Images)
Big Star?
(Big Star/Facebook)
A Maker Lab with 3-D printing at Harold Washington?
(Chicago Public Library/Facebook)
Billy Corgan's tea shop?
(Madame ZuZu's Teahouse/Facebook)
None of this had happened yet.
(Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune/MCT via Getty Images)
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
(AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)
(Photo By Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
But, through it all, some things feel like they'll never change.
Still doing this once a year.
(AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
The Bean’s still there.
(Getty)
Still there too.
(Getty)
Still there.
(Hideout Chicago Facebook)
Still there.
(Old St. Patrick's Church Facebook)
Our pizza’s still the best. (Boo to you, TripAdvisor.)
(Lou Malnati's Facebook)
Our beaches? Still gorgeous.
(Getty)
Still no ketchup here.
(Getty)
The Bears still haven’t made it back to the Super Bowl.
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Still listening to this guy.
Tom Skilling/Facebook
Is there any hope?
(Getty)
And even when they do -- for better or worse -- we'll carry on.
(Photo by diongillard via Flickr)
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
(Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
(AP Photo/Scott Eisen)
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
(Photo by Heather Charles/Chicago Tribune/MCT via Getty Images)
Because we're Chicagoans. And that's what we do in this city of big shoulders and deep dishes.
(Photo By Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Home.
(Photo by Endlisnis via Flickr)