A celebration 100 years in the making for the Brookfield Zoo
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's a celebration 100 years in the making for the Brookfield Zoo.
Dan Ryan made the first dig on Oct. 27 at the groundbreaking ceremony in 1922 when it was chartered, and to honor President Theodore Roosevelt, who was the nation's leading naturalist.
Other notable names at Brookfield Zoo's beginnings were plan commission chairman Charles Wacker and Chicago Tribune cartoonist John McCutcheon.
But it didn't start welcoming the public or even have animals for a few more years. The Brookfield Zoo officially opened on July 1, 1934.
The Chicago Zoological Society still manages the zoo in a partnership with the Forest Preserves of Cook County. Two million people visit the zoo every year.
