This Week In Chicago History: Eastland Disaster

CHICAGO (CBS)--This week marks the 103rd anniversary of Chicago's worst tragedy in maritime history, the Eastland Disaster.

Every year, Chicagoans gather at the site on the Chicago River where the massive ship went down to remember the 844 people who died there when the ship rolled over onto its side.

People gathered at the Riverwalk  on the west side of the Clark Street bridge last weekend to remember the tragedy, which is still the largest disaster ever recorded in the Great Lakes.

Historians have few first-hand reports of the disaster, but a video reel found three years ago is the first known footage of the aftermath and recovery efforts to pull hundreds of bodies out of the dark river waters.

The Eastland Disaster was named this month on the Lincoln Presidential Library's list of the 10 most tragic events in U.S. history.