Free
Chicago releases Free as a single that reaches #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. It is written by Robert Lamm. James Pankow:
The song Free is just, it’s a kind of song that’s up-tempo and frenetic and grooving, and the horns just become a different participant in that type of song. It’s not an instrumental lead.
Fatally shoots pregnant intruder
After arriving home, Greer is physically attacked by two burglars, who break his collar bone. Greer shoots and kills an unarmed burglar fleeing from his house, despite her telling him that she was pregnant. Prosecutors have yet to determine whether to arrest Greer, but they have arrested the woman’s accomplice.
She says, ‘Don’t shoot me, I’m pregnant — I’m going to have a baby,’ and I shot her anyway.
First images of crash site
First video of crash site of Air Algerie flight AH5017 is captured.
Just You ‘n’ Me
Chicago releases Just You ‘n’ Me as a single and it reaches #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Written by James Pankow, who says:
But yes, I do flash on the moment that I wrote that song, and how it came about, the fact that we had had an enormous quarrel, and rather than focus on negative energy I went out to the piano and poured emotion into a song instead, it happened quite spontaneously, and the magic of the occasion of writing that song has never quite happened like that since.
Haris Suleman dead at 17
The Sulemans plane crashes over the Pacific Ocean. The Sulemans’ Beech A36 Bonanza went down shortly after takeoff from Pago Pago in American Samoa at about 10:15 p.m. Authorities were alerted to its location by signals from the flight’s emergency beacon system. The plane was found in pieces, according to a Coast Guard officer in Honolulu, with the body of Haris nearby. The Coast Guard say they are still looking for the father. Captain Tulele Laolagi:
We found a young boy still strapped to his seat. I think he was ejected from the plane, but it’s too early to tell.
Suleman’s sister:
With a trip like this, there’s always a risk, and they did prepare for that risk.
Five days behind schedule
Babar and Haris Suleman report that they are five days behind schedule on their flight, caused by fuel delays and food poisoning. If they do not experience any further delays, they could still obtain records for fastest circumnavigation and youngest pilot if the Guinness World Records committee accepts their application. Babar:
The biggest challenge has been keeping my cool with all of the disorganization and sitting in that tight space for so long. My patience has been tried time and time again.
Start 30 day circumnavigation
Suleman and his 17-year-old son, Haris attempt to break the record for the fastest circumnavigation in a single engine plane with the youngest pilot. They plan to take 30 days and make stops in 21 cities. The Sulemans also hope to raise money for Seeds of Learning, a nonprofit organization that supports education in Pakistan. They raise more than $500,000 before even taking off. Babar, on his son:
I think by the time we get done with this trip, he will be a completely different person. Flying is a lot of planning…it teaches a lot of responsibility. I think from that standpoint it’ll be good for him to go in and learn how to be more responsible.
Putin ‘responsible for MH17 crash’
Clinton says that Vladimir Putin bears responsibility for the crash of Malaysian Airline flight MH17.
I think if there were any doubt it should be gone by now, that Vladimir Putin, certainly indirectly — through his support of the insurgents in eastern Ukraine and the supply of advanced weapons and, frankly, the presence of Russian Special Forces and intelligence agents — bears responsibility for what happened.
Saturday in the Park
Chicago releases Saturday in the Park as a single that reaches #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, the band’s highest-charting single to date. It is written by Robert Lamm. James Pankow:
You know one of my — again, this is my personal thing — one of my MO’s, you might say, is to get out there every night and if I can play every note in that song, I don’t care if I’ve played it a million times, if I can make every note count, then before I know it the song is over. Because I’m so absorbed in playing that song perfectly that that becomes a challenge within the song.
25 or 6 to 4
Chicago releases 25 or 6 to 4 as a single and it reaches #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Written by Robert Lamm. James Pankow:
A 25 or 6 to 4! We’ve been one up-tempo song short for 30 years, man. You know, 25 or 6 to 4 is the encore song, every night, I don’t care where we are, when it is, that song has to be the closer of the show, because that is the rock ‘n’ roll anthem from this band. There ain’t any others.
If You Leave Me Now
Chicago releases If You Leave Me Now as a single. It becomes their first #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Written by Peter Cetera. James Pankow:
With the enormous success of If You Leave Me Now radio decided that that was Chicago’s sound on radio. And I can’t tell you how many attempts we made at pushing up-tempo songs to get on records and fans would come up to us and go, ‘What happened to you guys? You’ve been eating too much pabulum. What happened to that, you know, the guts and the soul and the funk that you guys had back when.
Black box found
French soldiers find one of two black boxes for Air Algerie flight AH5017 in northern Mali. The box is sent to Gao, government-controlled city in northern Mali, where remains will be sent for identification before being repatriated. French President Francois Hollande:
There are hypotheses, notably weather-related, but we don’t rule out anything because we want to know what happened. What we know is that the debris is concentrated in a limited space, but it is too soon to draw conclusions.
Officials: crash due to bad weather
French officials state that poor weather was the most likely cause of the crash of Air Algerie Flight AH5017. Investigators have concluded that the aircraft broke apart when it hit the ground, suggesting it was unlikely a victim of an attack. French President Francois Hollande:
French soldiers who are on the ground have started the first investigations.
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
Chicago releases Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? as a single that reaches #7 in the Billboard Hot 100, making it the band’s third straight Top 10 single after Make Me Smile and 25 or 6 to 4. It is written by Robert Lamm:
Well, I’ve always been kind of intrigued with the idea of time, and how we attempt to keep track of it, and you know, I talk in other songs about crossing over into other dimensions, even temporarily, on any given day. But “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is” is just kind of recounting an experience I had when I was a teenager, where I asked somebody what time it was and he said. “Does anybody really know what time it is?”
Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon
Chicago releases Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon as part of their album Chicago. It is a nearly 13 minute song composed by James Pankow:
A Girl From Buchannon. That was my first true love and she enrolled as a student at the University of West Virginia, in Buchannon West Virginia, and so that was a piece with her in mind.
Dialogue (Part I and II)
Chicago releases Dialogue (Part I and II) as a single that reaches #24 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It is written by Robert Lamm:
It’s amazing how pertinent and timely those lyrics remain. Obviously when the songs were written it was a very tumultuous time in our country and the world. That’s the time in a young man’s life that you can change things from the bottom up.
Beginnings re-release
Chicago re-releases Beginnings as a single after it was previously released on their debut album The Chicago Transit Authority in October 1969. As a single, Beginnings reaches #7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart. It is written by Robert Lamm:
…whenever we play Beginnings I always think of the girl that I was with when I wrote : Beginnings — at the beginning. Because for me, when I’m singing one of the songs that I wrote, I always go back to when I wrote it, the moment that I wrote it.
Colour My World re-release
Chicago re-releases Colour My World as a single after it was previously released as the B-side to Make Me Smile in 1970. This release reaches #7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart. It is written by James Pankow:
There again, utter simplicity. Color My World — utterly simple. You know, songs, I could name many many more, it seems that the songs that become standards are songs that you can hum, songs that are instantly relatable.
Disappears from radar
Air Algerie flight MH5017, a Swiftair plane flying from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to Algiers, with 110 passengers and 6 crew on board, disappears from radar at 0155 GMT. Air navigation loses track of the plane 50 miles after take off. The flight is missing for hours before the news is made public. The flight path is unknown at this time. Air Algerie states:
In keeping with procedures, Air Algerie has launched its emergency plan.
Wreckage found in Mali, no survivors
Malian state television reports that the the wreckage of Air Algerie flight AH5017 has been discovered between the town of Gossi, in Mali, and the Burkina Faso border. A crisis unit in Burkina Faso has already inspected the the wreckage, stating:
This team has confirmed that it has seen the remains of the plane, totally burned out and scattered on the ground. Sadly, the team saw no one on site. It saw no survivors.