Week of March 23-29, 2014

What a beautiful Chicago evening it was on May 27, 1933. Crowds had begun gathering at the fairground earlier that day, for this was a night they had awaited for many years.

Much as they do today, event organizers had engaged the services of a famous star to throw the switch and open the festivities. And then, as anticipation reached a peak, it was time.

At 9:15 p.m., the floodlights ignited. The fairgrounds were bathed in light, and the long awaited Century of Progress Exposition was open.

I'm sure that many have heard of the Century of Progress Exposition; in fact, some of my readers may have even attended it as youngsters.

But what many don't know is what radio personality Paul Harvey might have called "the rest of the story," for the star that threw the switch that night was not of the human variety; nor was it a famous animal celebrity of the day.

No, the star that opened the great Exposition reached in from its perch 222 trillion miles above Chicago. Its name was Arcturus.

Arcturus is the fourth brightest star in our night sky, and the brightest in the constellation Bootes, the herdsman. Look for its yellowish glow this week as it rises above the eastern horizon not long after dark. You can confirm its location easily by using the handle of the Big Dipper — now standing upright in the northeastern sky in the early evening — to "arc" your way toward it.

Gaze toward Arcturus and you will see a red giant star some 25 times larger and 180 times more powerful than our sun. It appears so bright because it lies only about 37 light years from Earth.

Arcturus was one of the first stars ever to receive a proper name. In his classic book "Star Names and Their Meanings," author R. H. Allen devotes several pages the mythological references to this star. In ancient times, it was known as the "Watcher" or the "Guardian"; the Arabs knew it by two names, which translate as "the Lance-Bearer" and "the Keeper of Heaven." Today, we use a name that comes from the ancient Greek word Arktouros meaning "Bear Guard."

Arcturus was also the first star ever to be seen in daylight with a telescope. That was in 1635, but today you can do this rather easily with even a modest backyard instrument — if you know exactly where to look.

But on May 27, 1933, all eyes in Chicago were on this star after dark. That night, astronomers at the nearby Yerkes Observatory aimed the 40-inch refracting telescope in its direction to capture its light and focus it onto photoelectric cells, and transmitted the electrical current it generated to flip the switch that illuminated the Exposition.

So of all the stars in all the heavens, why did Exposition officials choose Arcturus? Because, at the time, the star was believed to lie 40 light years from Earth, and that its light that triggered the photo cells on that night would have left the star in 1893 — the year of Chicago's previous great world exposition.

And now you know ... the "rest of the story."

Visit Dennis Mammana at www.dennismammana.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.