Shohei Ohtani’s bat is ready for the Los Angeles Dodgers while Shota Imanaga has looked good on the mound for the Chicago Cubs with less than 10 days remaining before baseball’s regular-season opener in Japan.

Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events announced Thursday the dates for this year’s spring and summer festivals.

Next year will mark 50 years since the founding of Chicago’s Black Ensemble Theater. Many well-regarded theaters have come and gone in that time, but BET is still growing under the leadership of its founder and CEO, Jackie Taylor.

For many Black people, Afro Sheen is a household name. Businessman George Johnson created the products in 1954 on Chicago’s South Side. He pushed through racial barriers to become one of the most successful Black entrepreneurs in the U.S. by the late 1960s.

Photography, film and fabrics are used to write the continent’s expansive story, starting chronologically during the liberation period of the mid-20th century up until today.

Tariffs won’t affect the price of theater, concerts or museums, and that’s a good thing. Here are five ways to take in what Chicago has to offer.

Each Wednesday, WTTW News producer Josh Terry presents must-see live music shows from indie rock to jazz, country, hip-hop and more.

Tuesday marks the city’s 188th birthday. Here's a look back at some Chicago history you need to know.

Preservation Chicago has released its annual “Chicago 7 Most Endangered” list of threatened buildings and assets, and the roll call reads like a trip through Chicago history.

Pulaski Day honors Casimir Pulaski, a Polish-born general who fought in the American Revolution. The holiday is observed in Illinois on the first Monday of March, near Pulaski’s birthday on March 6.

“I make the work so people feel seen and cared about and have a voice,” Kenn Cook Jr. said. “That’s what the work is — I just amplify the voice of people who live here and give them a chance to tell their own story, not letting that story be written for them.”

Gene Hackman, the prolific Oscar-winning actor whose studied portraits ranged from reluctant heroes to conniving villains and made him one of the industry’s most respected and honored performers, has been found dead along with his wife at their home. He was 95.

Say farewell to February and welcome March by embracing the seemingly limitless choices we have in the Chicago area. We reside in the metropolis of the Midwest, so make big plans.

“Chicago is the steppin’ capital of the world.” That’s a phrase coined by local DJ Sam Chatman, also known as the Godfather of Steppin’. And though the dance craze’s popularity has spread far and wide, no one can do it quite like the hometown originators.

Shermann “Dilla” Thomas has a new gig at theDuSable Black History Museum as a brand ambassador and social media chief — an opportunity he’s called a “dream job.” It’s just one of his many projects — from giving bus tours to posting on TikTok about the city’s lesser-known history.

Michelle Trachtenberg, a former child star who appeared in the 1996 “Harriet the Spy” hit movie and went on to co-star in two buzzy millennial-era TV shows — “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Gossip Girl” — has died. She was 39.