What is your defining memory of the 1995 Chicago heat wave? Here’s what you told us.

We asked readers for their memories of Chicago’s deadly 1995 heat wave. Here’s what they said, lightly edited for clarity.

"My great-grandfather, who grew up in the Deep South of Alabama and had been through almost 80 years of Chicago weather, finally broke down and bought an air-conditioner at the age of 90."
— Kimberley Egonmwan

"Working at Great America and people passing out waiting in line for the rides."
— Pic Anderson

"Seeing the LaGrou refrigerated trailers on the news being used as temporary morgues and being weirded out by them every time I see them on the road."
— Edward Baronia

"Whenever it was excruciatingly hot, I would fill the bathtub with cold water and dip my whole body into it, scream and stay there until I cooled off. I’d keep the tub full and dip in on and off all day. I would have to fill the tub before 11 a.m., before the kids turned the fire hydrants on in the streets to cool off and spray the passing cars, as that was when the water stopped flowing."
— Jane Wenger

"It was the only time that my Siberian husky ever wanted to be inside the house instead of in her doghouse in her beloved yard."
— Steven Garrett

"Riding a crowded CTA Blue Line train home at less than half-speed, no A/C because of low power. ... Downtown to Cumberland took like three hours."
— Joe Weiss

"Went to Yorktown [Center] to pick up my paycheck, had a security vehicle running outside the store. I came back outside, and it had overheated, spraying out water and antifreeze everywhere."
— Chip Strahl

"My wife and I lived in a basement apartment on the [Southwest] Side with no AC and only a tiny, south-facing louver window set in glass block. We would go to an ice factory where you put in $3 and an enormous block of ice would slam down a ramp into a metal basket, then we'd take it home and put it in a cooler with a fan blowing over it. We were still miserable."
— Dan Gibbard

"The fire department spraying the substation transformers in an effort to keep them cool and online."
— Doug Larson

"Cook County Hospital had no air conditioning."
— Ron Boii

"Saturday, July 15, 1995, was the day of our wedding. It was sweltering — between the big dress and the tuxedos, the wedding party was a dripping mess. There was a bit of a drizzle in the evening, which helped cool things off a tiny bit, but our cake more or less melted."
— Penny Ramirez

"Because my apartment had no AC, I dunked my PJs in cold water. After I'd wrung them out, I was able to sleep through the night, wet but cool."
— Beatrice Villar