Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Jan. 21, according to the Tribune’s archives.

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Front page flashback: Jan. 22, 2017

The women of Chicago would not be stopped on Jan. 21, 2017. An estimated quarter-million demonstrators poured into downtown, so many that organizers of the Women's March on Chicago told the throngs that the event would only be a rally because there wasn't room to march. But people marched anyway. (Chicago Tribune)The women of Chicago would not be stopped on Jan. 21, 2017. An estimated quarter-million demonstrators poured into downtown, so many that organizers of the Women’s March on Chicago told the throngs that the event would only be a rally because there wasn’t room to march. But people marched anyway. (Chicago Tribune)

2017: An estimated quarter-million demonstrators poured into downtown to draw attention to women’s rights, as well as civil rights, immigration and racial justice. Organizers of the Women’s March on Chicago said the event was planned for the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators packed the streets of several other cities, from New York to Los Angeles and Paris to Sydney.

Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

  • High temperature: 62 degrees (1906)
  • Low temperature: Minus 22 degrees (1984)
  • Precipitation: 1.49 inches (1916)
  • Snowfall: 5 inches (1958)

1848: The telegraph reached Chicago.

George Halas, owner of the Chicago Bears, flips the opening game coin toss to determine which team will receive the kickoff in Super Bowl XIII, Jan. 21, 1979, in Miami. The Pittsburgh Steelers played the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys won the toss. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)George Halas, owner of the Chicago Bears, handles the coin toss for Super Bowl XIII, Jan. 21, 1979, in Miami. The Pittsburgh Steelers played the Dallas Cowboys, who won the toss. (Phil Sandlin/AP)

1979: Chicago Bears owner and former coach George Halas arrived at Super Bowl XIII at the Orange Bowl in Miami in an antique car where he flipped a 1920 gold piece — the same year the NFL was founded — as part of the game’s ceremonial coin toss. Halas purchased the coin just for the occasion for $317. Halas gave the coin to the loser of the flip — the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Today in Chicago History: ‘McCaskey, you’re a bum!’ The coin flip that cost the Chicago Bears Terry Bradshaw.

It was the second time in a decade the Bears had been involved in a fateful coin flip with the Steelers. The last one had a grim ending for the Bears — they lost the No. 1 draft pick. The Steelers used it to select quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who led them to four Super Bowls.

Crews separate two commuter trains that crashed on Jan. 21, 1985, in Gary, Indiana. Federal safety experts began interviewing crews, dispatchers and management officials in their investigation into the head-on collision, as rail industry veterans theorized that human error was the probable cause. (John Dziekan/Chicago Tribune)Crews separate two commuter trains that crashed Jan. 21, 1985, in Gary. Federal safety experts began interviewing crews, dispatchers and management officials in their investigation into the head-on collision, as rail industry veterans theorized that human error was the probable cause. (John Dziekan/Chicago Tribune)

1985: Two South Shore Line trains collided head-on at low speed in downtown Gary during the morning rush hour, injuring 128 people.

(Chicago Tribune)(Chicago Tribune)

1987: Darby Williams and Perry Cobb became the first two Illinois death row inmates exonerated and released from prison following reinstatement of the death penalty.

With snow falling at Soldier Field, Urlacher lifts the NFC championship trophy above his head following the Bears' 39-14 whipping of the Saints. Urlacher had a career-high four pass deflections in the game, interfering with Drew Brees' intermediate passing game and leading the club to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1985. (Jim Prisching/Chicago Tribune)With snow falling at Soldier Field, Urlacher hoists the NFC championship trophy following the Bears’ 39-14 victory over the Saints. Urlacher had a career-high four pass deflections in the game, interfering with Drew Brees’ intermediate passing game and leading the club to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1985. (Jim Prisching/Chicago Tribune)

2007: A 2006–07 NFC championship game victory gave the Bears their second trip to the Super Bowl — their first in 21 years — with a 39–14 win over the New Orleans Saints.

A Japanese macaque, also known as a snow monkey, walks past a heated pool while exploring its naturalistic habitat during a sneak preview of the new Regenstein Macaque Forest exhibit on Jan. 21, 2015 at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. (Anthony Souffle/Chicago Tribune)A Japanese macaque, also known as a snow monkey, walks past a heated pool while exploring its naturalistic habitat during a sneak preview of the new Regenstein Macaque Forest exhibit on Jan. 21, 2015, at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. (Anthony Souffle/Chicago Tribune)

2015: Regenstein Macaque Forest opened. Lincoln Park Zoo’s first new exhibit building since 2005, the 7,300-square-foot display — just north of the West Gate — was the centerpiece of a $15 million project that included the opening of the Lionel Train Adventure for kids and enhancements to Eadie Levy’s Landmark Cafe.

The exhibit included eight “snow monkeys” from a Japanese primate research facility, an elaborate hillside enclosure with heated rocks and a stream on the site formerly occupied by the zoo’s Penguin-Seabird House.

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