Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on June 23, according to the Tribune’s archives.
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Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
- High temperature: 97 degrees (1930)
- Low temperature: 44 degrees (1982)
- Precipitation: 3.04 inches (1892)
- Snowfall: Trace (1916)
Chicago’s history with hosting Democratic and Republican conventions dates back to 1860
1888: Frederick Douglass spoke at the Republican National Convention in Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre. He received one vote from Kentucky in the fourth ballot — making him the first Black person nominated for president.
1895: A Chicago Colts game against Cleveland was interrupted after the third inning so the entire team could be arrested for violating laws banning baseball games on Sunday. While a West Side Grounds crowd of 10,000 fans waited, the players were marched into the clubhouse where they signed $100 bail bonds. They then returned to the field to finish a 13-4 victory.
Chicago Cubs standout Hack Wilson, circa 1930s. (Chicago American)
1930: Future Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Hack Wilson hit for the cycle against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Vintage Chicago Tribune: Chicago Cubs who have hit for the cycle
Wilson drove in a single-season record of 191 runs during the 1930 season, hit his 22nd home run of the year into right field in the first inning, then picked up a triple, double and two singles.
Barbara Hanson, coordinator of the archives for United Airlines, holds up a wicker chair in 2003 that served as passenger seating in 1928. The archives were stored at the corporate headquarters for the airline in Elk Grove Village. (George Thompson/Chicago Tribune)
1960: Ground was broken on a 51-acre site in Elk Grove Village, which was just 5 miles away from O’Hare International Airport, for United Airlines’ headquarters and training schools.
United remained at the location until its offices were moved in 2009 to Willis Tower.
In August 2022, CloudHQ began demolition of the former United Airlines corporate headquarters in Mount Prospect, with plans to build a $2.5 billion data center campus.
1975: Chicago City Council passed “Burke’s Law,” an ordinance proposed by former 14th Ward Ald. Edward Burke that outlawed nudity in massage parlors. The nickname was inspired by a popular television detective show from that time.
1976: The Chicago Sting beat the New York Cosmos, in front of 28,000 fans. It was soccer star Pelé’s last match at Soldier Field.
Ryne Sandberg is congratulated by Chicago Cubs third base coach Don Zimmer after evening the score in the ninth inning with a home run against the Cardinals on June 23, 1984. (Charles Cherney/Chicago Tribune)
1984: “The Sandberg Game.” Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg hit a pair of late-inning, game-tying home runs off St. Louis Cardinals closer Bruce Sutter in the Cubs’ 12-11, 11-inning win before a crowd of 38,079 at Wrigley Field. It signaled his rise to stardom — setting the second baseman on a course that would earn him the National League Most Valuable Player Award.
The wild, comeback win gave notice to the rest of America that the 1984 Cubs were for real despite a 39-year World Series drought and not a single championship since 1908. That game ignited an unforgettable summer run that ended with a postseason collapse in San Diego, only one game shy of the World Series.
2000: Churchill Downs Inc. bought Arlington Park for a reported $71 million.
Arlington closed its gates on Sept. 25, 2021. The Bears finalized a deal to buy the site in February 2023.
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