Weather records <\/strong>(from the National Weather Service, Chicago<\/a>)<\/p>\n Arlington International Racecourse: History of one of the \u2018world\u2019s most beautiful racetracks\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n 1927:<\/strong> Arlington Park<\/a> opened for its first season of business \u2014 though still under construction. More than 20,000 fans braved the cold weather to celebrate the event in high style. Jockey Joe Bollero guided horse Luxembourg to victory in the race track\u2019s first-ever race. The facility closed in 2021 and the site was bought by the Chicago Bears in 2023.<\/p>\n 1983:<\/strong> David Meilahn<\/a>, a suburban Chicago insurance agent, made the first commercial cellular call in the United States in a parking lot at Soldier Field.<\/p>\n 1992:<\/strong> Shortly after the 9 a.m. school bell, 7-year-old\u00a0Dantrell Davis<\/a> was shot in the head by a sniper while walking with his mother from his Cabrini-Green high-rise to the Jenner Academy of the Arts. Half an hour later, he was pronounced dead<\/a> at Children\u2019s Memorial Hospital.<\/p>\n Cabrini-Green timeline: From \u2018war workers\u2019 to \u2018Good Times,\u2019 Jane Byrne and demolition<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Later that day, police arrested reputed street gang leader Anthony Garrett<\/a> in connection with Dantrell\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n 1994:<\/strong> Five-year-old Eric Morse<\/a> was dropped from the 14th floor of the Ida B. Wells public housing complex by Jesse Rankins, 10, and Tykeece Johnson, 11, for refusing to steal candy from a store. The murder plot was hatched by the boys as they walked home from school earlier that day, the Tribune reported at the time.<\/p>\n Morse\u2019s death \u2014 he was the 53rd child<\/a> under the age of 14 to be killed in Chicago that year \u2014 came to be a symbol of all that had gone wrong in public housing in Chicago.<\/p>\n Illinois reacted swiftly to the boys\u2019 arrest for Morse\u2019s murder, enacting a new law that lowered the age to 10 from 13<\/a> at which offenders could be sentenced to prison.<\/p>\n 1998:<\/strong> Northwestern University chemistry professor John Pople<\/a> won the Nobel Prize in chemistry. He developed the GAUSSIAN computer program in 1970, and shared the prize with Walter Kohn for using mathematics to unscramble the complexities of how atoms glom onto one another to form molecules.<\/p>\n 2015:<\/strong> Kyle Schwarber<\/a> hit a home run \u2014 with an exit velocity of 112.5 mph and distance of 419 feet \u2014 atop Wrigley Field\u2019s right field video board in the Chicago Cubs\u2019 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4 of the National League Division Series to advance to the National League Championship Series. The ball was encased in a clear box and remained in that position for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n Want more vintage Chicago?<\/p>\n Subscribe to the free\u00a0Vintage Chicago Tribune<\/a>\u00a0newsletter, join our\u00a0Chicagoland history Facebook group,<\/a> stay current with Today in Chicago History<\/a> and follow us on Instagram<\/a>\u00a0for more from Chicago\u2019s past.<\/p>\n Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@chicagotribune.com<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0mmather@chicagotribune.com<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\n
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![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CTC-L-CT-ct-biz-first-commercial-cell-call005_181443935.jpg\")
In his Oakbrook Terrace office on Oct. 12, 2023, David Meilahn holds a 1983 photo of himself making the first commercial cellphone call alongside his wife, Gail Meilahn, and technician Jeff Benuzzi. (Stacey Wescott\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CTC-L-MET-AJ-2-SCHMICH-1012_189409219.jpg\")
A Chicago police officer guards the scene as an investigator photographs the blood left after the shooting of Dantrell Davis at 502 W. Oak St. on Oct. 13, 1992, in Chicago. (Eduardo Contreras\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CTC-L-MORSE-6C-935PM_MAIN-0324-SR_190485173.jpg\")
The 14th floor window at the Ida B. Wells complex on Feb. 28, 1996, in Chicago. This is the window where two boys dangled and dropped Eric Morse, 5, on Oct. 13, 1994, when he refused to steal candy for them. (Bill Hogan\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CTC-L-L41-SMART_ME-T1015-NSWC-01-2MAIN-NOBEL-C-CHERNEY-95187-JF_190826281.jpg\")
John A. Pople, center, celebrates his 1998 Nobel Prize in chemistry with Lawrence B. Dumans, provost for Northwestern University, left, and Eric J. Sundquist on Oct. 14, 1998. (Charles Cherney\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CTC-L-CT-schwarber-ball001_181847303.jpg\")
A baseball that was hit for a home run by Chicago Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber in the seventh inning in Game 4 of the NLDS on Oct. 13 sits encased atop the right field video board at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Oct. 14, 2015. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n