{"id":487070,"date":"2026-01-02T12:30:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/487070\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T12:30:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:30:19","slug":"oprah-winfrey-debuts-on-am-chicago-chicago-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/487070\/","title":{"rendered":"Oprah Winfrey debuts on \u2018AM Chicago\u2019 \u2013 Chicago Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Jan. 2, according to the Tribune\u2019s archives.<\/p>\n<p>Is an important event missing from this date? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/01\/02\/january-2-chicago-history\/mailto:krumore@chicagotribune.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Email us<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Front page flashback:<\/strong> Jan. 3, 1999<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Snow began falling on Jan. 2, 1999, and didn't stop for two days. Almost 22 inches of snow fell, making it the largest snowstorm in almost two decades and the second-largest snowfall in Chicago history. (Chicago Tribune)\" width=\"2305\" height=\"653\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CTC-L-SNOWSTORM-1999-01.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"31076732\" \/>Snow began falling Jan. 2, 1999, and didn&#8217;t stop for two days. Almost 22 inches of snow fell, making it the largest snowstorm in almost two decades and the second-largest snowfall in Chicago history. (Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Weather records <\/strong>(from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weather.gov\/wrh\/climate?wfo=lot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Weather Service, Chicago<\/a>)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>High temperature: <strong>61 degrees<\/strong> (2004)<\/li>\n<li>Low temperature: <strong>Minus 16 degrees<\/strong> (1879)<\/li>\n<li>Precipitation: <strong>1.24 inches<\/strong> (1999)<\/li>\n<li>Snowfall: <strong>18.6 inches<\/strong> (1999)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"&quot;The opening of the greatest ship canal ever constructed in America and the informal completion of one of the engineering feats in the world's history was accomplished without ceremony,&quot; the Tribune reported about the completion of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal on Jan. 3, 1900. (Chicago Tribune)\" width=\"2164\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CTC-L-SANITARY-AND-SHIP-CANAL-COMPLETED-1900-01.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"17870802\" \/>&#8220;The opening of the greatest ship canal ever constructed in America and the informal completion of one of the engineering feats in the world&#8217;s history was accomplished without ceremony,&#8221; the Tribune reported about the completion of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal on Jan. 3, 1900. (Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p><strong>1900:<\/strong> The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2013\/10\/29\/reversing-the-chicago-river-1900\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal<\/a> (a project long championed by the Tribune) was <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-turn-the-chicago-river-i\/161958418\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">completed<\/a>, reversing the flow of the Chicago River.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"sdWyoDHHwJ\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2024\/09\/27\/phil-donahue-oprah-winfrey-jerry-springer-jenny-jones-and-more-chicagos-memorable-daytime-tv-talk-show-hosts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Phil Donahue, Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Springer, Jenny Jones and more: Chicago\u2019s memorable daytime TV talk show hosts<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>1984:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2024\/01\/04\/vintage-chicago-tribune-oprah-winfrey-10-moments-from-her-chicago-years\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oprah Winfrey<\/a> debuted as the new host of \u201cAM Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"A woman fights the wind-blown snow as she tries to cross Wacker Drive near the Chicago River on Jan. 2, 1999. (John Lee\/Chicago Tribune)\" width=\"2152\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CTC-L-CTFL-WACKER_MET-01-03-02-01-51-8X29-EC_189784989.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"31076669\" \/>A woman fights the wind-blown snow as she tries to cross Wacker Drive near the Chicago River on Jan. 2, 1999. (John Lee\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p><strong>1999:<\/strong> The most devastating snowstorm to batter Chicago in two decades closed roads, canceled hundreds of flights and stranded thousands. From Jan. 1 to 3, 21.6 inches of snow fell, making it the second-largest snowstorm on record in Chicago history. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/ct-xpm-1999-01-13-9901130080-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/ct-xpm-1999-01-13-9901130080-story.html\" data-mrf-recirculation-id=\"Article Links_50\">Parks, vacant land and the Des Plaines River<\/a>\u00a0all became giant snow depositories.<\/p>\n<p>Meteorologists\u00a0likened the storm to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2014\/01\/05\/1979-blizzard-was-debacle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">blizzard of 1979<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"K3ckxAloGz\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2024\/12\/01\/chicago-10-largest-snowfalls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chicago\u2019s 10 largest snowfalls since 1886 \u2014 and how the Tribune covered them<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Want more vintage Chicago?<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to the free\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/membership.chicagotribune.com\/newsletters\/subscribe\/lid\/2d8200fe-eefd-4f1d-bcaa-26a0ce79a461\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/membership.chicagotribune.com\/newsletters\/subscribe\/lid\/2d8200fe-eefd-4f1d-bcaa-26a0ce79a461\">Vintage Chicago Tribune<\/a>\u00a0newsletter, join our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/762760217263236\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/762760217263236\/\">Chicagoland history Facebook group,<\/a>\u00a0stay current with<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/tag\/chicago-history\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/tag\/chicago-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0Today in Chicago History<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/vintagetribune\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/vintagetribune\/\">Instagram<\/a>\u00a0for more from Chicago\u2019s past.<\/p>\n<p>Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/01\/02\/january-2-chicago-history\/mailto:krumore@chicagotribune.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">krumore@chicagotribune.com<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/01\/02\/january-2-chicago-history\/mailto:mmather@chicagotribune.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mmather@chicagotribune.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Jan. 2, according to the Tribune\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":487071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[219962,219963,28319,960,6387,26073,5386,1818,219961,18327,10514],"class_list":{"0":"post-487070","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-1979-blizzard","9":"tag-1999-blizzard","10":"tag-blizzard","11":"tag-chicago","12":"tag-chicago-history","13":"tag-chicago-river","14":"tag-il","15":"tag-illinois","16":"tag-january-2","17":"tag-oprah","18":"tag-oprah-winfrey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115825516630270140","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}