Front page flashback:<\/strong> Jan. 11, 1988<\/p>\n \u201cA whole bunch of eras ended for the Bears<\/a>\u00a0Sunday in Soldier Field, where the Washington Redskins knocked them out of the NFC divisional playoffs for the second year in a row, 21-17,\u201d Tribune reporter Don Pierson wrote.<\/p>\n Running back Walter Payton<\/a> gained 85 yards in his final NFL game. When asked why he lingered on the bench<\/a> in the bitter cold after the clock ran out, he said he was simply avoiding retirement as long as he could.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t want to hurry up the moment. I didn\u2019t feel like forcing it,\u201d Payton said. \u201c(Being retired) hasn\u2019t sunk in yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Vintage Chicago Tribune: Bears playoff appearances \u2014 including the \u2018Sneakers Game,\u2019 \u2018Fog Bowl\u2019 and \u2018Double Doink\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Weather records <\/strong>(from the National Weather Service, Chicago<\/a>)<\/p>\n 1962:<\/strong> Chicago Public Schools earmarked $1.35 million for the purchase of mobile trailer classrooms<\/a>.<\/p>\n Vintage Chicago Tribune: Bernie Sanders, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. protest against \u2018Willis wagons\u2019 in schools<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Superintendent Benjamin Willis refused to allow Black children to be bused from their crowded neighborhood schools to those in white areas with more resources. That\u2019s why the portable classroom trailers were nicknamed \u201cWillis wagons\u201d and became symbolic of the city\u2019s long struggle over segregated education.<\/p>\n 1982:<\/strong> Chicagoans suffered through what was then the coldest day in city history \u2014 with a low temperature of minus 26 degrees.<\/p>\n Chicago weather: A look back at our coldest recorded temperatures<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The bitter cold felt throughout the city was worse than what thermometers registered in the tiny town of Hell, Michigan<\/a>, which was minus 17 degrees.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is not a place in Hell that isn\u2019t frozen, but it sounds like you people have it a lot worse than we do,\u201d Jan Davis of the Hell Creek Ranch, a recreation area about 20 miles north of Ann Arbor, told the Tribune. \u201cWe\u2019re all warm, which is appropriate for Hell, don\u2019t you think?\u201d<\/p>\n The Dishonor Roll: Meet the public officials who helped build Illinois\u2019 culture of corruption<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n 1996:<\/strong> Chicago water commissioner John Bolden resigned<\/a> his $102,792-a-year post after he told Mayor Richard M. Daley he took several thousand dollars from FBI mole John Christopher. Bolden was named as part of Operation Silver Shovel<\/a>, which was the FBI\u2019s more than three-year sting.<\/p>\n Bolden pleaded not guilty on April 11, 1997, to taking bribes. A jury found Bolden guilty of tax evasion<\/a> in September 1997, but acquitted him of more serious charges.<\/p>\n 2022:<\/strong> Chicago\u00a0Bears coach\u00a0Matt Nagy\u00a0was fired<\/a> (and so was general manager Ryan Pace) after going 6-11 in Nagy\u2019s fourth season.<\/p>\n From George Halas to Ben Johnson: What was said about every Chicago Bears coach when they were hired<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Want more vintage Chicago?<\/p>\n Subscribe to the free\u00a0Vintage Chicago Tribune<\/a>\u00a0newsletter, join our\u00a0Chicagoland history Facebook group,<\/a>\u00a0stay current with\u00a0Today in Chicago History<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0Instagram<\/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![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CTC-L-CHICAGO-BEARS-REDSKINS-1988-01.jpg\")
The Chicago Bears lost unexpectedly to the Washington Redskins on Jan. 10, 1988, at Soldier Field. It was the second consecutive year the Bears were knocked out of the playoffs by the Redskins, and also was Bears running back Walter Payton’s final NFL game. (Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n\n
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People picket the use of mobile classrooms that were placed next to Guggenheim Elementary School at 7146 S. Sangamon St. in Chicago in 1963. (Al Phillips\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n\n
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At minus 26 degrees, Jan. 10, 1982, was the coldest day in Chicago history until minus 27 degrees was recorded on Jan. 20, 1985. (Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n\n
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Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace were both fired on Jan. 10, 2022, by the organization. (Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n\n