Front page flashback:<\/strong> Jan. 13, 1928<\/p>\n Tribune photographer Tom Howard<\/a> \u2014 on loan to the New York Daily News \u2014 captured a photo of Ruth Snyder<\/a> at New York\u2019s Sing Sing Prison as she was electrocuted<\/a>. The photo, however, was not published in the Tribune.<\/p>\n Weather records <\/strong>(from the National Weather Service, Chicago<\/a>)<\/p>\n 1961: <\/strong>\u201cNow, about the word \u2018manager,’\u201d Chicago Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley said as he addressed the team\u2019s annual press luncheon. \u201cI looked it up and the pure definition is \u2018dictator.\u2019<\/a>\u201d (Tribune editors balked at this explanation.)<\/p>\n With that, Wrigley announced a plan to have the team run by a revolving college of coaches<\/a>. He produced a sign for the meeting that said, \u201cAnyone who remains calm in the midst of all this confusion simply does not understand the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n The team finished next-to-last in the standings in 1961 and 1962 before the experiment was abandoned.<\/p>\n The Chicago Bears have called Soldier Field home since 1971 \u2014 but they have flirted with leaving the downtown stadium several times since<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n 1978:<\/strong> Mayor Michael Bilandic announced a special committee to study the feasibility of a new stadium complex<\/a> that would be the new home for the Chicago Bears and also include horse racing and jai alai, a game that attracted large crowds and high-stakes gamblers in Florida. The complex never materialized.<\/p>\n 1979:<\/strong> The city was walloped by a massive blizzard that dumped 20.3 inches<\/a> of snow. At the time it was the second-largest snowfall in city history. Today, it\u2019s the fourth-largest<\/a>. It was not only the worst storm of that winter, the snowfall was also be a major factor in the city\u2019s next mayoral election.<\/p>\n Vintage Chicago Tribune: Do you remember when 90 inches of snow fell almost 50 years ago?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n After observing the city by helicopter, Chicago Mayor Michael Bilandic\u00a0ordered city snowplows to clear 250 school and Park District parking lots<\/a>\u00a0so residents could move their cars off the roads, but that effort was a failure. Many motorists couldn\u2019t make it past double- and triple-parked cars on the still unplowed side streets. Garbage couldn\u2019t be collected for at least 10 days. Mail was delivered late.<\/p>\n Chicago\u2019s 10 largest snowfalls since 1886 \u2014 and how the Tribune covered them<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Instead of taking responsibility for the mishandling of the snow removal, Bilandic lashed out, saying police would be ticketing vehicles and ordering them towed if not removed from Chicago\u2019s streets. He also said there would be \u201cno exceptions\u201d for sick, elderly or poor people<\/a>\u00a0who couldn\u2019t move their cars. \u201cIf there are hardship cases, they can tell that to a judge.<\/a> That\u2019s what a judge is for,\u201d he told reporters. Bilandic later apologized for his mishandling of the snow removal, but Chicago residents \u2014 and voters \u2014 weren\u2019t satisfied.<\/p>\n 2000:<\/strong> The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Illinois v. Wardlow<\/a> gave police broad authority to stop and question people who run at the sight of an officer.<\/p>\n The 5-4 ruling reversed an Illinois Supreme Court decision that held two Chicago officers<\/a> were wrong to chase and stop William Wardlow when he ran away<\/a> after seeing them cruising a street on the West Side.<\/p>\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![\"Ruth](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CTC-L-RUTH-SNYDER-ELECTROCUTED-1928-01.jpg\")
Ruth Snyder and Henry Judd Gray were electrocuted within a few minutes of each other at 11 p.m. on Jan. 12, 1928, at Sing Sing prison in New York. They were found guilty of killing Snyder’s husband 10 months prior. (Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n\n
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Chicago Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley claimed on Jan. 12, 1961, that the term “manager” was antiquated. That’s why he instituted the “college of coaches,” eight men rotating in positions of leadership, for the 1961 season . The idea was abandoned by the 1963 season. (Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n\n
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The storm of Jan. 12-14, 1979, dropped more than 20 inches of snow on the city. This was the worst storm of a winter in which almost 90 inches of snow, the all-time season record, fell on the city and was also remembered as the second-coldest in Chicago’s recorded history. (Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n\n
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