Front page flashback:<\/strong> Jan. 22, 2017<\/p>\n 2017:<\/strong> An estimated quarter-million demonstrators poured into downtown to draw attention to women\u2019s rights, as well as civil rights, immigration and racial justice. Organizers of the Women\u2019s March on Chicago<\/a> said the event was planned for the day after President Donald Trump\u2019s inauguration. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators packed the streets of several other cities, from New York to Los Angeles and Paris to Sydney.<\/p>\n Weather records <\/strong>(from the National Weather Service, Chicago<\/a>)<\/p>\n 1848:<\/strong> The telegraph<\/a> reached Chicago.<\/p>\n 1979:<\/strong> Chicago Bears owner and former coach George Halas arrived at Super Bowl XIII at the Orange Bowl in Miami in an antique car where he flipped a 1920 gold piece<\/a> \u2014 the same year the NFL was founded \u2014 as part of the game\u2019s ceremonial coin toss. Halas purchased the coin just for the occasion for $317<\/a>. Halas gave the coin to the loser of the flip \u2014 the Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n Today in Chicago History: \u2018McCaskey, you\u2019re a bum!\u2019 The coin flip that cost the Chicago Bears Terry Bradshaw.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It was the second time in a decade the Bears had been involved in a fateful coin flip with the Steelers. The last one had a grim ending for the Bears \u2014 they lost the No. 1 draft pick. The Steelers used it to select quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who led them to four Super Bowls.<\/p>\n 1985:<\/strong> Two South Shore Line trains collided head-on at low speed<\/a> in downtown Gary during the morning rush hour, injuring 128 people.<\/p>\n 1987:<\/strong> Darby Williams and Perry Cobb became the first two Illinois death row inmates exonerated and released<\/a> from prison following reinstatement of the death penalty.<\/p>\n 2007:<\/strong> A 2006\u201307 NFC championship game victory gave the Bears their second trip to the Super Bowl \u2014 their first in 21 years \u2014 with a 39\u201314 win<\/a> over the New Orleans Saints.<\/p>\n 2015:<\/strong> Regenstein Macaque Forest<\/a> opened. Lincoln Park Zoo\u2019s first new exhibit building since 2005, the 7,300-square-foot display \u2014 just north of the West Gate \u2014 was the centerpiece of a $15 million project that included the opening of the Lionel Train Adventure for kids and enhancements to Eadie Levy\u2019s Landmark Cafe.<\/p>\n The exhibit included eight \u201csnow monkeys\u201d from a Japanese primate research facility, an elaborate hillside enclosure with heated rocks and a stream on the site formerly occupied by the zoo\u2019s Penguin-Seabird House.<\/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![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CTC-L-WOMENS-MARCH-ON-CHICAGO-2017-01.jpg\")
The women of Chicago would not be stopped on Jan. 21, 2017. An estimated quarter-million demonstrators poured into downtown, so many that organizers of the Women\u2019s March on Chicago told the throngs that the event would only be a rally because there wasn\u2019t room to march. But people marched anyway. (Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n\n
![\"George](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CTC-L-AP-GEORGE-HALAS-SUPER-BOWL-COIN-TOSS-01.jpg\")
George Halas, owner of the Chicago Bears, handles the coin toss for Super Bowl XIII, Jan. 21, 1979, in Miami. The Pittsburgh Steelers played the Dallas Cowboys, who won the toss. (Phil Sandlin\/AP)<\/p>\n\n
![\"Crews](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CTC-L-CTHIST-AFC-276-CT_F_258457216.jpg\")
Crews separate two commuter trains that crashed Jan. 21, 1985, in Gary. Federal safety experts began interviewing crews, dispatchers and management officials in their investigation into the head-on collision, as rail industry veterans theorized that human error was the probable cause. (John Dziekan\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"(Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CTC-L-DARBY-WILLIAMS-PERRY-COBB-RELEASED-1987-01.jpg\")
(Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"With](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CTC-L-spt-0526-urlacher1_189567115.jpg\")
With snow falling at Soldier Field, Urlacher hoists the NFC championship trophy following the Bears’ 39-14 victory over the Saints. Urlacher had a career-high four pass deflections in the game, interfering with Drew Brees’ intermediate passing game and leading the club to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1985. (Jim Prisching\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CTC-L-CT-ct-ent-0122-macaque-forest-lpz_03_181810237.jpg\")
A Japanese macaque, also known as a snow monkey, walks past a heated pool while exploring its naturalistic habitat during a sneak preview of the new Regenstein Macaque Forest exhibit on Jan. 21, 2015, at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. (Anthony Souffle\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n