Front page flashback:<\/strong> March 31, 1981<\/p>\n 1981: <\/strong>John Hinckley Jr., son of a wealthy Denver oil executive, shot and wounded President Ronald Reagan<\/a> who was leaving a ballroom at the Washington Hilton. Also injured were Reagan\u2019s Press Secretary James Brady<\/a>, a Centralia, Illinois, native who was shot in the head, and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy<\/a>, a Chicago native who later became police chief of Orland Park.<\/p>\n Reagan, who was born in western Illinois, underwent two hours of surgery at George Washington University Hospital for removal of the bullet, which was lodged in his lung.<\/p>\n Hinckley was confined to a mental hospital in Washington for more than two decades after a jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity in the shooting. He was freed from court oversight<\/a> in 20222.<\/p>\n Brady, who was partially paralyzed after the shooting, became a leading gun control advocate. Brady and his wife, Sarah, campaigned for a gun law that would be known as the \u201cBrady bill.\u201d<\/a> The law, which was passed in 1993, required a mandatory five-day waiting period for purchase of handguns and also background checks for would-be gun buyers. A Virginia medical examiner ruled Brady\u2019s 2014 death a homicide<\/a> due to the 1981 shooting.<\/p>\n Weather records <\/strong>(from the National Weather Service, Chicago<\/a>)<\/p>\n 1984:<\/strong> DePaul\u2019s coach Ray Meyer and North Carolina\u2019s Michael Jordan were named coach and player of the year<\/a> in men\u2019s college basketball by the Associated Press.<\/p>\n 1992:<\/strong> The Chicago White Sox sent Sammy Sosa and Ken Patterson to the Chicago Cubs for George Bell<\/a>.<\/p>\n 1998:<\/strong> Mayor Richard M. Daley unveiled plans for the Lakefront Millennium Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n Vintage Chicago Tribune: Millennium Park \u2014 \u2018the best thing former Mayor Richard M. Daley ever did\u2019 \u2014 20 years later<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n 2003:<\/strong> Meigs Field<\/a> was shut down overnight \u2014 without notice \u2014 by Daley. Crews carved large X\u2019s and ripped up the runway to prevent landings.<\/p>\n 2011:<\/strong> Demolition of the last Cabrini-Green<\/a> high-rise began.<\/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![\"President](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CTC-L-RONALD-REAGAN-SHOT-1981-01.jpg\")
President Ronald Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. on March 30, 1981, outside a hotel in Washington, D.C. (Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n\n
![\"DePaul's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CTC-L-AP-MICHAEL-JORDAN-RAY-MEYER-1984-01.jpg\")
DePaul’s coach Ray Meyer, left, and Michael Jordan, of North Carolina, right, were named coach and player of the year in college basketball in Seattle by the Associated Press, March 30, 1984. Jordan received the Adolph F. Rupp Trophy which is sponsored by the Commonwealth Athletic Club of Kentucky. (Barry Sweet\/AP)<\/p>\n![\"MET](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CTC-L-DALEY-MILLENNIUM-PROJECT-CT0021656140.jpg\")
Mayor Richard M. Daley announces the Millennium Project on March 30, 1998, at the Cultural Center in Chicago. The mayor said the project will improve and enlarge a portion of Grant Park. (Carl Wagner\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n\n
![\"Demolition](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CTC-L-CT-cabrini04_188939125.jpg\")
Demolition begins on the last of the Cabrini-Green high-rise buildings on March 30, 2011. (E. Jason Wambsgans\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n