Flashback:<\/strong> May 4, 1976<\/p>\n 1976:<\/strong> Novelist and University of Chicago professor Saul Bellow<\/a> won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for \u201cHumboldt\u2019s Gift.\u201d<\/p>\n Bellow won the Nobel Prize<\/a> for literature five months later.<\/p>\n Vintage Chicago Tribune: Nobel Prize winners with Chicago connections<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Weather records <\/strong>(from the National Weather Service, Chicago<\/a>)<\/p>\n 1973:<\/strong>\u00a0Ironworkers bolted the last girder<\/a> into place, making\u00a0Sears Tower<\/a> (now Willis Tower) the world\u2019s tallest building. Sears Tower ended the Empire State Building\u2019s four-decade reign as the world\u2019s tallest and transformed the West Loop into a glittering office corridor.<\/p>\n The 1,451-foot Willis Tower lost its crown as the world\u2019s tallest when it was surpassed in 1996 by Malaysia\u2019s Petronas Towers<\/a>, and the American title in 2013 when New York City\u2019s One World Trade Center<\/a> was completed. After decades of construction in Asian countries, it\u2019s now the 25th tallest<\/a> in the world.<\/p>\n Chicago Tribune\u2019s 28 Pulitzer Prizes: A list of all the winners<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n 1976:<\/strong> The Tribune won a Pulitzer Prize<\/a> in special local reporting for two major investigations<\/a>, one demonstrating the devastating effect of FHA loans on inner-city neighborhoods, the other exposing shoddy conditions and practices at several Chicago hospitals.<\/p>\n 2009:<\/strong> The Chicago Cubs retired<\/a> the No. 31 jersey worn by Hall of Fame pitchers Fergie Jenkins<\/a> and Greg Maddux<\/a> at Wrigley Field.<\/p>\n If Jenkins had his druthers, he\u2019d have worn No. 30 when he joined the Cubs after a trade with Philadelphia in 1966.<\/p>\n Column: Fergie Jenkins soaks up the adoration as the Chicago Cubs unveil his statue outside Wrigley Field<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cThat was my number with the Phillies, but Yosh Kawano informed me that was Mr. Ken Holtzman\u2019s number,\u201d Jenkins recalled. \u201cHe offered me 31, and I said, \u2018Fine.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Kawano, the colorful longtime potentate of the Cubs clubhouse, was still around when Maddux showed up 20 years later. Perhaps he knew something when he gave Maddux No. 31. \u201cThey told me it was Fergie\u2019s number,\u201d Maddux said. \u201cI thought, \u2018That\u2019s pretty cool.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Jenkins was the fifth Cubs player to have a statue<\/a> unveiled outside Wrigley Field.<\/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![\"Author](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/CTC-L-CTHIST-Saul-Bellow-003_229058501.jpg\")
Author Saul Bellow, center, leaves his home on Oct. 21, 1976, in Chicago. Bellow had won the Nobel Prize. (George Quinn\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n\n
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![\"Workmen](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/CTC-L-SEARS-TOWER-CT0124370763.jpg\")
Workers guide the final steel girder into position to top off the Sears Tower at 1,454 feet on May 3, 1973, in Chicago. (Charles Osgood\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n\n
![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/CTC-L-FERGIE-JENKINS-JERSEY-CT0019893012.jpg\")
Chicago Cubs’ greats Fergie Jenkins, left, and Greg Maddux wave during a ceremony retiring their No. 31 jersey at Wrigley Field on May 3, 2009. (Scott Strazzante\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n\n