Weather records <\/strong>(from the National Weather Service, Chicago<\/a>)<\/p>\n 1934: <\/strong>Chicago was in the grip of a weeklong heat wave, and the mercury that day reached 101. Twenty-three people died of the heat, but the death that drew the most attention was that of John Dillinger \u2014 a 31-year-old Indiana man who, on his birthday a month earlier, had been declared Public Enemy No. 1<\/a>\u00a0by the FBI.<\/p>\n In the heat of that July, movie houses advertised that they were \u201cair-cooled.\u201d Perhaps that\u2019s what made Dillinger decide to take a prostitute named\u00a0Polly Hamilton<\/a> and Hamilton\u2019s landlady, Anna Sage<\/a>, to the Biograph Theater (now known as Victory Gardens Theater) at 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., to see \u201cManhattan Melodrama,\u201d a gangster movie starring Clark Gable. Sage, a Romanian immigrant originally named Ana Cumpanas, operated a house of ill repute on the North Side.<\/p>\n Vintage Chicago Tribune: John Dillinger\u2019s final days \u2014 and the \u2018Lady in red\u2019 who helped trap him<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Outside the theater, about 16 federal agents and East Chicago police officers took up positions.<\/p>\n When the picture was over around 10:30 p.m., the trio left the theater and turned south on Lincoln Avenue in the direction of Sage\u2019s apartment on Halsted Street. The artificial lights of the marquee made her orange skirt appear deep red \u2014 earning her the nickname \u201cLady in Red.\u201d<\/p>\n As the three walked south on Lincoln, Dillinger realized he was walking into a trap and pulled an automatic pistol from his pants pocket and bolted for the alley. Shots were fired. One bullet hit him in the back of the neck and exited through his right eye. That shot killed him. It apparently was fired by East Chicago police Sgt. Martin Zarkovich\u2019s .38-caliber revolver. The weapon was bought by a San Francisco man at a 1998 auction for more than $25,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n Thus came to an end Dillinger\u2019s long and infamous career in crime, including 11 months at the top of the country\u2019s Most Wanted list. Souvenir seekers dipped handkerchiefs in Dillinger\u2019s blood.<\/p>\n Sage got a $5,000 reward for her role, but not the deal she wanted. She was\u00a0deported to Romania<\/a>\u00a0in 1936 and died there 11 years later.<\/p>\n 1970:<\/strong> A western lowland gorilla \u2014 named Kumba<\/a> \u2014 was born for the first time<\/a> in the 102-year history of Lincoln Park Zoo.<\/p>\n \u201c(Mom) Mumbi had no help at all with the delivery. She was her own midwife,\u201d assistant zoo director Saul Kitchener said.<\/p>\n 1979:<\/strong> Parts of Lake Shore Drive, the Eisenhower Expressway and seven bridges over the Chicago River were closed for filming of \u201cThe Blues Brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n 1986:<\/strong>\u00a0The Chicago Cubs fired ballgirl\u00a0Marla Collins<\/a>\u00a0after she posed for a\u00a0Playboy pictorial<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSportswriters pored over the photo evidence for hours Tuesday afternoon in the Wrigley Field pressbox, trying desperately to determine just how offensive the expos\u00e9 was,\u201d Tribune reporter Fred Mitchell wrote. \u201cMeanwhile, the Cubs won a game. The score was 6-4. We think.\u201d<\/p>\n Turtle\u2019s tale: Nickel, the Shedd Aquarium\u2019s endangered green sea turtle, marks her 20th year in Chicago<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n 2003:<\/strong> A 10-year-old, 124-pound rescued and rehabilitated green sea turtle \u2014 named Nickel due to the coin found lodged in her esophagus \u2014 was released into the Caribbean Reef exhibit at the Shedd Aquarium.<\/p>\n 2012:<\/strong> Cubs third baseman turned broadcaster Ron Santo<\/a> was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n Santo, who died in 2010<\/a>, told the Tribune in 2003 that the team\u2019s retirement<\/a> of his uniform No. 10 was special.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will be my Hall of Fame,\u201d he said.<\/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\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753175949_72_ctc-181815911.jpg\")
The Biograph Theater on Lincoln Avenue where John Dillinger was slain by FBI bullets in 1934. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)<\/p>\n\n
![\"Betty](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ctc-dill-moreguejpg-CT0019747263.jpg\")
Betty Nelson and Rosella Nelson view the body of John Dillinger, 32, while in bathing suits at the Cook County Morgue, located at Polk and Wood streets in Chicago. In the days after Dillinger was killed on July 22, 1934, massive crowds lined up outside the morgue to get a glimpse of the notorious public enemy. (Chicago Herald & Examiner historical photo)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/CTC-L-CTHIST-kumbaandmumbi1970_tribune_229053559.jpg\")
The first gorilla born in Lincoln Park Zoo’s 102-year history, Kumba, is held by her 9-year-old mother, Mumbi, on July 23, 1970. The infant gorilla weighed about three and a half pounds at birth. (Charles Osgood\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"Filming](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/CTC-L-BLUES-BROTHERS-FILMING-1979-01.jpg\")
Filming in Chicago for “The Blues Brothers” movie starring John Belushi as Joliet Jake and Dan Aykroyd as Elwood Blues began on July 22, 1979. (Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"Twenty-eight-year-old](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/CTC-L-CUBS-MARLA-COLLINS-FIRED-1986-01.jpg\")
Twenty-eight-year-old Marla Collins, ballgirl at Wrigley Field for the Chicago Cubs since 1982, was fired on July 22, 1986, after revealing photos of her were released in an edition of Playboy magazine. “After learning that she had been fired, Collins headed for a bar,” the Tribune reported. (Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n\n
![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/CTC-L-SANTO_SPT-091603-P1-CUB0915_190215195.jpg\")
Chicago Cubs great Ron Santo \u2014 in the Wrigley Field booth where he provides commentary for WGN radio \u2014 holds a jersey with his No. 10, on Sept. 15, 2003, in Chicago. (Nuccio DiNuzzo\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n