Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on June 16, according to the Tribune’s archives.
Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.
Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
- High temperature: 98 degrees (1913)
- Low temperature: 44 degrees (1980)
- Precipitation: 1.87 inches (1876)
- Snowfall: Trace (1950)
1970: Chicago Bears halfback Brian Piccolo died after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of testicular cancer that spread to his chest. He was 26.
In May 1970 in New York, Bears running back Gale Sayers received the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award. He had led the league in rushing after his devastating knee injury.
Brian Piccolo’s Beverly ties, commitment to racial harmony relived on 50th anniversary of his death
“You flatter me by giving me this award,” Sayers told the crowd at the ceremony. “But I tell you here and now that I accept it for Brian Piccolo. Brian Piccolo is the man of courage who should receive this award. … I love Brian Piccolo and I’d like all of you to love him too. Tonight, when you hit your knees, please ask God to love him.”
Every year, the Bears hand out the Brian Piccolo Award. Linebacker T.J. Edwards and wide receiver Rome Odunze were the 2024 recipients.
1979: “Son of Svengoolie” premiered with Rich Koz portraying the ghost host.
Koz, who landed a spot on “Screaming Yellow Theater” after mailing original host Jerry G. Bishop ideas for jokes, then became Bishop’s co-writer and protege, launched the new take on Svengoolie — with Bishop’s blessing. The then-20-something writer, who grew up in Morton Grove and attended Northwestern University, was responsible for many of the jokes and antics (produced on a tight budget and filmed in a modest WFLD studio in Marina City) that new viewers came to love about the character — including dodging rubber chickens hurled at him by stagehands and delivering pronouncements in a really bad take on a Transylvanian accent.
The final episode aired in 1986, but was revived as “Svengoolie” in 1994.
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1980: “The Blues Brothers” premiered in Chicago and was released nationwide days later. Gene Siskel in his four-star review in the Tribune lauded it as “the best movie ever made in Chicago.”
1996: After posting a record-setting 72 regular-season victories, the Chicago Bulls won their fourth NBA title and Michael Jordan was named MVP.
2008: The Cubs were scheduled to play the Padres in the final Hall of Fame game at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York, but the game was canceled due to bad weather.
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