Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Sept. 14, 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: 99 degrees (1939)
- Low temperature: 40 degrees (1985)
- Precipitation: 2.42 inches (1896)
- Snowfall: Trace (1928)
1902: The Chicago Cubs infield trio of shortstop Joe Tinker, second baseman Johnny Evers and first baseman Frank Chance (of “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon”) — the best double play combination of the day — turned their first double play.
Many reference the event happening on Sept. 15, 1902. After looking back at the Tribune’s archival stories, we discovered it actually happened a day earlier — Sept. 14, 1902. MLB’s official historian John Thorn confirmed the validity of our find.
1985: “The Golden Girls” debuted at 8 p.m. as part of NBC’s Saturday night lineup. Tribune critic Steve Daley liked the show.
“‘Golden Girls’ doesn’t quite fit, which is reason enough to hope that it will find a niche,” he wrote. “It’s not likely that an appearance in the Loop by the cast of ‘Golden Girls’ would engender fan craziness and teeny-bop frenzy.”
Fans of the comedy gathered 37 years later at Navy Pier to celebrate the first “Golden-Con.”
1986: Walter Payton received two souvenir footballs in a 13-10 win against the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field — one for scoring his 100th rushing touchdown and the other for reaching 15,000 yards rushing.
1994: With the Chicago White Sox on the verge of their second straight playoff appearance but a strike already in progress for 34 days, Bud Selig, baseball’s acting commissioner, canceled the remaining 249 games of the regular major-league season, the playoffs and the World Series.
The strike didn’t end until April 2, 1995, after a 4½-hour meeting with Major League Baseball owners at the O’Hare Hilton in Chicago.
1997: Future Hall of Famer catcher Carlton Fisk’s No. 72 became the ninth number retired by the Chicago White Sox.
“Pudge” also received a life-sized sculpture of himself in Rate Field’s center-field concourse in 2005.
2022: In a split verdict, a federal jury convicted R&B superstar R. Kelly on child pornography charges for making three videotapes of himself sexually abusing his goddaughter “Jane” beginning the late 1990s. Kelly was also was convicted of inappropriate sexual relations with Jane and two other teenage girls, “Pauline” and “Nia.”
Kelly was also convicted in federal court in New York in 2021 of racketeering conspiracy charges alleging his musical career doubled as a criminal enterprise aimed at satisfying his predatory sexual desires.
He’s serving his time in a medium-security federal prison facility in Butner, North Carolina, and is not eligible for release until 2045, records show.
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