Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Jan. 17, 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: 60 degrees (1894)
- Low temperature: Minus 23 degrees (1982)
- Precipitation: 0.70 inches (1910)
- Snowfall: 4.9 inches (1970)
1920: Prohibition began at the stroke of midnight and lasted until Dec. 5, 1933.
“At least half of the 1,000,000 gallons of ‘hard likker’ reported stored in Chicago on July 1 is still here,” the Tribune reported. “And there you are.”
The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banned “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes.”
The Tribune opposed the “noble experiment,” calling it an intrusion into people’s lives and a benefit to the bootleggers and corrupt public officials.
1964: Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born to parents Fraser Robinson III and Marian at Provident Hospital. She was the third first lady to be born in Chicago after Betty Ford (1918) and Hillary Clinton (1947), according to the National First Ladies’ Library.
1980: The city’s official weather recording site changed from Chicago’s Midway Airport to O’Hare International Airport. Weather experts, however, still look at the readings at Midway for comparison.
1994: Former child stars Danny Bonaduce and Donny Osmond participated in a charity boxing match at the China Club. The idea started on Jonathon Brandmeier’s WLUP-FM radio show when Brandmeier goaded the two into getting into the ring after Osmond saw Bonaduce working out at a local gym and teased him.
A split decision in Bonaduce’s favor for a bout that was really too close to call touched off a nasty post-fight confrontation. An incensed Osmond wanted a deciding Round Four.
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