Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Jan. 3, according to the Tribune’s archives.
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Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
- High temperature: 60 degrees (1950)
- Low temperature: Minus 18 degrees (1879)
- Precipitation: 1.24 inches (1897)
- Snowfall: 7.1 inches (1971)
1971: The new McCormick Place opened — almost four years after the previous structure was destroyed by a fire — with 700 exhibits of women’s fashions.
1975: The Chicago Bears introduced Jack Pardee as head coach. His record was 20-22 (.476) from 1975-77.
1984: Navy Lt. Robert Goodman Jr., whose plane was shot down during a U.S. raid against Syrian positions in Lebanon, was freed after a month’s captivity in Syria following an appeal by Jesse Jackson.
2019: A federal criminal complaint unsealed on this date charged former 14th Ward Ald. Edward Burke with attempted extortion for allegedly using his position as alderman to try to steer business to his private law firm from a company seeking to renovate a Burger King in his ward.
Burke was convicted on Dec. 21, 2023, by a federal jury of racketeering conspiracy and a dozen other counts. He was sentenced on June 24, 2024, to two years in federal prison.
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