Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Oct. 7, according to the Tribune’s archives.
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Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
- High temperature: 87 degrees (2007)
- Low temperature: 29 degrees (2001)
- Precipitation: 1.39 inches (1930)
- Snowfall: Trace (2000)
1984: Walter Payton caught a pitchout and ran 6 yards against the New Orleans Saints at Soldier Field. That play pushed “Sweetness” ahead of Jim Brown, whose career total of 12,312 rushing yards had been the best ever in the NFL. Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka took Payton out of the game with 20 second left to play and 12,400 yards.
“When God said he would make a halfback or fullback, he might have said Gale Sayers or he might have said Jim Brown,” Ditka said after the game. “But when he said he would make the best football player who ever lived, he probably said two men: Jim Thorpe and Walter Payton.”
Payton’s record of 16,726 yards stood for 18 years until it was broken by current leader Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys.
Also in 1984: After being up 2-0 in the National League Championship Series, the Chicago Cubs lost to the San Diego Padres 6-3 in Game 5. The Padres became the first National League team to recover from being down two games to none to win the pennant.
Vintage Chicago Tribune: Cubs vs. San Diego Padres — the 1984 National League Championship Series
The Padres lost to the Detroit Tigers 4-1 in the 1984 World Series. The Cubs made it to the playoffs again in 1989, but lost 4-1 to the San Francisco Giants.
1991: After an open house and a glamorous black-tie dinner, the Harold Washington Library Center officially opened to the public. An estimated 10,000 people visited the branch on its first day.
2005: The Chicago White Sox swept the defending champion Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in the American League Division Series. It was the Sox’s 102nd win of the season.
Nineteen days later, the Sox won their first World Series since 1917.
2007: The high temperature was 89 degrees, making it the hottest Chicago Marathon race to date. For the first time in Chicago Marathon history, officials cut the race short as hundreds of runners were treated for heat-related illnesses.
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