{"id":759077,"date":"2026-06-12T11:00:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T11:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/759077\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T11:00:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T11:00:45","slug":"today-in-chicago-history-bulls-win-1st-nba-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/759077\/","title":{"rendered":"Today in Chicago History: Bulls win 1st NBA championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on June 12, according to the Tribune\u2019s archives.<\/p>\n

Is an important event missing from this date? Email us<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Front page flashback: June 13, 1931<\/p>\n

\"AlAl Capone was indicted on June 12, 1931, on 5,000 charges of running a “beer combine” that brewed, packaged and delivered beer throughout the city over a decade. (Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

1931: Chicago Outfit leader Al Capone was indicted on 5,000 counts<\/a> \u2014 4,000 of them were transportation of beer trucks loaded with 32 barrels each. An investigation led by Prohibition agent Eliot Ness<\/a> estimated Capone and 68 of his associates earned $200 million during a decade-long illegal \u201cbeer combine\u201d that brewed, packaged and delivered the contraband throughout the Loop.<\/p>\n

The charges came one week after Capone was indicted on tax evasion charges<\/a>, and surrendered to police.<\/p>\n

Capone was\u00a0found guilty<\/a> in October 1931 by a federal jury on five counts of income tax indictments and was later sentenced<\/a>\u00a0to 11 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.<\/p>\n

Capone was\u00a0transferred by train<\/a>\u00a0in May 1932 to a federal penitentiary in Atlanta. Syphilis-related complications earned Capone an early release from prison in 1939.<\/p>\n

Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago<\/a>)<\/p>\n

High temperature: 97 degrees (1956)
\nLow temperature: 40 degrees (1985)
\nPrecipitation: 1.5 inches (2021)
\nSnowfall: None<\/p>\n

\"Smoke<\/p>\n

Smoke rises from a burning squad car as a crowd surrounds it on June 12, 1966, on Chicago’s West Side. (James Mayo\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

\"Another<\/p>\n

Another squad car is pushed by the crowd in an effort to tip it over as police try to drive it away, though tires are flat, on June 12, 1966, in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune archive)<\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

Police officers duck as bottles and stones are thrown at them during their advance to quiet the crowd in June 1966. Two policemen, a fireman and several other people were injured during the melee, which lasted into the early morning hours. (Ray Foster\/Chicago Tribune) <\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

Police search a suspect seized in the area where violence flared again in June 1966 in Chicago. Earlier in the day about 100 people formed a mob and pushed six rental trailers from a nearby gas station into an intersection. (Chicago Tribune archive)<\/p>\n

\"One<\/p>\n

One of the three squad cars burned by a crowd, largely Puerto Rican, during the disturbance on June 12, 1966, at Division Street and Damen Avenue in Chicago. (James Mayo\/Chicago Tribune)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A crowd is joined by children as it carries a man through the streets after he was reportedly bitten by a police dog on June 12, 1966. The incident was one of several which witnesses said encouraged the disturbance. (Ray Foster\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

\"Officer<\/p>\n

Officer Thomas Munyon, the arresting officer who shot Anceliz Cruz, waits in the hallway of the emergency ward at St. Mary’s Hospital in Chicago on June 12, 1966. The shooting caused the rioting in the area of Division Street and Damen Avenue. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)\n<\/p>\n

\"Sgt.<\/p>\n

Sgt. James Delaney is seated in patrol car after the windshield was broken by a rock near the intersection of Division Street and California Avenue on June 12, 1966. (Chicago Tribune archive)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A cat surveys the damage to Park View Restaurant at 2757 W. Division St., whose windows were smashed during looting that followed disturbances resulting from a policeman wounding a Puerto Rican youth, June 12, 1966. (James Mayo\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

\"Tribune<\/p>\n

Tribune Photographer Ray Foster checks pictures he took before the crowd roughed him up and smashed his camera in 1966. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)\n<\/p>\n

\"Puerto<\/p>\n

Puerto Ricans and supporters march on Milwaukee Avenue to City Hall on June 28, 1966, in Chicago. (Luigi Mendicino\/Chicago Tribune)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A crowd forms inside the “North Side Boys Court” at 937 N. Wood St. in June 1966 as many people arrested during the Division street riot on Sunday night faced charges ranging from burglary to disorderly conduct. (Chicago Tribune archive)<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 12<\/p>\n

Smoke rises from a burning squad car as a crowd surrounds it on June 12, 1966, on Chicago’s West Side. (James Mayo\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

1966: In Humboldt Park<\/a>, white Chicago police Officer Thomas Munyon shot Arcelis Cruz, a young Puerto Rican man, in the leg. The incident ignited two days of rioting<\/a> along Division Street that sprang from deep frustrations over bad police relations, poor schools and uncaring landlords.<\/p>\n

On the first day of<\/a> unrest, the Tribune reported, three squad cars were burned, 35 people were arrested and 19 people were injured. Stores along Division Street were looted and set on fire. A firebomb was thrown into Schley Elementary School.<\/p>\n

Flashback: Unrest on Division Street: A 1966 police shooting was a tipping point for Puerto Rican Chicagoans.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Firefighters had a hose wrested from their hands as they tried to extinguish the flames of a burning police car. A Tribune photographer was robbed of his camera, beaten and kicked, until neighborhood residents rescued him. The nearby St. Mary\u2019s Hospital treated both civilians and police officers.<\/p>\n

The violence subsided<\/a> after a heavy rainfall and hundreds of police officers were placed on patrol in the area.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Chicago Bulls championship win featured on the front page of the Chicago Tribune on June 13, 1991. (Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

1991: The\u00a0Chicago Bulls won the first NBA championship<\/a> in the team\u2019s 25-year history with a 108-101 victory in Game 5 of the NBA Finals over the Los Angeles Lakers. MVP Michael Jordan scored 30 points, Scottie Pippen had 32 and John Paxson added 20. The Bulls won three straight on the road at the Forum.<\/p>\n

Chicago Bulls beat Los Angeles Lakers for NBA title in 1991<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201d(The championship) means so much,\u201d said Jordan, in tears after the game<\/a>, talking to a national television audience. \u201dNot just for me but for this team and this city. It was a seven-year struggle. It\u2019s the most proud day I\u2019ve ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IllinoisGov. JB Pritzker signs the Reproductive Health Act into law at the Chicago Cultural Center on June 12, 2019, with bill sponsors Sen. Melinda Bush, left, and Rep. Kelly Cassidy, right. (Jos\u00e9 M. Osorio\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

2019:\u00a0Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law\u00a0sweeping abortion rights legislation<\/a>\u00a0that established the procedure as a \u201cfundamental right\u201d for women in Illinois.<\/p>\n

Want more vintage Chicago?<\/p>\n

Subscribe to the free\u00a0Vintage Chicago Tribune<\/a>\u00a0newsletter, join our\u00a0Chicagoland history Facebook group,<\/a> stay current with Today in Chicago History<\/a> and follow us on Instagram<\/a>\u00a0for more from Chicago\u2019s past.<\/p>\n

Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@chicagotribune.com<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0mmather@chicagotribune.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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