Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on July 28, according to the Tribune’s archives.
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Front page flashback: July 29, 1914
The Tribune’s front page from July 29, 1914, which focused on the start of World War I. (Chicago Tribune)
1914: World War I began.
On July 28, 1914, the Tribune reported: “Chicago’s foreign sections seethed with excitement yesterday over the news of imminent war abroad. Cafes, coffee houses, beer gardens, even street corners attracted their crowds.”
By the time that paper hit the streets, Austria-Hungary had invaded Serbia.
Vintage: ‘The Great War’ through the lens of the Chicago Tribune
Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
High temperature: 100 degrees (1983)
Low temperature: 51 degrees (1984)
Precipitation: 2.91 inches (1906)
Snowfall: None
Jimmy Ryan, Chicago White Stockings, baseball card, circa 1887-1890. (Library of Congress)
1888: Jimmy Ryan became the only Chicago Cub to hit for the cycle twice. Against the Detroit Black Sox on July 28, 1888, Ryan came up to bat six times, had four hits and an average of .833.
Ryan did it again on July 1, 1891, against Cleveland.
Vintage Chicago Tribune: Chicago Cubs who have hit for the cycle
“The day was one continual and lovely picture for Jimmy Ryan,” the Tribune reported. “He went to the bat five times and only one chance for a hit escaped. He commenced with a screaming single in the first; this he followed with a home run over the left wall; then he retrograded some, and his next effort was only a three-bagger. He wound up finally with a drive for two bases.”
Tribune editorial cartoonist John T. McCutcheon publicized the demise of Lincoln Park Zoo elephant Deed-a-Day with a July 7, 1943, front-page cartoon — under the headline “The scum of creation” — ridiculing those who fed broken glass, bottle caps, rubber balls and more to Deed-a-Day. (Chicago Tribune)
1942: Gifted to the zoo in 1924 by Chicago Boy Scouts who collected pennies to buy her, 25-year-old Deed-a-Day — Lincoln Park Zoo’s second elephant — had been suffering from a suspected stomach ailment. After she was put down, it was discovered she “died from trash fed to it by a doting public.”
1961: Gov. Otto Kerner signed bills into law creating new criminal code for Illinois, which became the first state to repeal its sodomy law. Engaging in homosexual activity was no longer a criminal offense in the state starting on Jan. 1, 1962.
Illinois 250: Celebrating the state’s fabulous firsts
1976: Francisco Barrios and Blue Moon Odom posted the only combined no-hitter in Chicago White Sox history.
Chicago White Sox pitchers have thrown 20 no-hitters since 1902 — including 3 perfect games
Dick Butkus played for the Bears from 1965-73, making seven Pro Bowl teams. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility. (Steve Lasker/Chicago Today)
1979: Chicago Bears linebacker Dick Butkus was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Butkus played nine seasons for the Bears, starting all 119 games he played. He was named first-team All-Pro five times and second-team once and he was voted to the Pro Bowl after his first eight seasons. He’s the Bears’ all-time leader with 27 fumble recoveries.
After Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne appointed three white members to the Chicago Housing Authority board, Operation PUSH founder Rev. Jesse Jackson called for Black acts and vendors to boycott ChicagoFest. Stevie Wonder backed out of the festival on July 28, 1982. (Chicago Tribune)
1982: Stevie Wonder backed out of ChicagoFest, the precursor to Taste of Chicago, after the Rev. Jesse Jackson called for a Black boycott of the event. The boycott was intended to protest Mayor Jane Byrne’s recent appointment of three white people to the Chicago Housing Authority board.
Jeanine Nicarico is buried at Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery in Naperville. (Scott Strazzante/Chicago Tribune)
2009: Serial killer Brian Dugan confessed to killing 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico in 1983, and was originally sentenced to death in 2009. Two years later, however, Dugan’s sentence was commuted to life in prison after Illinois abolished the death penalty.
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