Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Oct. 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: 86 degrees (1950)
- Low temperature: 26 degrees (1948)
- Precipitation: 3.61 inches (1988)
- Snowfall: Trace (2022)
1891: The Chicago Orchestra (later renamed Chicago Symphony Orchestra) performed its first concert under the direction of Theodore Thomas at the Auditorium Theatre.
“The orchestra is a truly magnificent one, destined to occupy a position side by side with that held by the finest in America — an orchestra which will enable Chicago to take rank in the music world commensurate with her standing as one of the great cities of the country,” the Tribune wrote.
1931: Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone was found guilty by a federal jury on five counts of income tax indictments and was later sentenced to 11 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
Capone was transferred by train in May 1932 to a federal penitentiary in Atlanta. Syphilis-related complications earned Capone an early release from prison in 1939.
1973: Motorola innovator and “father of the cellphone” Martin Cooper and seven others filed for a patent for their “Radio Telephone System,” which included both a phone and a tower network to connect it. The result was U.S. Patent No. 3,906,166.
Though it was another decade before Motorola sold the DynaTAC 8000X to the public for more than $12,000 in today’s money, Cooper’s call was the start of a technological revolution.
2003: At least six people were killed and at least seven others were in serious or critical condition following a fire that swept through the 12th floor of a Loop high-rise filled with government offices late in the afternoon, choking the upper floors of the 35-story building with smoke. The blaze forced evacuation of the Cook Country Administration Building at 69 W. Washington St. Though owned by the county, the structure housed 2,500 workers of county, city and state agencies.
2019: Chicago teachers walked out for 15 days, causing the cancellation of 11 school days and disrupting the lives of 300,000 students. A dizzying number of factors contributed to the strike, but they boiled down to politics, time and money. Despite talk of some progress at the bargaining table, neither side had reached consensus on multiple issues, including pay, staffing and the potential duration of a contract.
The strike set off a protracted battle of wills that ended after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Teachers Union agreed on a $1.5 billion five-year deal that both sides said would transform Chicago Public Schools.
2021: The Chicago Sky won their first WNBA title.
The Sky completed their miracle run with an 80-74 victory over the Phoenix Mercury in which they came back from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit. They set a WNBA record for most wins in one postseason with eight en route to the franchise’s first title.
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