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Today in Chicago History: Naked bodies of the Grimes sisters found near Burr Ridge

Officials gather near where the bodies of Barbara and Patricia Grimes were found lying in a ditch along German Church Road west of Willow Springs on Jan, 22, 1957. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)
Officials gather near where the bodies of Barbara and Patricia Grimes were found lying in a ditch along German Church Road west of Willow Springs on Jan, 22, 1957. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)
By | krumore@chicagotribune.com | Chicago Tribune
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Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Jan. 22, according to the Tribune’s archives.

Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.

Front page flashback: Jan. 22, 1973

The Tribune front page from Jan. 23, 1973, focused on the death of former President Lyndon B. Johnson and the U.S. Supreme Court decision that gave women the right to an abortion. (Chicago Tribune)
The Tribune front page from Jan. 23, 1973, focused on the death of former President Lyndon B. Johnson and the U.S. Supreme Court decision that gave women the right to an abortion. (Chicago Tribune)

1973: The U.S. Supreme Court, in its Roe v. Wade decision, declared a nationwide constitutional right to abortion.

Vintage Chicago Tribune: From 1800s to now, history of abortion access in Illinois

The decision was overturned in 2022, but abortion remains legal in Illinois.

Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

  • High temperature: 59 degrees (1909)
  • Low temperature: Minus 17 degrees (1936)
  • Precipitation: 1.39 inches (1887)
  • Snowfall: 6.2 inches (2005)

Flashback: Mercy Hospital’s major milestones

1849: Illinois General Hospital of the Lakes — later known as Mercy Hospital — was established at Rush Street and the Chicago River, making it the first hospital in Chicago.

The building formerly housed Lake House, an opulent hotel.

The father of sisters Barbara and Patricia Grimes identified their bodies, which were discovered on Jan. 22, 1957, near Burr Ridge. The girls disappeared in Dec. 1956. (Chicago Tribune)
The father of sisters Barbara and Patricia Grimes identified their bodies, which were discovered on Jan. 22, 1957, near Burr Ridge. The girls disappeared in December 1956. (Chicago Tribune)

1957: The nude bodies of sisters Barbara and Patricia Grimes were found along a rural road near Burr Ridge. The girls slipped away from their home in Chicago’s McKinley Park neighborhood a month earlier to see an Elvis Presley movie at a nearby theater, but never returned.

Investigators didn’t find enough evidence to explain their deaths. The official cause of death was exposure to winter cold, and despite an exhaustive investigation and widespread media attention, the case remains one of the Chicago area’s most notorious unsolved mysteries.

A crowd gathers outside the Chicago apartment rented by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta at 1550 S. Hamlin Ave. in Chicago on Jan. 26, 1966. (Tom Kinahan/Chicago Tribune)
A crowd gathers outside the Chicago apartment rented by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta at 1550 S. Hamlin Ave. in Chicago on Jan. 26, 1966. (Tom Kinahan/Chicago Tribune)

1966: It was revealed that Martin Luther King Jr. planned to live in a four-room, third-floor walk-up apartment on South Hamlin Avenue in North Lawndale. Rent was $90 per month (about $840 in today’s dollars). He moved in a few days later.

Vintage Chicago Tribune: The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. leads ‘the first significant freedom movement in the North’

Today the site is home to the Dr. King Legacy Apartments, which were constructed in 2011.

"Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski pleaded guilty in Jan. 1998 almost 20 years to the day after the Unabomber's first pipe bomb exploded to three bombing murders and the maiming of two other people and agreed to a life sentence in prison without the possibility of release. He avoided the death penalty and a trial where he would have been portrayed as mentally ill. (Chicago Tribune)
"Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski pleaded guilty in January 1998 almost 20 years to the day after the Unabomber's first pipe bomb exploded to three bombing murders and the maiming of two other people and agreed to a life sentence in prison without the possibility of release. He avoided the death penalty and a trial where he would have been portrayed as mentally ill. (Chicago Tribune)

1998: “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski pleaded guilty — almost 20 years after his first pipe bomb exploded — choosing to spend life in prison rather than be portrayed at trial as mentally ill.

The Chicago Bears sent out a press release at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 22, 1999, in which David McGinnis was named as the 12th head coach in the franchise's history. There was just one problem McGinnis had not agreed to terms with the Bears. (Chicago Tribune)
The Chicago Bears sent out a news release at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 22, 1999, in which David McGinnis was named as the 12th head coach in franchise history. There was just one problem McGinnis had not agreed to terms with the Bears. (Chicago Tribune)

1999: The Chicago Bears wrongly announced Dave McGinnis as the team’s 12th head coach.

McGinnis, defensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals and linebackers coach with the Bears from 1986-95, was upset the “news” was broadcast and that it had reached Cardinals team owner Bill Bidwell and coach Vince Tobin, as well as family and friends, before he even had considered the offer.

Dick Jauron was announced two days later as Dave Wannstedt’s replacement.

From George Halas to Ben Johnson: What was said about every Chicago Bears coach when they were hired

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Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@chicagotribune.com and mmather@chicagotribune.com

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