Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on June 5, according to the Tribune’s archives.
Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.
Flashback: June 6, 1946
1946: A fire at the LaSalle Hotel, on the northwest corner of LaSalle and Madison streets, killed 61 people and injured more than 200, making it the worst hotel fire in the city’s history. The building was demolished in the 1970s.
Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
- High temperature: 97 degrees (1971)
- Low temperature: 37 degrees (1945)
- Precipitation: 1 inch (1932)
- Snowfall: Trace (1955)
1854: The Rock Island Railroad connected Chicago to Lockport and the Mississippi River.
1913: The first in a series of auto-polo matches took place at Comiskey Park. Chicago lost to New York 9-8. But Chicago won the night match 10-8.
“No competitor was injured, which was the most remarkable feature of the contest,” the Tribune reported.
1985: According to “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” this was the day the high school student, his girlfriend and best friend skipped out on school for a grand tour of the city.
Revisiting ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ filming locations 40 years later
1989: The Chicago White Sox drafted Auburn first baseman Frank Thomas seventh in the first round of baseball’s amateur draft.
The “Big Hurt” played for the White Sox from 1990 to 2005 as part of a 19-season career. The two-time AL MVP hit 521 home runs, including 448 for the Sox. He was elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2014.
1991: NBC play-by-play man Marv Albert announced “Oh! A spectacular move by Michael Jordan!” after the Chicago Bulls star rose for a right-handed layup, encountered the long-armed Sam Perkins, then switched to his left hand and kissed the ball into the basket off the glass on the other side of the rim.
Michael Jordan: Top moments and stats in the life and career of the Chicago Bulls and NBA legend
1996: Princess Diana hit the ground running on her first — and only — visit to Chicago. Her priority was clear — to raise money and awareness for the plight of cancer victims. In just 46 hours, she helped raise more than $1 million for cancer charities here and in London.
On her first day, Diana spoke at a breast cancer symposium at Northwestern University in the morning, toured Cook County Hospital’s trauma unit, children’s emergency room and pediatric intensive care unit in the afternoon, then attended a black-tie fundraising dinner with dancing — her first dance was with talk show host Phil Donahue — at the Field Museum. The epic affair rivaled the Bulls’ first game in the NBA Finals against the Seattle SuperSonics at the United Center.
Vintage Chicago Tribune: Princess Diana’s visit to Chicago in 1996
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