Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Dec. 16, 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: 66 degrees (2021)
Low temperature: Minus 12 degrees (1951)
Precipitation: 1.67 inches (1921)
Snowfall: 4.8 inches (2008)
1903: Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison revoked the license of the South Loop’s Lone Star Saloon, 527 State St. The proprietor, known for doctoring customers’ drinks and stealing their valuables after they passed out, was Michael Finn, aka Mickey Finn. It’s where the expression “to slip someone a mickey” comes from.
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1929: The Chicago Blackhawks played their first game inside Chicago Stadium, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 in front of more than 14,000 fans.
1959: Second City comedy cabaret debuted at 1842 N. Wells St. in Chicago.
Second City and its nerdy University of Chicago roots: How a ‘lost cause’ grew into a comedic giant
The first United Airlines jet plane crosses the new taxi bridge at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Dec. 16, 1966. Auto traffic is shown arriving or departing the terminal on the roadway below. (Mike Rotunno aerial photo)
1966: The airplane taxi bridge over the Kennedy Expressway opened at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
O’Hare International Airport: From farm to global terminal
This improvement allowed the largest jets to access the airport’s gates without the need for a lengthy circular taxi route.
Police and FBI surround a suspected bank robber’s van in Hanover Park on Lake Street, east of Barrington Road on Dec. 16, 1991. (Eduardo Contreras/Chicago Tribune)
1991: Federal authorities arrested con man and former suburban police officer Jeffrey Erickson, 33, of Hanover Park, in Schaumburg. His wife, Jill, 27, fled and after a dramatic 11-mile car chase and shootout with police, was found fatally shot inside the van. The couple had been suspected in the “bearded bandit” bank robberies. Erickson was taken to the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
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As he was being led from the Dirksen Federal Building on July 20, 1992, Erickson uncuffed his hands with a key, disarmed a guard and fatally shot Deputy U.S. Marshal Roy “Bill” Frakes and court security officer Harry Belluomini, a retired Chicago police officer.
Erickson, mortally wounded in an exchange of gunfire with Belluomini, shot himself in the head a few feet from a rush-hour Loop crowd.
Chicago Bears outside linebackers Khalil Mack (52) and Leonard Floyd (94) sack Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) on Dec. 16, 2018, at Soldier Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
2018: The Chicago Bears sacked Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers five times on their way to clinching the NFC North for the first time in eight years with a 24-17 win at Soldier Field.
2020: MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, donated $25 million to United Way of Metro Chicago, the largest donation in the organization’s history at that time.
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