Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on June 20, according to the Tribune’s archives.
Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.
Column: How ‘Jaws’ changed our chumminess with swimming 50 years ago this summer
Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
- High temperature: 104 degrees (1953 and 1988)
- Low temperature: 43 degrees (1992)
- Precipitation: 2.71 inches (1928)
- Snowfall: Trace (1997)
Vintage Chicago Tribune: Meigs Field — shut 20 years ago by Mayor Daley — and Northerly Island’s evolution
1947: Ground was broken for Chicago’s lakefront airport on Northerly Island, which would be known as Meigs Field.
June 20, 1953: Temperature hits 104 degrees in Chicago
Chicago Tribune, June 21, 1953 The front page of the Chicago Tribune on June 20, 1953
1953: Chicago recorded its second-hottest temperature: 104 degrees. (It was also 104 degrees on June 20, 1988, and on July 13, 1995).
Here are Chicago’s hottest days — with temperatures of 100 degrees or higher — on record
“Of the estimated 350,000 persons who sought relief at beaches and pools, five drowned, scores suffered heat prostration, and thousands took home second-degree sunburns,” the Tribune reported.
1993: The Chicago Bulls won the team’s third NBA championship by outlasting the Phoenix Suns 99-98. Guard John Paxson sunk a three-point shot with 3.9 seconds remaining on the clock.
“Horace Grant sealed the historic night by blocking the Suns’ Kevin John last-second shot attempt,” Tribune reporter Sam Smith wrote. “The night will forever be engraved in the conscience of sport.”
Want more vintage Chicago?
Subscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago’s past.
Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@chicagotribune.com and mmather@chicagotribune.com
