The University of Illinois extension at Navy Pier opens

Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Oct. 21, according to Tribune archives.

Is an important event missing on this date? Send us an email.

Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

• High temperature: 87 degrees (1953)
• Low temperature: 26 degrees (1952)
• Precipitation: 2.28 inches (1933)
• Snowfall: 1.9 inches (1913)

Vintage Chicago Tribune: Millennium Park — “the best thing former Mayor Richard M. Daley ever did” — 20 years later

1864: The Chicago City Council passed an ordinance that converted a 60-acre plot of land on the north end of the municipal cemetery into Lake Park.

1946: Navy Pier opened the Chicago branch of the University of Illinois to accommodate World War II veterans returning to college thanks to the GI Bill.

Vintage Chicago Tribune: How the ‘Campus Circle’ Became UIC

Nearly 20 years later, the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle campus opened its doors. Its name comes from its location – at the circular junction of what became the Kennedy, Eisenhower and Dan Ryan highways.

1976: Saul Bellow, novelist and professor at the University of Chicago, won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Vintage Chicago Tribune: Nobel Prize winners with Chicago ties

Bellow became the seventh American to win a Nobel Prize in 1976 and the seventh American to win the literature prize. He was exhausted the morning of the announcement, but the reason had nothing to do with the reward: he was moving.

When asked what the award meant to him, Bellow replied: “It means I can stop thinking about recognition. Now I can think about more serious things.”

1985: “The Bears delighted the nation with their P formation,” wrote Tribune reporter Don Pierson.

Vintage Chicago Tribune: 10 memorable moments from the 1985 Bears

Defensive tackle William Perry became an overnight sensation. A slot back, “The Fridge” scored a touchdown and beat Green Bay linebacker George Cumby twice, allowing Walter Payton to score in the Bears’ victory over the Packers.

“I said I wanted to help the team any way I could,” said Perry, the Bears’ No. 1 pick in the 1985 NFL draft.

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