Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Oct. 29, according to the Tribune’s archives.
Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.
Flashback: A time of deprivation and despair: A look back at the Great Depression in pictures and words
Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
- High temperature: 82 degrees (2024)
- Low temperature: 19 degrees (1925)
- Precipitation: 1.19 inches (1875)
- Snowfall: 1.7 inches (1906)
Enthusiasm runs high among the crowd that braved the rain to watch the first planes take off as O’Hare International Airport, which was the world’s biggest at the time, was opened to civilian use on Oct. 29, 1955. The Air France liner in the photo was one of the first to inaugurate the airport. (Chicago American photo)
1955: Ten years after the site was chosen, Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport began scheduled service. Despite rain and low clouds, Trans World Airlines Flight 94 bound for Paris, then Cairo, was the first to depart with passengers from what was then the world’s largest airport.
“I consider O’Hare’s beginning as a long and firm step into the jet air line age, now upon us. We have the space for expansion for vast future developments that may now be entirely unguessed,” Mayor Richard J. Daley said before 2,500 spectators on the second floor of the new passenger concourse.
What did passengers not find when the airport opened? Restaurants, cocktail lounges and snack bars — none were yet in place. Coffee, premade sandwiches and drinks were sold from vending machines.
A flyer is left behind as friends and family of Stacy Peterson search Knoch Knolls Park in Naperville on Nov. 3, 2007. (Bonnie Trafelet/Chicago Tribune)
2007: Stacy Peterson was reported missing after failing to show up at her sister’s home. Her husband Drew Peterson, a Bolingbrook police officer, was the last person to see her alive.
Peterson was found guilty of drowning his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2012. He was later sentenced to 38 years in prison.
Peterson was given an additional 40 years in prison in 2016 for trying to hire someone to kill the prosecutor who put him behind bars.
Chicago Bears tight end Zach Miller, right, greets a supporter on Dec. 11, 2017, after a news conference at Halas Hall in Lake Forest and his first media availability since suffering a severe left leg injury on Oct. 29, 2017, against the New Orleans Saints. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune)
2017: Chicago Bears tight end Zach Miller dislocated his knee and tore his popliteal artery trying to catch a touchdown pass against the New Orleans Saints at the Superdome.
It was so serious that Miller needed urgent vascular surgery, a procedure that went beyond trying to save his football career to trying to save his ability to walk.
As he was taken into surgery, Miller remembered saying one thing.
“I just remember telling Doc, ‘Save my leg, please,’” Miller said.
Miller needed nine surgeries before he could try to walk again. He was later presented with the Ed Block Courage Award, which was voted on by his teammates.
Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrate after the Chicago Bulls called a timeout during the first half at the United Center on Oct. 29, 2018, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
2018: Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson dropped an NBA record 14 3-pointers in a 149-124 win against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. The Warriors scored 92 points in the first half.
Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa (22) looks out from the dugout in the ninth inning of a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago on Aug. 26, 2022. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
2020: The Chicago White Sox stunned the baseball world by announcing the hiring of Tony La Russa — who led the Sox to a division title in 1983 — as their new manager.
A Sox spokesperson confirmed to the Tribune that the organization was aware of La Russa’s February 2020 arrest for driving under the influence before hiring him. The case was filed Oct. 28 — one day before the Sox announced La Russa’s hiring — according to the Maricopa County Justice Courts website.
La Russa stepped down after the 2022 season for health reasons.
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