Today in Chicago History: Sears Tower becomes the world's tallest building
Here's a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on May 3, 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: 92 degrees (1955)
Low temperature: 30 degrees (2004)
Precipitation: 1.59 inches (1919)
Snowfall: 0.8 inches (1907)
1973: Ironworkers bolted the last girder into place, making Sears Tower (now Willis Tower) the world's tallest building. Sears Tower ended the Empire State Building's four-decade reign as the world's tallest and transformed the West Loop into a glittering office corridor.
The 1,451-foot Willis Tower lost its crown as the world's tallest when it was surpassed in 1996 by Malaysia's Petronas Towers, and the American title in 2013 when New York City's One World Trade Center was completed. After decades of construction in Asian countries, it's now the 25th tallest in the world.
1976: The Tribune won a Pulitzer Prize in special local reporting for two major investigations, one demonstrating the devastating effect of FHA loans on inner-city neighborhoods, the other exposing shoddy conditions and practices at several Chicago hospitals.
2009: The Chicago Cubs retired the No. 31 jersey worn by Hall of Fame pitchers Fergie Jenkins and Greg Maddux at Wrigley Field.
If Jenkins had his druthers, he'd have worn No. 30 when he joined the Cubs after a trade with Philadelphia in 1966.
'That was my number with the Phillies, but Yosh Kawano informed me that was Mr. Ken Holtzman's number,' Jenkins recalled. 'He offered me 31, and I said, 'Fine.''
Kawano, the colorful longtime potentate of the Cubs clubhouse, was still around when Maddux showed up 20 years later. Perhaps he knew something when he gave Maddux No. 31. 'They told me it was Fergie's number,' Maddux said. 'I thought, 'That's pretty cool.''
Jenkins was the fifth Cubs player to have a statue unveiled outside Wrigley Field.
Want more vintage Chicago?
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
37 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
With the NCAA landscape changing, can small schools thrive in college athletics without the big bucks?
ORLANDO, Fla. — As schools prepare to begin sharing millions with their athletes, there is no avoiding the reality that if you're not a Power Four school, you're at a disadvantage. With major conferences running the show, St. Bonaventure and Florida International don't even have a seat at the table. FIU and St. Bonaventure aren't necessarily worried about a head-to-head fight over top players with deeper-pocketed schools. The priority has become survival and finding a balance between athletics ambition and financial sustainability. Adrian Wojnarowski spoke candidly about the challenges he faced during his inaugural season as the general manager of the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team. Solidifying a recruiting class that would improve the team and embrace the school culture was not easy. After July 1, when lucrative paychecks will pretty much become mandatory for blue-chip prospects, it's not going to get any easier. With some 2,000 undergraduate students, the Bonnies are outnumbered in resources and revenue when competing even against other Atlantic 10 teams like VCU, Dayton, and Saint Louis. Wojnarowski, ESPN's former lead NBA reporter, thinks he has identified a formula for locating the ideal prospect. To him, St. Bonaventure is a landing spot for international players adjusting to a new culture and college life, transfers who may have fallen short at a high major and need development, or those looking to move up to a mid-major. He admits the school in upstate New York could be a pit stop on a player's journey. 'I want them to see that our environment, our coaching staff, our small school, especially for international players coming over, what I really try to sell is your adjustment to American college life,' he said at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and Affiliates Convention this week. 'I think for a lot of kids, it's easier in a school with 1,900 students than a school with 19,000. And you'll come to have two great years with us, and then you'll probably end up at schools with 19,000 or 29,000,' he said. 'And so you're selling, for us, we're your first step on the way to somewhere else, or the other one to me is we're the place to come when you've got to get the basketball right.' Female athletes appeal landmark NCAA settlement, saying it violates federal antidiscrimination lawIf the plan goes awry and a recruit slips away, one thing the former NBA insider refuses to do is blame the money. 'Fundraising is hard, creating new revenue streams is hard, but the one thing that I try to stay away from with us is not saying, 'Oh, we didn't get him because they offered more money,' and using that as a crutch all the time. I really examine when we lost a player,' Wojnarowski said. 'Are we being honest with ourselves in saying that we did everything outside the economics to make our case to this person?' FIU has more than 40,000 undergraduates, but the athletic department is using a similar philosophy, pinpointing advantages and opportunities to come from the settlement instead of the negatives. Similar to St. Bonaventure, FIU doesn't expect to come close to the $20.5 million revenue-sharing cap available over the next year. For a competitive edge, unlocking new revenue streams is fundamental. 'To compete, from a revenue standpoint, you have to think outside the box of your conventional fundraising and targeting donors,' senior associate athletic director Joseph Corey said. 'That's why you're looking at concerts being held at different venues, different festivals to generate extra revenue to bring in, different revenue streams, and not just fundraising going after the same donors. You've got to go beyond that in order to be able to compete.' Being based in Miami has its perks. Proximity to celebrities is one of them. In August, FIU secured a 10-year partnership with Pitbull, the singer and rapper who coins himself 'Mr. 305.' 'We did the partnership with Pitbull – Pitbull Stadium. He's on tour, but part of the deal was that he would be collaborating with us and doing events for us from a fundraising standpoint,' Corey said. 'You've got to think outside the box. Especially in a city like Miami, it's about the experience too.' Schools unlocking creative revenue streams is something that can be expected. FIU competes in Conference USA alongside teams like Liberty, Louisiana Tech, UTEP, Kennesaw State and Jacksonville State. The football team went 3-5 in 2024, finishing sixth in the conference. The men's basketball team finished last with a 3-15 conference record. It's hard to sell donors on losing teams. 'Let's call it what it is, FIU's not going to be able to keep up with the Alabamas of the world, the Georgias, Michigan, or Texas, but what can we do? We can be the best in our conference. That is our goal,' Corey said. 'Let's be the best in our conference and really compete there because once you're at the top of your conference, that means more revenue in other areas. Everyone wants to donate to a winner.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Pope Leo XIV shows off his White Sox fandom at weekly general audience
Pope Leo XIV put his baseball fandom on full display Wednesday. He wore a White Sox hat as he arrived at the Vatican for his weekly general audience. Leo, a Chicago native previously known as Cardinal Robert Prevost, was elected as the first U.S.-born pontiff on May 8. Since then, his most notable sports allegiance has been unearthed. Advertisement Although the Chicago Cubs initially claimed Leo after ABC News reported that he was a rare South Side Cubs fan, Leo's brother quickly disputed that story in an interview with Chicago's WGN News. "He was never, ever a Cubs fan, so I don't know where that came from. He was always a Sox fan. Our mother was a Cubs fan. I don't know, maybe that clued in there, and our dad was a Cardinals fan, so I don't know where that all came from. And all the aunts in our mom's family were from North Side, so that's why they were Cubs fans." Then the Chicago Sun-Times located a picture of Leo at the 2005 World Series, in which the White Sox swept the Houston Astros for their first championship in 88 years. Sox on 35th blogger Joe Binder went one step further and dug up footage of the now pope from Game 1 of that series. The camera briefly shows Leo as he nervously awaits the final out, with White Sox closer Bobby Jenks on the bump in a 5-3 win. The White Sox have been celebrating their most famous fan for more than a month now. Leo gave the Sox another reason to continue that parade Wednesday, when he paired the team's iconic cap with his papal garments.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Apathy and anger cloud USA team a year out from World Cup
Former USA goalkeeper Kasey Keller says he was embarassed by the USA's 4-0 loss to Switzerland. (Victor Decolongon) A run of four straight losses, including a 4-0 hammering from Switzerland on Wednesday, has left Mauricio Pochettino and his USA team feeling the wrath of critics a year out from the World Cup they will co-host. The USA head into their opening game of the CONCACAF Gold Cup against Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday having lost on home soil to Panama and Canada in the Nations League in March before friendly losses to Turkey and the debacle against the Swiss. Advertisement "I think it is the most embarrassed I have been for the US national team in a long time," said Kasey Keller, who played in goal for the USA 102 times between 1990 and 2007. While there were plenty of American fans venting similar feelings on social media after the loss, what will perhaps be more concerning for the US Soccer Federation is supporters voting with their feet and not attending games. There were thousands of empty seats in Nashville for the Switzerland defeat after poor turn-outs for March's games in Los Angeles. "There's just a sense of apathy around the United States men's program and I don't think that's a hot take," former striker Taylor Twellman told NBC Sports. Advertisement Alexi Lalas, a star of the USA team the last time they hosted a World Cup in 1994, has built a career in 'hot takes' for Fox Sports but even he was struggling to fire himself up for a Star Spangled rant after the latest disappointment. "I'm having a hard time even conjuring up that and that makes a little sad. In the past when I was angry at what was going on, I felt compelled to express it and now they are not even worth that, not worth me expressing how disappointing this is right now," he said on his podcast 'State of the Union'. Pochettino has been forced to field a largely second string squad in this month's games with the likes of Tim Weah and Weston McKennie on Club World Cup duty with Juventus while captain and talisman Christian Pulisic has opted to take some rest along with some other members of the first choice squad. That latter decision prompted fierce criticism from some ex-players, including Landon Donovan, the country's all-time joint top scorer who during commentary of Portugal's win in the UEFA Nations League hit out at the absentees. Advertisement "[Ronaldo is] 40 years old. He's played a long-ass season. He's tired. He's out there grinding. Hurt himself in the process, and I can't help but think about some of our guys on vacation, not wanting to play in the Gold Cup. It's pissing me off," he said. That led to a sarcastic reply on social media from Pulisic's father Mark who posted a reminder of Donovan's own 'sabbatical' from the USA team. - Pressure - But there is also pressure mounting on Pochettino, the Argentine former Tottenham Hotspur manager, who was appointed to the USA role in September. Advertisement The coach said he would take the blame for the showing against Switzerland where the USA were 4-0 down by half-time. "It's my responsibility the choice of the starting 11. I wanted to give minutes to certain players, but we were never in the game," the Argentine said. While Pochettino's job may be safe, some are wondering if he might not need some assistance. "It looks like he doesn't know the team, it looks like he doesn't scout the players, has no idea of the pieces he has at his disposal," said former USA forward Hercules Gomez on You Tube. "The US Soccer Federation, why not place somebody who has some experience with the player pool to help Pochettino out because it looks like he has no idea who his players are? With a World Cup on home soil that is a disaster," he added. The USA will co-host the World Cup with Mexico and Canada. sev/rcw
