Today in Chicago History: Secretariat wins effortlessly — by nine lengths — at Arlington Park
Here's a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on June 30, according to the Tribune's archives.
Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.
Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
1916: Chick Evans won the U.S. Open. His score of 286 set a record that stood 20 years.
On the evening he won the Open at Minikahda in Minnesota, Evans did something more significant than any of his feats on the links. Encouraged by his mother, he decided to remain an amateur and put any prize money he would have received as a pro into a trust fund to provide college scholarships for deserving and needy caddies.
In a career spanning more than four decades, Evans won 54 championships, including the Open and U.S. Amateur — both in 1916.
1940: The Brenda Starr comic strip debuted in the Tribune.
Tribune Media Services ended the daily drama of the red-headed reporter in early 2011.
1947: The first scheduled around-the-world passenger flight stopped briefly at Chicago's Midway International Airport. Pan Am Airways President Juan Trippe presented Mayor Martin Kennelly with a Chicago flag that was part of the journey.
1972: Jesse Jackson and Chicago Ald. William Singer unseated Mayor Richard J. Daley's delegate slate at the Democratic convention in Miami.
Vintage Chicago Tribune: 50th anniversary of Secretariat's 'runaway' race at Arlington Park in 19731973: Secretariat made his only appearance at Arlington Park. Fresh off his Triple Crown victories, 'Big Red' destroyed his field in the Arlington Invitational.
1988: Chicago White Sox owners were prepared to move the team to St. Petersburg, Florida. But several minutes past a midnight deadline, and with some arm-twisting by Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson, the Illinois General Assembly passed an amended stadium bill that ensured the White Sox would stay in Chicago.
2014: A single storm system brought 30 tornadoes, including 18 in the National Weather Service's Chicago warning area, with winds as fast as 86 mph, dropping as much as 4 inches of rain in 24 hours. The storm knocked out power to 225,000 Commonwealth Edison customers.
'It almost sounded like a hurricane': Derecho weather events in the Chicago area since 1965The system also introduced some to the term 'derecho,' a wind storm that stretched more than 240 miles, punctuated by wind gusts of more than 55 mph. But this storm actually contained a double derecho. Official said at the time there had been another double derecho in Chicago in 2010. What made the 2014 double derecho even stranger was that the second wave was stronger than the first; it's generally the other way around.
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