Today in Chicago History: Locals drink up as Prohibition ends
Here's a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on April 6, 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: 84 degrees (1929)
Low temperature: 15 degrees (1982)
Precipitation: 1.13 inches (1938)
Snowfall: 9 inches (1938)
1915: Oscar Stanton De Priest was elected Chicago's first Black alderman.
Vintage Chicago Tribune: 24 incredible Black Chicagoans
Born in Alabama to former slaves, De Priest then became the first Black person from a Northern state to sit in Congress — as its sole Black member for three terms.
1917: The United States entered World War I.
Vintage: 'The Great War' through the lens of the Chicago Tribune
A full-page appeal in the Tribune asked volunteers to apply for the Illinois cavalry and artillery.
1933: Chicagoans drank up as 3.2% beer became legal after 13 years of Prohibition.
1972: Two cars of a four-car CTA 'L' train plunged from the elevated structure at 40th Street and Wabash Avenue on the South Side, injuring 46 people.
A mangled section of track rose perpendicularly into the air after the track and parts of the train's undercarriage were strewn along 40th Street.
2014: Sears closed its State Street store.
Sears timeline: Rise, fall and restructuring of a Chicago icon over 130 years
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Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@chicagotribune.com and mmather@chicagotribune.com
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