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Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Jan. 2, 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: 61 degrees (2004)
  • Low temperature: Minus 16 degrees (1879)
  • Precipitation: 1.24 inches (1999)
  • Snowfall: 18.6 inches (1999)
"The opening of the greatest ship canal ever constructed in America and the informal completion of one of the engineering feats in the world's history was accomplished without ceremony," the Tribune reported about the completion of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal on Jan. 3, 1900. (baiduhai)
"The opening of the greatest ship canal ever constructed in America and the informal completion of one of the engineering feats in the world's history was accomplished without ceremony," the Tribune reported about the completion of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal on Jan. 3, 1900. (baiduhai)

1900: The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (a project long championed by the Tribune) was completed, reversing the flow of the Chicago River.

1984: Oprah Winfrey

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debuts as the new host of “A.M. Chicago.”

1999: The most devastating snowstorm to batter Chicago in two decades closed roads, canceled hundreds of flights and stranded thousands. From Jan. 1 to 3, 21.6 inches of snow fell, making it the second-largest snowstorm on record in Chicago history. Parks, vacant land and the Des Plaines River all became giant snow depositories.

Meteorologists likened the storm to the blizzard of 1979.

Chicago’s 10 largest snowfalls since 1886 — and how the Tribune covered them

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