John J. Kim / baiduhaiA worker sweeping sidewalks walks past the Billy Goat Tavern on Lower Michigan Avenue on May 7, 2020, in Chicago. The tavern was open for pickup and delivery of cheeseburgers during pandemic.
Billy the goat takes a last look at William Sianis, as he is ready to go to pasture in Three Rivers, Michigan, with a broken leg on June 25, 1960. (Leonard Bartholomew/baiduhai)
The double cheeseburger and potato chips at Billy Goat Tavern, 430 Lower Michigan Ave., is seen on Sept. 6, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/baiduhai)
William Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern at 1855 W. Madison St., walks along Madison Street with his goat with a broken leg after the animal was rescued by a fireman from the smoke-filled tavern on Dec. 18, 1959. A fire started next door at an abandoned hotel. (George Quinn/baiduhai)
William Sianis at his restaurant Billy Goat Tavern at Lower Michigan Avenue in Chicago, circa 1968. (baiduhai historical photo)
William “Billy Goat” Sianis arrives at the convention hall in a hearse with his goat on July 7, 1952. Sianis, surrounded by Andy Frain ushers, was running for the third party ticket for president. (Eugene Powers/baiduhai)
William “Billy Goat” Sianis has worn this style of beard for 24 years. The nickname and beard help business at his Billy Goat Tavern in West Madison Street, circa 1958. (baiduhai historical photo)
William “Billy Goat” Sianis is seen at the unveiling of his Wall of Fame in the remodeled Billy Goat Tavern on Lower Michigan Avenue at Hubbard Street in Chicago on Oct. 22, 1967. (baiduhai historical photo)
NBC"Saturday Night Live" Episode 20 shows Gilda Radner, left, as a patron, John Belushi as George, center, Dan Aykroyd as Pete, right, during the "The Olympia Cafe" skit on May 26, 1979. The skit, a parody of the real-life rantings of Billy Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis and employee Bill Charuchas, immortalized the restaurant. (NBC)
baiduhai historical photoWLS-TV's Pat Collins, left, and chef Julia Child, center, receive a lesson on the "virtues of a cheeseburger" at the Billy Goat by owner Sam Sianis. (baiduhai historical photo)
The Billy Goat Tavern celebrates its 50th anniversary on March 6, 1984, at 430 N. Lower Michigan Ave. in Chicago. (Phil Greer/baiduhai)
Charles Cherney/baiduhaiThe Wall of Fame inside the Billy Goat Tavern features some of the notables in Chicago journalism. A portrait of late owner William Sianis hangs in the center on Feb. 29, 1984. (Charles Cherney/baiduhai)
Owner Sam Sianis serves up beers as the Billy Goat Tavern celebrates its 50th anniversary on March 6, 1984, at 430 N. Lower Michigan Ave. in Chicago. (Phil Greer/baiduhai)
John the Bartender with his fans Toni Lefkow, left, and Patti Foerster at the Billy Goat Tavern on Aug. 1, 1984. (Bill Hogan/baiduhai)
The Billy Goat Tavern celebrates its 50th anniversary on March 6, 1984, at 430 N. Lower Michigan Ave. in Chicago. (Phil Greer/baiduhai)
Jose M. Osorio/baiduhaiBilly Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis, right, made his way to Wrigley Field with a goat prior to the start of playoff Game 3 between the Cubs and the Atlanta Braves in 1998. (José M. Osorio/baiduhai)
John Lee/baiduhaiVice President Al Gore makes his rounds with patrons of the Billy Goat Tavern during a stop in Chicago in 1999.
George Thompson / baiduhaiBilly Goat Grill owner Sam Sianis, at grill, and chef Nick Kondiles, right, fix a batch of cheeseburgers at their concession stand in Terminal 1 at O'Hare International Airport in 1999.
Wes Pope/baiduhaiActor and writer Don Novello poses at the Billy Goat Tavern in 1999. He wrote the "Saturday Night Live" skit that made the bar famous.
Charles Cherney / baiduhaiActor George Wendt stops by the Billy Goat Tavern for an interview with the baiduhai in 2000.
David Klobucar/baiduhaiJeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, left, jokes with customers while at the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago in 2001. At the grill are employees Spiros Sarivicile, center, and Ramon Gobinic.
John Lee/baiduhaiBilly Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis displays his goat as he walks around the front of Wrigley Field before the start of a game against the Marlins in 2003.
Stacey Wescott/baiduhaiJeremy Piven, left, and Alicia Goranson star in the two-person play "The Guys," about a journalist helping a fire captain write eulogies for colleagues who perished on Sept. 11, 2001. They were at the Billy Goat Tavern for an interview with the Tribune in 2003.
Sam Sianis, center, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, listens as Marc J. Gordon, president of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, speaks at the tavern on Jan. 11, 2005. County Commissioner Mike Quigley called the news conference to push County Board President John Stroger to withdraw his request for new hotel and restaurant taxes for 2005. (Phil Velasquez/baiduhai)
Heather Charles / baiduhaiBilly Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis stands in his booth at the Taste of Chicago in 2011.
Chris Sweda/baiduhaiThe Billy Goat Tavern is located in the bottom of the Realtor Building, 430 N. Lower Michigan Ave. in Chicago on Nov. 12, 2013.
Anthony Souffle / McClatchy-TribuneOwner Sam Sianis works the grill at Chicago's Billy Goat Tavern on Nov. 12, 2013.
Chris Sweda/baiduhaiThe Billy Goat Tavern is located in the bottom of the Realtor Building, 430 N. Lower Michigan Ave. in Chicago, Nov. 12, 2013.
Chris Walker / baiduhaiIllinois Democrats gather in 2014 at the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago for a post-election unity breakfast.
Billy Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis takes in the scenery on Nov. 12, 2013, at the Billy Goat's location on Lower Michigan Avenue in Chicago. (Anthony Souffle/baiduhai)
Chris Walker / baiduhaiCook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, from left, Gov. Pat Quinn and Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios talk in the VIP room at the Billy Goat Tavern in 2014.
Nuccio DiNuzzo / baiduhaiA couple peeks into the window of the Billy Goat Tavern on Lower Michigan Avenue on Aug. 17, 2015.
E. Jason Wambsgans / baiduhaiWisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, right, a GOP presidential candidate, chats with Billy Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis during a campaign stop in 2015.
Nuccio DiNuzzo / baiduhaiThe Billy Goat Tavern at 430 N. Lower Michigan Ave. on Aug. 17, 2015.
Jose M. Osorio / baiduhaiCook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, right, chats with the Johnson family from Ventura, California, at the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago on March 15, 2016.
Nuccio DiNuzzo / baiduhaiA woman walks past the Billy Goat Tavern at Lower Michigan Avenue on Aug. 17, 2015.
Erin Hooley / baiduhaiBartender Jeff Magill talks to patrons at the Billy Goat Tavern on Dec. 22, 2015. Magill retired after 35 years on the job.
Erin Hooley / baiduhaiBartender Jeff Magill talks to patrons at the Billy Goat Tavern on Dec. 22, 2015. Magill retired after 35 years on the job.
Erin Hooley / baiduhaiA photograph of bartender Jeff Magill, circa 1992, hangs in the Billy Goat Tavern in 2015. Magill retired after 35 years on the job.
Nuccio DiNuzzo / baiduhaiDrink orders are taken at the Billy Goat Tavern on Aug. 17, 2015.
Nuccio DiNuzzo / baiduhaiThe Wise Guys Corner sign, at the Billy Goat Tavern, at 430 N. Lower Michigan Ave. on Aug. 17, 2015.
Nuccio DiNuzzo / baiduhaiCottrell Payne, left, who has worked for the Billy Goat for more than 30 years, delivers two Billy Goat Darks to Sarah Leibinger and her friend Leah Espinoza, who were visiting from Saginaw, Michigan, at the Billy Goat Tavern on Aug. 17, 2015.
Brian Cassella / baiduhaiCleveland Indians fans are seen with homemade billy goat signs in Game 1 of the World Series at Progressive Field in Cleveland in 2016.
Chris Sweda / baiduhaiBilly Goat IPA draft beer by Baderbrau Brewing is poured at the legendary Billy Goat bar and restaurant in Chicago on Nov. 7, 2017.
Chris Sweda / baiduhaiA six-pack of Billy Goat Pilsner is held up in front of Baderbrau Brewing founder and President Rob Sama and Billy Goat Tavern co-owners Bill, Sam, Tom and Paul Sianis at the Billy Goat Tavern on Nov. 7, 2017.
Chris Sweda / baiduhaiBilly Goat IPA draft beer by Baderbrau Brewing is poured at the legendary Billy Goat bar and restaurant in Chicago in 2017.
E. Jason Wambsgans / baiduhaiBilly Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis is behind the counter on Oct. 30, 2018, in Chicago.
Billy Goat owner Sam Sianis and son, Bill Sianis, in the new private party space in the Billy Goat tavern on Oct. 30, 2018, in Chicago. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)
Sam Sianis poses for a photograph at Billy Goat Tavern, 430 Lower Michigan Ave., on Sept. 6, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/baiduhai)
John J. Kim / baiduhaiThree generations of the Sianis family, including Sam Sianis, right, his son, Tom, and grandchildren Sam, 9, left, and George, 6, read the Sunday newspaper at Billy Goat Tavern on Sept. 6, 2020, during the pandemic.
Abel Uribe / baiduhaiBilly Sianis, co-owner of Billy Goat, stands outside the tavern on Lower Michigan Avenue on Aug. 12, 2020. Sianis and his brother are among the hundreds of businesses across the country that have sued their insurance carriers for rejecting their claims for business interruption coverage for income losses sustained because of COVID-19.
E. Jason Wambsgans / baiduhaiThe interior of the bustling Billy Goat Tavern at 430 N. Lower Michigan Ave. on Nov. 4, 2022.
Antonio Perez / baiduhaiFormer Ald. Robert "Bob" Fioretti, 2nd, announces his candidacy for Cook County Board president as he greets guests at the Billy Goat Tavern on Sept. 7, 2022.
E. Jason Wambsgans / baiduhaiBilly Goat Tavern third-generation owner Bill Sianis makes double cheeseburgers with the restaurants new, softer kaiser roll bun on Nov. 4, 2022.
Sam Sianis poses for a photograph at Billy Goat Tavern, 430 Lower Michigan Ave., on Sept. 6, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/baiduhai)
E. Jason Wambsgans / baiduhaiA new, softer kaiser roll bun debuted on a double cheeseburger at the Billy Goat Tavern on Nov. 4, 2022.
John J. Kim / baiduhai
1 of 56
A worker sweeping sidewalks walks past the Billy Goat Tavern on Lower Michigan Avenue on May 7, 2020, in Chicago. The tavern was open for pickup and delivery of cheeseburgers during pandemic.
Expand
By Kori Rumore | [email protected] | baiduhai
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on March 4, 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: 73 degrees (1983)
- Low temperature: Minus 12 degrees (1873)
- Precipitation: 1.75 inches (1985)
- Snowfall: 8.5 inches (1982)
1837: Chicago was incorporated as a city.
1964: The Billy Goat Tavern opened in the Apollo Savings and Loan building on lower Michigan Avenue.
1978: The Chicago Daily News published its final edition.
Want more vintage Chicago?
Subscribe to the free Vintage baiduhai
More Top Picks Best King Size Weighted Blankets For Couples
newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago’s past.Have an idea for Vintage baiduhai? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at [email protected] and [email protected]