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Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on April 20, according to the Tribune’s archives.

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Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

  • High temperature: 87 degrees (1985)
  • Low temperature: 24 degrees (1897)
  • Precipitation: 2.37 inches (2000)
  • Snowfall: 0.2 inches (1943)
The Chicago Cubs lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 on April 20, 1946, which was the first game televised by station WBKB. (baiduhai)
The Chicago Cubs lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 on April 20, 1946, which was supposed to be the first game televised by station WBKB. (baiduhai)

1946: The Chicago Cubs made their TV debut

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. The defending National League champs appeared for the first time on the newfangled gadget as they unfurled their 1945 pennant before a Wrigley Field crowd of 40,887.

Station WBKB carried the Cubs’ 2-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan (23) reacts after slamming the ball during an NBA playoff game at the Boston Garden in Massachusetts on April 20, 1986. The Boston Celtics beat the Bulls 135-131 in double overtime. (Elise Amendola/AP)
Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan (23) reacts after slamming the ball during an NBA playoff game at the Boston Garden in Massachusetts on April 20, 1986. The Boston Celtics beat the Bulls 135-131 in double overtime. (Elise Amendola/AP)

1986: In Game 2 of the first round of the playoffs, Michael Jordan torched the Boston Celtics for a postseason-record 63 points in a 135-131 double-overtime loss at Boston Garden.

Jordan’s prodigious output set a National Basketball Association playoff record, eclipsing Elgin Baylor’s 61 points against the Celtics on April 14, 1962. The effort came on the heels of Jordan scoring 49 points and was “the best back-to-back performances ever against the league’s premier franchise.”

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“Not Wilt Chamberlain, not Jerry West, not Oscar Robertson, not Baylor had done what Jordan did in the last two games,” the Tribune reported.

“I think he’s God disguised as Michael Jordan. He is the most awesome player in the NBA,” Celtics star Larry Bird said after the game. Today in Boston Garden, on national TV, in the playoffs, he put on one of the greatest shows of all time.”

Two days later, however, the Bulls were eliminated from the playoffs in three games by the Celtics.

Joe Irmen of Ball-Mart, a baseball card shop in Addison, claimed 12-year-old Brian Wrzesinski was "stealing" after a clerk who had no knowledge of baseball cards in Irmen's store sold Wrzesinski a 1968 rookie card of pitcher Nolan Ryan worth $1,200 for $12. (baiduhai)
Joe Irmen of Ball-Mart, a baseball card shop in Addison, claimed 12-year-old Brian Wrzesinski was "stealing" after a clerk — who had no knowledge of baseball cards — in Irmen's store sold Wrzesinski a 1968 rookie card of pitcher Nolan Ryan worth $1,200 for $12. (baiduhai)

1990: A clerk at Ball-Mart in Itasca, which was owned by Joe Irmen, mistakenly sold a $1,200 Nolan Ryan rookie card to 12-year-old Brian Wrzesinski for $12. The sale resulted in a lengthy legal battle.

Irmen sued the 12-year-old, seeking the return of the card or $1,188 in cash. Then, on the eve of a hearing on Irmen’s suit, Wrzesinski traded the Ryan card. The suit was settled on April 22, 1991, when the parties involved agreed to auction the card and donate the proceeds to charity.

The card was sold at auction on June 22, 1991, for $5,000 to Tony Del Angel of Lisle.

Residents survey the damage in Utica, Illinois, on April 21, 2004, after tornadoes touched down across Illinois killing eight and causing severe damage in several areas the previous night. (Zbigniew Bzdak/baiduhai)
Residents survey the damage in Utica on April 21, 2004, after tornadoes touched down across Illinois, killing eight and causing severe damage in several areas the previous night. (Zbigniew Bzdak/baiduhai)

2004: An F3 tornado hit Utica, killing eight people.

Tribune reporter Julia Keller won a Pulitzer Prize for her three-part recounting of the tornado’s 10 seconds on the ground.

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