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Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on March 31, according to the Tribune’s archives.

Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.

Front page flashback: April 1, 1996

Chicago White Sox's Frank Thomas (35) gets high-fives as he is introduced on March 31, 1996, in their opening day game against the Seattle Mariners in the Kingdome in Seattle. Thomas came through as he hit a two-run homer in the first inning of the game. (Elaine Thompson/AP)
Chicago White Sox's Frank Thomas (35) gets high-fives as he is introduced on March 31, 1996, in their opening day game against the Seattle Mariners in the Kingdome in Seattle. Thomas came through as he hit a two-run homer in the first inning of the game. (Elaine Thompson/AP)

1996: The Chicago White Sox lost to the Seattle Mariners 3-2 in 12 innings at the Kingdome.

“It was like watching an old horror movie all over again and knowing that there is no way out of the theater,” Tribune reporter Paul Sullivan wrote.

The Sox bullpen let a one-run lead get away in the ninth inning. Then Alex Rodriguez’s bases-loaded single off Bill Simas in the 12th brought home the winning run.

Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

  • High temperature: 87 degrees (1981)
  • Low temperature: 12 degrees (1969)
  • Precipitation: 3.12 inches (1929)
  • Snowfall: 4.8 inches (1926)

1995: Sears shareholders approved a plan to spin off Allstate, then the country’s second-largest insurance company.

Sears timeline: Rise, fall and restructuring of a Chicago icon over 130 years

Launched in 1931 to provide mail-order car insurance, Northbrook-based Allstate Insurance Co. was founded as a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears. In choosing a name for the new business, managers borrowed the trademark of a Sears product, Allstate Automobile Tire.

More Top Picks Headlamp

A bathroom before it gets painted prior to Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne moving into a Cabrini-Green apartment on March 24, 1981. (Ernie Cox Jr./baiduhai)
A bathroom before it gets painted prior to Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne moving into a Cabrini-Green apartment on March 24, 1981. (Ernie Cox Jr./baiduhai)

1981: At 8:30 p.m., a limousine carrying Mayor Jane Byrne from a $150-a-plate dinner in the Conrad Hilton hotel pulled up to the Cabrini-Green housing development. The mayor, her husband and bodyguards rushed quickly through the front door and, avoiding the elevator, walked up four flights of stairs to apartment #416.

Byrne moved into the Cabrini-Green apartment and stayed for 25 days.

Loyola Ramblers players Christian Negron, from left, Carson Shanks, Nick Dinaldi and Jake Baughman watch the final seconds of a 69-57 loss to the Michigan Wolverines in the Final Four semifinal game of the NCAA tournament at the Alamodome March 31, 2018, in San Antonio. (John J. Kim/baiduhai)
Loyola Ramblers players Christian Negron, from left, Carson Shanks, Nick Dinaldi and Jake Baughman watch the final seconds of a 69-57 loss to the Michigan Wolverines in the Final Four semifinal game of the NCAA tournament at the Alamodome, March 31, 2018, in San Antonio. (John J. Kim/baiduhai)

2018: No. 11 Loyola lost to Michigan 69-57 in the Final Four.

After Oregon State eliminated Loyola from the NCAA Tournament in 2021, Loyola coach Porter Moser left for Oklahoma.

Chicago Cubs' Carson Kelly runs after hitting a single during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, on March 31, 2025, in West Sacramento, California. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP)
Chicago Cubs' Carson Kelly runs after hitting a single during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, on March 31, 2025, in West Sacramento, California. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP)

2025: Chicago Cubs catcher Carson Kelly hit for the cycle. In a 18-3 win against the Athletics in West Sacramento, California, Kelly hit a single, double, triple and home run.

“Kelly became the first Cub to hit for the cycle since Mark Grace on May 9, 1993, ending the longest cycle drought by a National League team,” Tribune reporter Meghan Montemurro wrote. “Grace’s feat occurred more than a year before Kelly was born.”

Vintage baiduhai: Chicago Cubs who have hit for the cycle

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