Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on April 11, according to the Tribune’s archives.
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Front page flashback: April 12, 1979
1979: The U.S. Office for Civil Rights charged in a 102-page document that the Chicago Board of Education had systematically contained Black students in overcrowded, segregated schools, primarily through the use of mobile classrooms.
“This is what we’ve been telling the government for years,” said Robert C. Lucas, head of the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization.
After the federal agency’s findings, the Chicago schools moved to create magnet schools and other programs that attracted students from across the city.
Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
- High temperature: 90 degrees (1930)
- Low temperature: 25 degrees (1989)
- Precipitation: 2.41 inches (1871)
- Snowfall: 3 inches (2007)
1936: The Bears took “Jumbo” Joe Stydahar — the first linesman ever drafted — with the No. 6 pick in the first NFL draft. Stydahar signed with the team two months later.
It was a surprising choice since the tackle from West Virginia (by way of Pittsburgh) had earned third-team All-America honors. (There was speculation Stydahar’s name was shared with Bears owner George Halas by Bill Karr, who also attended West Virginia.) Despite his team’s 3-4-2 record, Stydahar played in the East-West Shrine Bowl and the College All-Star Charity Football Game (for which equipment personnel had to search for a pair of size 12½ cleats).
Stydahar — the son of a coal miner who had himself also shoveled coal as a child — earned the nickname “Jumbo” for his intimidating 6-foot-4, 233-pound frame. He reportedly weighed 22 pounds at birth in Pennsylvania, and played center on his high school’s basketball team.
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Stydahar was named second-team All-Pro as a rookie in 1936, then first-team after the next four seasons. He helped the Bears win NFL championships in 1940 and ’41, served in the Navy, then returned for the final three games of the 1945 season and in his final year helped the Bears win another title in 1946.
The team won three NFL championships and five Western Division titles during that time frame. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967.
In 1999, the Tribune’s Bernie Lincicome picked his all-time Bears team with Stydahar and Jim Covert as tackles: “A Jimbo and a Jumbo.”
2023: Chicago was selected to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Chicago, which last hosted the convention in 1996, was selected over Atlanta and New York to host the anticipated renomination of President Joe Biden. Though the choice was announced by the Democratic National Committee, the selection rested with Biden.
DNC in Chicago: What happened as Democrats wrapped up final day of convention
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