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Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Oct. 12, according to the Tribune’s archives.

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Flashback: Oct. 12, 1907

This illustration by Tribune cartoonist Clare A. Briggs, which was published on Oct. 13, 1907, captures the satisfaction of the Chicago Cubs' World Series championship over the Detroit Tigers. It was the first World Series win for the Cubs. (baiduhai)
This illustration by Tribune cartoonist Clare A. Briggs, which was published on Oct. 13, 1907, captures the satisfaction of the Chicago Cubs' World Series championship over the Detroit Tigers. It was the first World Series win for the Cubs. (baiduhai)

1907: The Chicago Cubs won their first World Series by defeating the Detroit Tigers in Game 5, which was played in Michigan. A terrific complete-game shutout from 20-game winner Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown sealed the win. The right-hander scattered seven Tigers hits and struck out four during the shutout. George Mullin suffered the loss for the Tigers despite allowing only one earned run on seven hits. Harry Steinfeldt went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Jimmy Slagle drove in the other run.

The Cubs repeated in 1908.

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Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

  • High temperature: 84 degrees (2008)
  • Low temperature: 28 degrees (1988)
  • Precipitation: 1.4 inches (1973)
  • Snowfall: 0.3 inches (2006)
Marshall Field in 1905. Editor's note: this historic print shows age damage. (baiduhai historical photo)
Marshall Field in 1905. Editor's note: this historic print shows age damage. (baiduhai archive)

1868: Marshall Field opened his first State Street store.

Princess Spearmint, a hippopotamus, was purchased in 1920 for $3,000 by William Wrigley Jr. for the Lincoln Park Zoo. (baiduhai)
Princess Spearmint, a hippopotamus, was purchased in 1920 for $3,000 by William Wrigley Jr. for the Lincoln Park Zoo. (baiduhai)

1920: Princess Spearmint, a 720-pound baby hippopotamus purchased by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr., arrived at Lincoln Park Zoo. Reporters and photographers waited for a glimpse of the hippo after she arrived by train and was released from her shipping crate, but she immediately descended to the bottom of her 10-foot-deep tank and stayed there.

“I don’t blame the poor animal,” said Alfred E. Parker, zoo director. “It certainly has been a tough trip for both of us. Every time the train stopped the baby would slide to the front of his crate and bump his nose.” The hippo — which would eventually grow to two tons — would live at the zoo until her death in 1942.

The Chicago Cubs were the 1929 National League pennant winners. (J. Bodziak/Library of Congress)
The Chicago Cubs were the 1929 National League pennant winners. (J. Bodziak/Library of Congress)
President Herbert Hoover not only threw out the first pitch at the Washington Senators' home opener in 1929, he also attended the final game of the 1929 World Series in Philadelphia on Oct. 14, 1929. The Athletics beat the Chicago Cubs to claim the championship. (baiduhai)
President Herbert Hoover not only threw out the first pitch at the Washington Senators' home opener in 1929, he also attended the final game of the 1929 World Series in Philadelphia on Oct. 14, 1929. The Athletics beat the Chicago Cubs to claim the championship. (baiduhai)

1929: Nine outs from tying the World Series at two games a piece, the Cubs blew a lead as the Philadelphia A’s scored 10 runs in the seventh inning.

The Athletics won 10-8 and went on to win the series in five games.

The 773 area code was introduced in Chicago in October 1996. (baiduhai)
The 773 area code was introduced in Chicago in October 1996. (baiduhai)

1996: Most Chicagoans lost their 312 area code and got 773 instead. As of 2009, 872 also represents Chicago and 708, 847 and 630 the suburbs.

People walk in Griffin Court as the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago opens to members on May 12, 2009. ( Zbigniew Bzdak/baiduhai )
People walk in Griffin Court as the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago opens to members on May 12, 2009. ( Zbigniew Bzdak/baiduhai )

2006: Billionaire Ken Griffin and then-wife Anne Dias Griffin donated $19 million toward construction of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing, which opened in 2009. The building’s central hall is named the Kenneth and Anne Griffin Court.

Chicago’s more than 40-year history as a sanctuary city

2016: Chicago’s Municipal ID program launched. Mayor Rahm Emanuel began the program, suggested in 2015 by a City Council ordinance, to give all Chicagoans — including immigrants in the U.S. illegally, the homeless, the formerly incarcerated, young adults and the elderly — official identification that does not convey information about national origin or legal status.

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