On April 2, 2005, John Paul II, the Polish pope born Karol Józef Wojtyła, died in his Vatican apartment at age 84. The first non-Italian pope in over 450 years, John Paul II became one of the most influential leaders of the late 20th and early 21st centuries while playing a crucial role in the fall of communism in Europe.
Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on April 1, according to the Tribune’s archives.
On April 1, 2001, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.
The tiny central Illinois village of New Salem, where Lincoln accidentally spent half-a-dozen years in the 1830s, perhaps did as much to prepare him to be the Union-saving 16th president as any other aspect of his humble yet remarkable life.
On March 31, 1995, Tejano music star Selena, 23, died after being shot by Yolanda Saldívar, the president of Selena’s fan club, who was found to have been embezzling money from the singer.
Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on March 30, according to the Tribune’s archives.
On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously wounded by John Hinckley Jr. outside a Washington, D.C., hotel. Also wounded were White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and a District of Columbia police officer, Thomas Delahanty.
On March 29, 1943, World War II rationing of meat, fats and cheese began, limiting American consumers to store purchases of an average of about two pounds a week for beef, pork, lamb and mutton using a coupon system.
On March 28, 1979, America’s worst commercial nuclear accident occurred with a partial meltdown inside the Unit 2 reactor at the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania.
Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on March 27, according to the Tribune’s archives.