Today in Chicago History: Locals drink up as Prohibition ends

News Room

Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on April 6, according to the Tribune’s archives.

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

Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

  • High temperature: 84 degrees (1929)
  • Low temperature: 15 degrees (1982)
  • Precipitation: 1.13 inches (1938)
  • Snowfall: 9 inches (1938)
U.S. Rep. Oscar Stanton De Priest of Illinois gives out pamphlets to supporters in 1930. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

1915: Oscar Stanton De Priest was elected Chicago’s first Black alderman.

Vintage Chicago Tribune: 24 incredible Black Chicagoans

Born in Alabama to former slaves, De Priest then became the first Black person from a Northern state to sit in Congress — as its sole Black member for three terms.

At hastily erected recruiting stations, raw civilians began the transformation to fighting men during World War I. These 1917 rookies march in Grant Park with the Art Institute in the background. (Chicago Tribune historical photo) WORLD WAR I, WWI, no attribution on the back of the print. Published on April 3, 1967.
At hastily erected recruiting stations, civilians began the transformation to fighting men during World War I. These 1917 rookies march in Grant Park with the Art Institute in the background. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

1917: The United States entered World War I.

Vintage: ‘The Great War’ through the lens of the Chicago Tribune

A full-page appeal in the Tribune asked volunteers to apply for the Illinois cavalry and artillery.

1933: Chicagoans drank up as 3.2% beer became legal after 13 years of Prohibition.

Seventeen people were taken to Mercy Hospital on April 6, 1972, after half of a CTA train plummeted from tracks at 40th Street and Wabash Avenue. (Chicago Tribune)
Seventeen people were taken to Mercy Hospital on April 6, 1972, after half of a CTA train plummeted from tracks at 40th Street and Wabash Avenue. (Chicago Tribune)

1972: Two cars of a four-car CTA “L” train plunged from the elevated structure at 40th Street and Wabash Avenue on the South Side, injuring 46 people.

A mangled section of track rose perpendicularly into the air after the track and parts of the train’s undercarriage were strewn along 40th Street.

People are making last minute shopping as the Sears store on North State Street in Chicago is closing on Monday, March 31, 2014. Sears is closing its struggling store at 2 N. State Street in early April, ending a 13-year run for the once-storied retailer downtown. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune) B583634670Z.1 ....OUTSIDE TRIBUNE CO.- NO MAGS, NO SALES, NO INTERNET, NO TV, CHICAGO OUT, NO DIGITAL MANIPULATION...
People walk by the Sears store on North State Street in Chicago on March 31, 2014. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)

2014: Sears closed its State Street store.

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

Want more vintage Chicago?

Subscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago’s past.

Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@chicagotribune.com and mmather@chicagotribune.com

Related posts