Today in Chicago History: St. Valentine’s Day Massacre on Clark Street

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Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Feb. 14, 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: 62 degrees (1954)
  • Low temperature: Minus 11 degrees (1905)
  • Precipitation: 0.94 inches (1950)
  • Snowfall: 8.3 inches (1990)

Women get the vote

1920: The League of Women Voters was founded in Chicago; its first president was Maud Wood Park.

Seven men were gunned down in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago in 1929, a hit believed ordered by Al Capone in an attempt to wipe out rival George “Bugs” Moran. (Chicago Tribune archive)

1929: Seven men, suspected to be members of George “Bugs” Moran’s gang, were lined up against the wall of a garage on Clark Street, the gang’s headquarters, and killed by rivals’ machine guns in what became known as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

It became the most infamous of all gangland slayings in America, and it savagely achieved its purpose — the elimination of the last challenge to Al Capone for the mantle of crime boss in Chicago.

It took Sugar Ray Robinson 13 rounds to beat Jake LaMotta to claim the world middle weight title in front of more than 14,000 fans at Chicago Stadium on Feb. 14, 1951. (Chicago Tribune archive)
It took Sugar Ray Robinson 13 rounds to beat Jake LaMotta to claim the world middle weight title in front of more than 14,000 fans at Chicago Stadium on Feb. 14, 1951. (Chicago Tribune archive)

1951: “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre II.” Sugar Ray Robinson won the middleweight championship from “Raging Bull” Jake LaMotta on a 13th-round TKO at Chicago Stadium. LaMotta, who had never been knocked down, preserved that record.

LaMotta won only one of his six fights with Robinson and once observed, “I fought Sugar Ray so many times it’s a wonder I didn’t get diabetes.”

Striking firefighters keep to their picket lines around the city's 120 firehouses on Feb. 14, 1980. (Armando Villa/Chicago Tribune)
Striking firefighters keep to their picket lines around the city’s 120 firehouses on Feb. 14, 1980. (Armando Villa/Chicago Tribune)

1980: City firefighters went on strike for the first and only time as the department’s first female recruit — Lauren Howard — began her career.

Chicago Streets and Sanitation trucks were hampered by heavily congested traffic during a snowstorm on Feb. 14, 1990, that had snowfall of up to 1 inch per hour in some places. (Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Streets and Sanitation trucks were hampered by heavily congested traffic during a snowstorm on Feb. 14, 1990, that had snowfall of up to 1 inch per hour in some places. (Chicago Tribune)

1990: Snow began falling in the early afternoon and quickly increased in intensity, with visibility dropping to near zero. It peaked during the evening commute as northeast winds reached more than 20 mph.

Normal one-hour commutes turned into ordeals lasting hours longer. O’Hare airport closed at 7:30 p.m. after a jet slid off a runway while attempting departure.

Mayor Richard M. Daley received criticism after the 10-inch snowfall was met with a slow response by the city’s snow removal crews.

“I don’t think this is going to cost me my job,” Daley said, adding, “I’m not going to run and hide. I’m the mayor of Chicago, and I accept responsibility.”

Vintage Chicago Tribune: Michael Jordan — 23 stories about No. 23

Also in 1990: Michael Jordan wore No. 12 after his No. 23 jersey was believed to be stolen. He scored 49 points in an overtime loss to the Orlando Magic.

Five people died after a shooter dressed in black stormed the auditorium stage of an oceanography class inside Cole Hall on the campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb on Feb. 14, 2008. The gunman, later identified as a former graduate student, then killed himself. (Chicago Tribune)
Five people died after a shooter dressed in black stormed the auditorium stage of an oceanography class inside Cole Hall on the campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb on Feb. 14, 2008. The gunman, later identified as a former graduate student, then killed himself. (Chicago Tribune)

2008: A former student dressed in black walked onto the stage of a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University and opened fire on a packed class; Steven Kazmierczak killed five students before committing suicide.

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