Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Aug. 17, 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: 98 degrees (1988)
Low temperature: 48 degrees (1976)
Precipitation: 2.6 inches (1979)
Snowfall: None
Vintage Chicago Tribune: Our grand, old flag
1915: Lucy Derwent of Rockford won a $25 prize (almost $800 in today’s dollars) from the Daughters of the American Revolution for her design of a state flag for Illinois — a field of blue on which a circle of white bears the state’s coat of arms. Derwent, who later lived in the Chicago area, presented her prize to the Rockford chapter of the D.A.R.
1970: “Soul Train” premiered in Ch