Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on March 27, 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: 82 degrees (1945)
- Low temperature: 12 degrees (1996)
- Precipitation: 1.28 inches (1908)
- Snowfall: 2.9 inches (1942)
1902: Though commonly referred to as the “Colts” by the Tribune, the Chicago Daily News was credited with giving the North Side baseball team its nickname — Chicago Cubs. The article reported that the team’s manager Frank Selee would “devote his strongest efforts on the team work of the new Cubs this year.” The word “cub” was slang for a young player, and some history writers have speculated that a typesetter mistakenly used a capital C, creating a team name that stuck.
The team was once called the White Stockings and also had unofficial nicknames such as the Remnants, Orphans, Zephyrs, Microbes and Spuds.
1939: The first NCAA men’s basketball championship was played at Northwestern University.
After the National Invitational Tournament had its first postseason affair in 1938, Ohio State coach Harold Olsen suggested the National Association of Basketball Coaches (the NCAA took over the next year) get in on the action and have its own tournament.
NABC members agreed and, with travel a primary consideration, chose a central location for the championship game — Northwestern’s old Patten Gymnasium on Sheridan Road in Evanston.
The Oregon Ducks — or the “Webfeet,” as the Tribune often identified the team — prevailed over Ohio State 46-33.
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 [email protected] and [email protected]
