Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Feb. 22, 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: 68 degrees (2017)
- Low temperature: Minus 14 degrees (1873)
- Precipitation: 1.2 inches (2023)
- Snowfall: 4.6 inches (1950)
1965: A ribbon-cutting was held to open a new college campus for 10,000 students in the city.
It was called the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle because it was at the circular junction of what became the Kennedy, Eisenhower and Dan Ryan expressways.
The college merged in 1982 with the university’s Medical Center campus to become the University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC.
1989: Oprah Winfrey’s restaurant in River North, The Eccentric, opened at 159 W. Erie St., Chicago.
A year earlier the cavernous space was the concrete garage of an automobile dealership. Winfrey and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises chief Rich Melman converted it into a multi-roomed, 500-seat brasserie with English, French, Italian and American themes.
Vintage Chicago Tribune: Oprah Winfrey — 10 moments from her Chicago years
Menu highlights included “Oprah’s potatoes,” which were mashed potatoes with horseradish, for $2.25.
Winfrey made it clear that she would not be just another celebrity with a passing fancy in the establishment.
“I have to check the bathrooms every half hour; they’re very strict about that,” she told the Tribune. “Besides peeling the potatoes, I do get to make the Perrier sodas — my favorite. But I won’t be answering phones because I can’t tell you how to get here.”
The Tribune gave The Eccentric 2 out of 4 stars for chef Michael Kornick’s cuisine.
The restaurant closed in September 1995. Wildfire opened in its place.
2011: Rahm Emanuel was elected Chicago’s 55th mayor.
2019: R & B superstar R. Kelly was indicted on charges he sexually abused four victims, three of them underage, over a span of a dozen years. He surrendered to authorities at the Central District police station at 18th and State streets and spent the night in lockup. He was released the next day on $1 million bail.
Kelly was convicted in 2021 in Brooklyn federal court of multiple charges, including racketeering and sex trafficking. These convictions along with a 30-year prison sentenced were upheld in February 2025 by a federal appeals court. He was also convicted in 2022 of child sex charges including charges of producing images of child sexual abuse in Chicago.
2023: Patrick Kane played his final game with the Chicago Blackhawks. He scored two goals and added an assist in a win against the Dallas Stars.
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