Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on March 21, 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: 87 degrees (2012)
Low temperature: 9 degrees (1888)
Precipitation: 1.07 inches (2007)
Snowfall: 8.5 inches (1992)
People line up for the funeral for Joseph “Diamond Joe” Esposito outside his home on March 26, 1928. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)
1928: “Diamond Joe” Esposito, 19th Ward boss, was slain near his home on South Oakley Boulevard in Chicago. His death reportedly was the result of a dispute with a bootlegger.
The Tribune reported Esposito had been warned earlier in the day by a telephone call to leave town, but said he couldn’t go — his son Joseph had scarlet fever.
A crowd gathered outside the home of Joseph “Diamond Joe” Esposito during his funeral on March 26, 1928. Esposito was walking home between his bodyguards on March 21, 1928, when he was shot with 58 bullets from two double-barreled shotguns and one revolver. Esposito had been warned to get out of town. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)
The day he died, U.S. Sen. Charles Deneen publicly praised Esposito as a loyal and generous friend. The snowy day of the funeral — which an estimated 8,000 people attended or followed in a procession to Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery in Hillside — the senator’s house was bombed. It was the most high-profile event from the infamous Pineapple Primary — named for the grenade-like devices thrown around — that pitted Deneen’s camp against corrupt Mayor William “Big Bill” Hale Thompson.
Agents carry evidence from Yesterdays restaurant and lounge in Palatine on March 20, 1982, following a raid aimed at stopping sports betting operations. Seized during a series of raids at several locations were records reportedly detailing wagers, ledgers and diaries with betting information. (Ovie Carter/Chicago Tribune)
1982: The Tribune reported nearly 80 federal, state, county and local agents staged simultaneous raids in Palatine, Schaumburg, Buffalo Grove and Arlington Heights to crack down on an estimated $1.5 million-a-month sports betting operation in the northwest suburbs that was believed to be controlled by the Chicago crime syndicate.
The raids were timed to coincide with one of the heaviest sports-betting periods of the year — the NCAA basketball tournament. No arrests were made, but the agents seized cash, records detailing wagers, and ledgers and diaries with betting information. The bets supposedly involved basketball games and horse races.
Patrick Ewing of Georgetown gets his head into the net as he defends against a shot by Greg Williams of Loyola, left, in first period action in NCAA East Regional semi-final competition in Providence, R.I., March 21, 1985. (Dave Tenenbaum/AP)
1985: The Loyola Ramblers fashioned a 27-6 record, won the Midwestern Collegiate Conference regular-season title and tournament, and then knocked off Iona and Southern Methodist to reach the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament.
Loyola led defending NCAA champ Georgetown and Patrick Ewing at halftime before losing 65-53 to finish the school’s most successful season since the 1963 NCAA title.
Martinez Sutton, right, holds up his fist during a vigil for his sister, Rekia Boyd, on the campus of DePaul University in Chicago on May 12, 2015. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
2012: Off-duty Chicago police Officer Dante Servin got into an argument over noise with a group of young people near his West Side home and fired his unregistered Glock at them. Rekia Boyd, 22, was struck in the head and died. Servin wasn’t charged until Nov. 25, 2013, with involuntary manslaughter, reckless discharge of a firearm and reckless conduct.
A judge acquitted Servin on the grounds that his conduct was voluntary and purposeful, therefore only a murder charge was appropriate.
Days before he faced a hearing to determine if he should be fired from the department, Servin abruptly resigned — ensuring his pension wouldn’t be threatened. In 2016, Servin sought to collect disability pay from the city, arguing he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Three years later, he sought to eliminate any public record of the criminal charges he once faced. A judge declined his request.
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