Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Jan. 25, according to the Tribune’s archives.
Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.
Front page flashback: Jan. 25, 1947
1947: Former Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone died in Florida.
Syphilis-related complications earned Capone an early release from prison in 1939, after he served seven years for tax evasion. Almost eight years later and some 1,400 miles away from Chicago, Capone’s final months were spent with family at his Palm Island estate near Miami.
Al Capone’s final days, death in Florida and burial in Chicago — why we remember it 75 years later
Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
- High temperature: 67 degrees (1950)
- Low temperature: Minus 20 degrees (1897)
- Precipitation: 1.12 inches (1990)
- Snowfall: 4.6 inches (1895)
1984: Chicago police Officer Dorelle C. Brandon — a six-year veteran of the department — became the first patrolwoman killed in the line of duty in the city. She was accidentally shot in the head by a partner who meant to save her as she tried to wrestle her gun away from a narcotics suspect on the Far South Side.
A community room at the 3rd District was rededicated in her honor in 2025.
1993: Sears closed its money-losing catalog division, which meant the demise of its storied Big Book. Wish Book — the department store’s Christmas catalog — was produced sporadically into the 2010s.
Sears closed its last store in Illinois in 2021.
1994: The Chicago Wolves formed as part of the International Hockey League and would play at the Rosemont Horizon (now Allstate Arena).
2022: The Chicago Bears hired Ryan Poles as the team’s new general manager.
After taking over as GM, Poles spent the first year trading veteran players and shedding expensive contracts while amassing young talent. He executed a blockbuster trade for the No. 1 draft pick in 2023, a deal that — with some help from a woeful 2023 Carolina Panthers team — eventually landed the Bears quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick a year later. They also added receiver DJ Moore and a handful of additional draft picks, which later netted tackle Darnell Wright, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, punter Tory Taylor and receiver Luther Burden III.
Poles signed a contract extension in July 2025 that keeps him and head coach Ben Johnson with the Bears through the 2029 season.
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