Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Dec. 29, according to the Tribune’s archives.
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Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
- High temperature: 63 degrees (1984)
- Low temperature: Minus 15 degrees (1880)
- Precipitation: 0.93 inches (2019)
- Snowfall: 5.8 inches (2000)
1913: Like a good cliffhanger? The first episode of “The Adventures of Kathlyn” — which was produced by the Chicago-based Selig Polyscope Co. — debuted in local theaters.
Kathlyn Williams starred as Kathlyn, the daughter of a California man who collects wild animals. After receiving a letter that he was captured in India, she travels there to fight for his release. Charles Clary was the villainous Prince Umbullah, whose mission through 27 reels was to capture Kathlyn — or put an end to her.
The release of the episodes was spaced about two weeks apart. In a clever marketing tactic, a book was released at the same time as the serial and adventure lovers could follow along with the story, which was also printed in the Tribune.
1963: The Chicago Bears beat the New York Giants 14-10 to win the NFL championship.
1971: A 1-13 season in 1969 combined with bad luck and worse quarterbacks doomed Bears coach Jim Dooley. He became the first Bears coach to be fired after going 6-8 in 1971.
“Halas never forgave me for the 1-13,” Dooley said in a 2001 interview.
He later returned as an assistant under Mike Ditka.
A crowd of 45,801 endured 9-degree temperatures and an 11-mph wind at Wrigley Field to watch a dominant Bears defense intercept five passes by Giants quarterback Y.A. Tittle — who was hobbled from a hit by Larry Morris, the game’s MVP. Quarterback Bill Wade sneaked for both touchdowns after interceptions of Tittle passes by Morris and Ed O’Bradovich.
It was the final championship for George Halas as coach.
1992: David and Sharon Schoo, of St. Charles, were arrested upon their return to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport from Acapulco, Mexico. David, an engineer at a smoke alarm company, and Sharon, a homemaker, left their 9-year-old and 4-year-old daughters at home. Later in the day, they were charged with felony child abandonment, cruelty to children and misdemeanor child endangerment. Since their maternal grandmother could not care for them, the girls were moved to a foster home.
The Schoos left their children home with “TV dinners and cereal, but no instructions on how to reach their mother and father,” the Tribune reported.
The plight of the Schoo daughters came to light one day after the couple left on the vacation. On Dec. 21, 1992, the two girls filled a bath tub to overflowing, which caused an electrical short circuit in the home that triggered a smoke alarm. They called 911 and then went to a neighbor’s house to wait for police. After the children were discovered alone, they told police their parents had left them home by themselves previously for extended periods.
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The Schoos were held on $50,000 bonds each at Kane County Jail and were bailed out by Sharon Schoo’s estranged father. Two weeks later they pleaded not guilty. In February 1993, a grand jury returned a 64-count indictment of the parents for charges that included aggravated battery, misdemeanor battery and felony possession of marijuana.
In a plea-bargain agreement designed to spare their daughters more trauma, the Schoos each pleaded guilty in April 1993 to a misdemeanor count of child neglect. The parents received custody of their girls but also were sentenced to two years of probation each and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.
In an update from 1997, the Tribune reported the Schoos terminated their parental rights to the girls, who were then living with adoptive parents in another locale. Sharon Schoo died in 2003. The attorneys who represented the Schoos were suspended from practicing law for a year for trying to sell the couple’s story to television.
Illinois became one of the first states with specific rules for when a child can be left alone, as a result of the Schoos’ case.
2014: Bears coach Marc Trestman was fired — along with Bears general manager Phil Emery — for missing the playoffs in both of his seasons.
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