Top 10 Surprising Facts about Chicago

Top 10 Surprising Facts about Chicago

The City of Chicago is located on the shores of freshwater Lake Michigan. The official origin is that “Chicago” is the French version of the Miami-Illinois word shikaakwa (“Stinky Onion”), named for the garlic plant (not onion) Allium tricoccum common along the Chicago River. It was incorporated on Saturday, March 4, 1837.

The “Windy City” is known for its vibrant arts scene, numerous cultural attractions, excellent shopping, and interesting architecture with a reputation as a focal point of 20th-century architecture and art. Below are the top 10 surprising facts about Chicago;

1. Chicago was founded by a man of African descent

Statue of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable – Flickr

Jean Baptiste Point du Sable is recognized as the first permanent non-Indigenous settler of what would later become Chicago. He is regarded as the “Founder of Chicago”. Point du Sable was of African descent and a trader by profession. He was described as being handsome and well-educated.

Point du Sable established the settlement in the 1780s, and it grew to be an extensive and prosperous trading settlement. In 1800, he sold his Chicago River property and moved to the port of St. Charles, where he was licensed to run a ferry across the Missouri River.

The site where Jean Baptiste Point du Sable settled near the mouth of the Chicago River around the 1780s is identified as a National Historic Landmark, now located in Pioneer Court.

2. Chicago’s Home Insurance building was the world’s first skyscraper

Home Insurance Building – Wikipedia

Home Insurance Building was a skyscraper that stood from 1885 to 1931. It was originally ten stories and 138 ft (42.1 m) tall. Two floors were added in 1891, bringing its now finished height to 180 feet (54.9 metres). The building was designed by William Le Baron Jenney.

The building was opened in 1885 and is the first tall building to be supported both inside and outside by a fireproof structural steel frame, though it also included reinforced concrete. It is considered the world’s first skyscraper. The Home Insurance Building designs and groundbreaking engineering feats have influenced architecture worldwide.

To make way for the Field Building, the Home Insurance Building with six other buildings were demolished in 1931.

3. Chicago is known as the United States railroad capital

Chicago ‘L’ Train – Wikipedia

Chicago is the most important railroad center in North America, with more major railroads serving the city than any other place in America. It has long been the most influential interchange point for freight traffic between the nation’s major railroads, and it is the hub of Amtrak, the intercity rail passenger system.

In addition, the Chicago’s ‘L’ train system, serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois, was the second-oldest rapid transit system in the Americas., debuting in 1892. The “L” gained its name because large parts of the system run on elevated track.

4. The River Chicago is the only river in the world that permanently flows backwards

Chicago River – Flickr

The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of 156 miles (251 km) that runs through the city of Chicago. In 1887, the Illinois General Assembly decided to reverse the flow of the Chicago River through civil engineering by taking water from Lake Michigan and discharging it into the Mississippi River watershed. The project was completed by 1900 and in 1999, the system was named a “Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium” by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

The river is represented on the Municipal Flag of Chicago by two horizontal blue stripes. Its three branches serve as the inspiration for the Municipal Device, a three-branched, Y-shaped symbol that is found on many buildings and other structures throughout Chicago.

5. Twinkies, was invented in the Chicago

Twinkies – Flickr

A Twinkie is a snack cake, described as “golden sponge cake with a creamy filling. They were invented by James Alexander Dewar on April 6, 1930, during The Great Depression. Dewar was inspired to call his shortcake invention a “Twinkie” after seeing a billboard for a shoe company called the “Twinkle Toe Shoe Co.”

Time ranked the Twinkie #1 in its list of 10 “iconic” junk foods, claiming that “they’ve been a staple in our popular culture and, above all, in our hearts. Often criticized for its lack of any nutritional value whatsoever, the Twinkie has managed to persevere as a cultural and gastronomical icon.”

6. University of Chicago physicist became the first American to receive a Nobel Prize in the sciences

Albert Abraham Michelson – Wikipedia

Albert Abraham Michelson FFRS HFRSE was a German-born American physicist known for his work on measuring the speed of light and especially for the Michelson–Morley experiment. The Michelson–Morley experiment was an attempt to detect the existence of the luminiferous aether, a supposed medium permeating space that was thought to be the carrier of light waves.

He received the Nobel Prize in Physics, in 1907 becoming the first American to win the Nobel Prize in a science. He was the founder and the first head of the physics departments of Case School of Applied Science (now Case Western Reserve University) and the University of Chicago.

7. Start of the Atomic Age

Atom – Unsplash

Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1) was the world’s first artificial nuclear reactor. At exactly 3:25 p.m. on 2 December 1942, the first human-made self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was initiated in CP-1, during an experiment led by Enrico Fermi. This moment is regarded as the start of the atomic age. Henry Moore’s Nuclear Energy sculpture marks the spot today.

The success of Chicago Pile-1 provided the first vivid demonstration of the feasibility of the military use of nuclear energy by the Allies, and the reality of the danger that Nazi Germany could succeed in producing nuclear weapons.

8. World’s Tallest Building Designed by a Female Architect

St. Regis – Flickr

The St. Regis Chicago, formerly Wanda Vista Tower, is a 101-story, 1,198 ft (365 m) super tall skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. Upon its completion in 2020 it became the city’s third-tallest building at 1,198 ft (365 m), surpassing the Aon Center. It is the tallest structure in the world designed by a woman.

It was designed by Jeanne Gang and her architectural firm, Studio Gang Architects. The structure consists of three interconnected towers, called “stems” with differing heights in a step-like arrangement. The stems are formed from alternating truncated pyramidal shapes called “frustums”, giving each tower an undulating appearance, further accentuated by differing shades of glass in alternating pattern.

9. First Televised Presidential Debate

Kennedy Nixon Debate, 1960 – Wikipedia

The first televised presidential debate took place on Sept. 26, 1960, between John F. Kennedy, a Democratic senator of Massachusetts, and Richard M. Nixon, the Vice President of the United States. They met in a Chicago studio to discuss U.S. domestic matters.

Televised presidential debates returned in 1976, and have been held in every presidential campaign since.

10. The Chicago Fire of 1871 was a blessing in disguise

Chicago in Flames by Currier Ives,1871 – Wikipedia

The Great Chicago Fire occurred on October 8–10, 1871 and had tragic effects on the city. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles (9 km2) of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless.

Fortunately the city was able to reconstruct, the construction boom accelerated population growth throughout the following decades, and by 1900, less than 30 years after the great fire, Chicago was the fifth-largest city in the world.