Happy birthday, Chicago! Chicago was first incorporated on March 4, 1837 and the Windy City celebrates every March 4th!
From the Art Institute to the Sears Tower to Lake Shore Drive to the Cubs/Blackhawks/Bears/Sox to the Auditorium Theatre, there is a lot to love about the City of Chicago. I lived there for ten years and still get to take advantage of all it has to offer now that I’m living in a suburb. In honor of the city’s birthday, here’s some trivia about Chicago.
* The world’s first skyscraper was completed in Chicago in 1885. At 10 stories tall, the Home Insurance Building was considered huge in its day. It did not stand the test of time, however, and in 1931 it was demolished.
* The longest street in the City of Chicago is Western Ave. It is 23 ½ miles long, running from Howard Street to 119th Street.
* Wrigley Field is a Chicago landmark that was first built in 1914, and the bleachers and the scoreboard were added in 1937, the same year that they planted the iconic ivy.
* Chicago’s O’Hare Airport uses the abbreviation ORD, which stands for Orchard Field, the first name of the airfield. The City of Chicago renamed it O’Hare International Airport in 1949 to honor Edward “Butch” O’Hare, a Navy aviator who saved the aircraft carrier USS Lexington during World War II. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1942. He died when his aircraft was shot down a year later.
* 820 lights illuminate the iconic Buckingham Fountain. Kate Buckingham imagined a fountain with the effect of “soft moonlight” and worked with technicians to get just the effect she imagined.
* Mark Twain said, “It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago. She outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them.” Twain said that in 1883, just 46 years after the city was incorporated.
Sources: The Guinness Book of World Records, FlyChicago.com, The Chicago Park District, WBEZ, Ballparks.com, Chicago History
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