Chicago is a city in Illinois which is about 606.1 square kilometers (234 square miles) in area. It is the third largest city in the United States and has a population of apporximately 3 million people (about 2,896,016 as of the 2000 census).

Discovery

In 1673, Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet were the very first Europeans to find the land on which Chicago is built. They returned with five other Europeans, and with the help of friendly Indians, traversed the region that Chicago stands on.

The Great Chicago Fire

In 1871, a fire occured in Chicago. The real cause to the fire is unknown, but there are many speculations (such as one of Patrick O'Leary's cows knocking down a lantern and causing the barn to light on fire). The fire began at around 9 A.M. on October 8, 1871, and by midnight the fire had jumped the Chicago River's south branch. In the end, 300 Chicagoans were dead, 90,000 homeless, and the property loss was $200 million. By 1875, however, Chicago had been quickly rebuilt and little evidence remained of the disaster.

Landmarks in Chicago
  • The Chicago River -- The river was reversed by building a canal.
  • The Sears Tower -- The tallest building in the world, standing at 443 meters (1,454 ft.) in length without the antennas. There is a competetor for tallest building internationally, but there is a dispute as to weather antennas should be counted or not.li>
  • The John Hancock Building -- Chicago's second tallest building, standing at 334 Meters in length. Also, it has 5 x's on each side of the building helping it structurally and aesthetically.
  • Buckingham Fountain -- Standing in Chicago's Grant Park, it is one of the largest fountains in the world

Citations:
  • Text taken from http://www.wikipedia.org (Under the GNU Free Documentation License)
  • Text taken from http://www.nationmaster.com (Also under the GNU Free Documentation License)
  • (2001). Chicago: historical information about chicago. retrieved Feb 05, 2004, from http://www.chipublib.org/004chicago/chihist.html.
  • (n.d.). retrieved Feb 05, 2004, from http://www.aviewoncities.com/chicago/johnhancockcenter.htm.