30 Fun Facts about Chicago
Published in
3 min readFeb 10, 2019
Chicago is one amazing city. Here are 30 things that you probably did not know about Chicago.
- The name Chicago comes from the Algonquin word “Chicagou” or “Shikaakwa,” which translates to “onion field” or “wild garlic.”
- In the 1850s, the entire city was hydraulically raised several feet to fix a drainage problem.
- In 1930, the Twinkie was invented in Chicago.
- Chicago is known as the United State’s railroad capital, with over 1,300 trains carrying freight and passengers arriving and departing from the city each day.
- Over 52 million people visit Chicago each year.
- The first blood bank in the United States was founded in Chicago in 1937 by Dr. Bernard Fantus at Cook County Hospital.
- The Art Institute of Chicago is home to the largest collection of impressionist paintings in the world outside of Paris, France.
- There are more than 2,000 hot dog stands in the city of Chicago, more than the number of Burger Kings, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s restaurants in the city combined.
- The world’s largest cookie and cracker factory is the Nabisco Cookie factory in Chicago.
- Chicago’s Field Museum owns the world’s most complete T-Rex, which has been named Sue.
- The famous US highway Route 66 begins in Chicago in front of the Art Institute of Chicago.
- The first Ferris wheel was invented in 1893 for the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.
- Spray paint was invented in Chicago in 1949.
- Chicago is home to the world’s largest free outdoor food festival, the Taste of Chicago.
- The zipper was invented in Chicago in 1851.
- The movie I-Robot was filmed in Chicago.
- The first all-color TV station made its debut in Chicago in 1956.
- The vacuum cleaner was invented in Chicago in 1868.
- Chicago is the home of the first black president of the United States, Barack Obama.
- Walt Disney was born in Chicago in 1901. He studied drawing at Chicago’s McKinley High School and the Institute of Fine Arts.
- The first McDonald’s franchise restaurant, owned by Ray Kroc, opened in the Chicago suburb of Des Plaines in 1955.
- Chicago inventor Martin Cooper invented the first cell phone.
- In 1893, the first open heart surgery in the United States was performed in Chicago.
- The world’s first skyscraper, the Home Insurance Company, was built in 1885 in Chicago.
- The Pinball Game was invented in Chicago in 1930.
- Chicago is home to 11 Fortune 500 companies, while the rest of the metropolitan area hosts an additional 21 Fortune 500 companies.
- O’Hare International Airport in Chicago is the world’s busiest airport.
- The Harold Washington Library downtown is the largest public library in the world.
- The Jardine Water Purification Plant in Chicago is the world’s largest water filtration plant.
- In 1895, Chicago became the first venue of the first ever car race in the United States of America.