101 Facts About Chicago

greetings my name is sam and today we're headed back to the good old us of a baby oh dear more specifically we're off to the windy city the city of big shoulders the second city the white city or the city that works is that enough nicknames for one place probably that's right we're taking an internet trip to chicago not the musical much to the writer and maybe some of the audience's disappointment but hey we can't have everything we want can we but what delicious treats can we thank chicago for why did an alcoholic elephant live there and hey is this even a chicago accent i've been doing this one as a chicago accent for years but i don't think it's right i i am however available for voiceover work 203 this question is going to be answered so get ready to visit the city of windy white shoulder work oh i don't know all those other ones and sometimes green rivers as we go through 101 facts about chicago number one ah yes my kind of town chicago is except it's not a town silly sinatra it's actually a city and it's located in the state of illinois in the midwest of the united states of america number two with a population of over two and a half million people chicago is the third most popular city in the united states losing out to the big apple and the city of angels or new york city and los angeles to normal people number three if you thought chicago got its name from the 70s rockville of the same name you'd be well incorrect in fact chicago was first used in 1679 and comes from chicago the french translation of the indigenous american word shikawa which means something along the lines of wild garlic or onions this anti-vampiric namesake was so derived due to the huge amount of wild garlic that grew rife in the area number four as you may recall the city has a number of nicknames most popularly the windy city but why windy there's a number of legends about where the name comes from but one of the most popular explanations is that it came from the chicago elite and the politicians being full of hot air number five chicago became chicago all the way back in the 1600s but before that the indigenous pottawatomie tribe inhabited the same area when french explorers visited in the late 17th century the tribe established close political economic and kinship ties with them number six by the 1700s french fur traders were welcomed into the patawatomi tribe which then expanded out into more river valleys and as such there was an increase in mixed heritage or metis children born out of those relationships number seven one of these such traders was jean-baptiste pondusabla a man of african and french descent from haiti arriving in the 1780s becoming the first permanent non-indigenous settler he's often referred to as the founder of chicago number eight today chicago has the oldest american indian center being founded in 1953 and the third largest native american population with over 65 000 people spanning 175 different tribes number nine in 1795 the pottawatomies gave chicago to the states in return for a military post as agreed in their treaty of greenville later in 1816 after looting the war in 1812 the potomatomi tribe surrendered the remaining land in the treaty of saint louis which is commemorated today in indian boundary park in west ridge number 10. chucking along this time train a few decades the town of chicago was recognized for its potential transport links in rich fertile farmland and as such between 1833 and 1840 the population increased tenfold from 350 residents to over 4 000. to accommodate this frankly insane population increase chicago built the first ever sewage system in the usa in the 1850s this was more than just erecting a pipe and saying do your business in there the entire city had to be elevated ultron style in what was called the raising of chicago number 12. you see before the lift chicago wasn't able to drain anything because it was leveled with lake michigan this not only caused some horrendous poofy living conditions but also caused frequent outbreaks of typhoid dysentery and cholera three of my least favorite things which wiped out about six percent of the population of shy town in 1854. number 13 the drainage system did mean though that a lot of sewage and industrial waste flowed into the chicago river and in turn lake michigan now as this was the city's main source of fresh water i can see a bit of an issue here number 14. so to combat this in 1900 chicago achieved one of the biggest engineering feats of its time by reversing the flow of the chicago river by using a number of canal locks that caused lake michigan to flow into the chicago river and the river into the newly made chicago cemetery and ship canal how clever number 15. in 1871 tragedy struck chicago the great chicago fire killed 300 people and destroyed more than 18 000 buildings making a third of the 300 000 residents homeless because back in the olden days everything was made of wood which i hear is pretty flammable number 16 the rebuilding of chicago following the destruction of the fire was a construction marvel everything was rebuilt with stone and metal and with this chicago built the home insurance building which sounds dull as hell but it is the world's first ever skyscraper number 17. some buildings did survive the blaze though and are still standing strong today for you to go and visit these include the chicago water tower and pumping station now home to city gallery and the looking glass theater number 18. but what else can you do in the city of big shoulders yep apparently that's another one of chicago's nicknames one of the most iconic buildings on the chicago skyline is willis tower otherwise known as sears tower which hosts millions of visitors every year number 19 at 1 353 feet willis tower is the second tallest building in the western hemisphere beaten only by avengers tower i mean the one world trade center in the big apple willis does however have the highest observation deck in the u.s so say that new york number 20. to get up there there's an elevator thank god that elevator also happens to be the fastest in the world traveling 103 floors in around a minute one minute do you know what i can do in one minute actually that's not up for discussion number 21 once you're off on that 103rd floor on a clear day you can see four different states from the observation deck these are illinois obviously indiana wisconsin and michigan you can also walk over four foot out over the sky deck on some lovely glass panels just in case you want to soil yourself you know it's up to you number 22 ooh one thing's for sure though you'll definitely see some greenery whether up high or on the ground like a sane person chicago boasts almost 9 000 acres of green space in 600 parks with that amount it makes sense the chicago park district is the largest municipal park manager in the whole of the us number 23 although chicago is not home to the tallest building in the world it is home to the tallest building in the world to have been designed by a female architect the aqua stands at 82 stories tall and was designed by gian gang number 24 oh by the way that insurance building i mentioned earlier you know the world's first ever skyscraper it's only 10 stories tall which doesn't seem like much does it really in retrospect but it was big at the time number 25 the jardine water purification plant in chicago is the world's largest water filtration plant yes this is a boring fact but clean water is pretty important for you know living in that they process and dispense over 1.4 billion gallons of water each day a human body has around a gallon and a half of blood so like a billion humans and there's only seven billion on the planet i think i've gotten involved too much of this weird math conversion let's move on number 26 o'hare international airport in chicago is the world's busiest airport in terms of aircraft movements and as of 2019 was the sixth busiest in terms of passenger traffic that's a lot of moving folks number 27 speaking of o'hare airport make sure you don't leave your car there for a few years like poor jennifer fitzgerald otherwise like her you'll likely end up with over 100 thousand dollars worth of parking fines yep that actually happened i'm not sure how you forget a car but anyway number 28 one of the more unique features of downtown chicago is its multi-leveled streets like the iconic wacker drive most of it is double decked which not only supports the huge amount of traffic that flows through the city but also allows for a riverfront boulevard number 29. speaking of downtown it's also known as the loop after the elevated train tracks that circle the area in a loop genius this train system is called the l which is short for elevated as they're above ground so like we'd say we're getting the subway tube or metro chicagoans would say they're getting the l number 30 the transit system is the third busiest public transportation system in the states how busy you may be asking well on an average weekday around 800 000 rides are taken on the system number 31 chicago is also known as the railroad capital of the usa despite being less busy than new york and washington this is because it has more major railroads than anywhere else in america with 145 stations and around 1 500 trains number 32 the chicago post office is one of its kind and is the only postal facility in the world you can drive through you know legally without hurting anyone back in 1966 this post office had such an overwhelming volume of mail that more than 10 million mail items were delayed that shut down was a factor in the creation of the us postal service five years later number 33 the windy city is also home to the lincoln park zoo which is one of the last remaining free zoos in the world founded in 1868 it's the fourth oldest zoo in the states and after a few donations of animals like swans and beavers the zoo bought their first animal for just ten dollars number 34 that animal was an adorable little bear cub and he became quite famous for escaping his enclosure at night he was often found robing the zoo in the dark probably saying hello to the other animals this needs to be a kid show that's q number 35 a few years later in 1902 the zoo had an elephant named alice who sadly got sick the zookeepers gave her some whiskey to help her up but she ended up becoming an alcoholic so maybe don't put that in the tv show yeah yeah number 36 but hey if the zoo doesn't have enough animals for you there's always shed aquarium now this aquarium like everything in chicago is special because it's home to the oldest aquatic animal in captivity in the world he's an australian lungfish named grandad and he's over 85 years old which coincidentally happens to be how old i'll feel when lockdown ends number 37 and hey if you like water then there's that river we're always talking about as well as flowing backwards people love messing with it every time patrick's day the river is dyed green and in 2019 63 000 rubber duckies were thrown in for a derby to raise money to the illinois special olympics number 38 the art institute of chicago has one of the largest collections of impressionist and post-impressionist art in the world outside of paris in fact chicago has a public art program that displays more than 500 artworks publicly across 150 facilities including works by picasso chagall miro and calder number 39 chicago was the site for the first ever mcdonald's restaurant owned by ray kroc in the deplaned suburb markers has come a long way since it first opened in 1955 we're all loving it number 40. the world's first ferris wheel was committed in 1893 in chicago for the world colombian exhibition the original was more than 264 foot and had cars that were roughly the size of a bus sadly it was demolished in 1906 but you can see a replica down at the navy pier number 41 the world colombian exhibition was held in the city in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of christopher columbus discovering america yep he definitely did that was definitely him chicago beats out new york and lewis and dc for the honor it's kind of like the olympics but a world fair the meaning of life this exhibition was also the birthplace of one of the best foods on the planet the humble brownie yep legend has it the bertha palmer presented the delicacy made by a pastry chef working at her husband's hotel it was named the palmer house brownie and contained walnuts and had an apricot glaze it's actually still served at palmer house if you want to try it for yourself number 43 on a slightly darker note the fair was used by h holmes also known as america's first serial killer to lure victims to his building which happened to have sound proof rooms that got dark quick number 44 chicago has their own flag and it has four stars on it these stars are representative of fort dearborn the chicago fire the century of progress exposition and the world's colombian exhibition that's how big a deal the fair was number 45 chicago is also home to the world's largest open air food festival called taste of chicago sadly in 2020 it was cancelled due to this bloody pandemic so it was replaced by taste of chicago to go which was programming that gave cooking demos performances and expanded the community eats program that gives free meals to first responders good work chicago number 46 the field museum owns the world's most complete t-rex skeleton her name is sue and she's a superb lady shut up that was great number 47 chicago is the inspiration for gotham that's right the home of the cape crusader is architecturally based on the windy city quite a lot of batman movies have been filmed here because you know makes sense doesn't it number 48 the set and prop designers of the movies also made the gotham city license plates look similar to the illinois ones so that during car chase scenes they wouldn't be noticeably different smart number 49. you know what you need to watch batman movies a color tv well nbc5 chicago was the first all-color tv station all the way back on the 15th of april 1956. they didn't invent the color tv but still that's pretty cool number fifty chicago cbs was also the station that hosted the first ever televised presidential debate it was between john fitzgerald kennedy and richard nixon on the 26th of september 1960 number 51 not enough first for you well keep your socks up cause you ain't seen nothing yet america's first ever rotary club was founded in chicago in 1905. the charitable organization now has over 200 members and is still going strong number 52 chicago is also home to the first ever playboy club opened on february 29th 1960 and saw the origination of the first ever bunny waitresses and became well known for their stakes yes the stakes people went for the stakes number 53 on a more wholesome note chicago's cook county hospital was the first hospital in the uk to establish a blood bank in 1937. introduced by dr bernard fantus the practice spread to hospitals across the country number 54. dr daniel hale williams was one of the first black physicians in chicago in 1893 he performed america's first open heart surgery saving the life of james cornish who was stabbed in the chest this is for fact number 55. the university of chicago is often considered the birthplace of the atomic age after the first atom was split there back in 1942 the spot is now marked by a sculpture by henry moore number 56 the first female winner of the nobel peace prize was from chicago jane adams known for her humanitarian work with immigrants and women's rights won the award in 1931. she's recognized as the founder of the social worker profession in the usa number 57. after opening chicago's hull house in 1889 adams and her settlement were well known for helping members of the lgbt community being in a relationship with their partner mary rossette smith for more than 40 years adams is a chicago lgbt icon number 58 the first ever gay rights organization was also founded in chicago name the society for human rights to root began its work in 1924 a full 90 years before it became legal in illinois to marry a partner of the same gender number 59 chicago was also the site of the invention of the birth control pill named enovid invented by dr gregory pincus in 1960 it was the first pill ever approved solely for the purpose of contraception number 16 labor day sort of originated in chicago in 1894 president grover cleveland whose name makes him sound like a muppet made it to federal holiday to try and relieve tensions between businesses and organized labor and one of the biggest of these was the pullman strike in chicago number 61 of course we all know about prohibition during the 1920s we all took high school history i assume it formerly started on the first of july 1919 in chicago and the night before it began chicago and spent a whopping 2 million on the booze number 62 during the prohibition era the biggest name in bootlegging was mr al capone his operations made a staggering 100 million dollars a year which equates to more than one billion dollars when adjusted for inflation america likes the hooch number 63 capone managed to keep going for as long as he did because of widespread corruption with law enforcement officers protecting him in exchange for favors and goods might not surprise you to find out then that chicago today still ranks as the most corrupt city in the usa and that's according to forbes nintendo 64. al took a liking to the 226 club which is now known as the ex-checker seemingly a legitimate restaurant the 226 was actually speakeasy brothel and one of capone's favorite hangouts they even had a secret door in the dining room within a journey tunnel which he and his associates could escape through if they need a rose and smuggle booze in of course number 65 have you ever heard of jane cochran well this chicago legend invented and developed a machine that would gently clean her antique china dishes yep she invented the dishwasher the saviour of homes across the globe number 66 in case you needed more help in the home the vacuum cleaner also has its origins in chicago ivs w mcgaffey invented the whirlwind a hand-powered vacuum cleaner all the way back in 1868. number 67 less useful on a daily basis unless your banksy spray paint was also invented in chicago too paint salesman ed seymour came up with it in 1949 and changed the street art game forever number 68 let's talk food one of the most iconic food inventions to come out of chicago is the twinkie invented in 1930 by hostess worker jimmy dua and loved by woody harrelson and zombieland the original twinkie was actually filled with banana cream number 69 banana the banana filling was replaced with vanilla cream that we all know and love during world war ii as bananas became scarce with wartime rations and honestly that's the best thing that could have happened because charcoal bananas in the bin they're disgusting disgusting things number 17 oscar maya immigrated to chicago from germany in 1873 and brought with him the hot dog i mean the idea not a literal hot dog because you know wouldn't last the flight would it number 71 not only is chicago a total sausage fest but they also invented the deep dish pizza which just well done chicago well done una pizzeria are credited with originating the chicago deep dish pizza in 1943 and you can still order one from there today number 72 hey though if you're worried about you know garlicky breath after you demolish a pizza then have no fear because chicago is also the birthplace of wrigley's chewing gum selling their spearmint and juicy fruit gum since the 1890s number 73 in fact after wrigley started in chicago in 1891 the city became the home of food and beverage manufacturing with over 4500 companies making their edibles in the metro area number 74 chicago apparently also created the italian beef sandwich which is thinly sliced beef served on an italian roll with sweet peppers or spicy giardiniera that sounds italian to me but apparently it's a chicago classic as is the combo which is essentially the same thing but with italian sausage god i'm hungry number 75 one of the world's most prestigious restaurants can also be found in chicago alana has three michelin stars and as of 2017 is the only restaurant in the city to retain all three stars number 76 if you are eating at a restaurant though make sure you tip your serve as well i mean that's a good rule for life anyway but there is a specific reason i say this in this video in 1918 more than 100 waiters were arrested in chicago for poisoning stingy tippers so yeah tip people properly i mean you shouldn't be killed if you don't but number 77 just out of interest how are you watching this video if you're watching it on your cell phone maybe should be thankful to chicago and martin cooper who invented the first ever cell phone in 1972. without his invention i genuinely don't know what to be doing for 23 out of the 24 hours in a day number 78 cargo is also the home as baton twirling yep it has a home and that's in chicago the first ever baton dwelling contest was held in 1935 as part of the chicagoland music festival the more you know number 79 in 1895 though another first took place in chicago this time it was the first ever automobile race in the us i wonder what those races would think of the fast and furious movies number 80 from one sport to another 16-inch softball was invented in chicago the first recorded game took place on thanksgiving day in 1887 at the fanuc boat club and has been an american icon ever since number 81 chicago actually has a whopping eight major league sports teams there's the chicago cubs and the white sox for baseball the chicago balls and sky for basketball chicago fire and red stars for soccer and of course the chicago bears nfl team and the chicago blackhawks nhl team that's a lot of inconsistently named teams number 82 chicago is also home to the longest ever major league baseball game after the white sox and milwaukee brewers went head-to-head for eight hours and six minutes back in 1894. the white sox won by the way spoiler number 83 just in case you weren't sold on the fact that chicago is an invention hotspot they're also responsible for inventing roller skates as well as cracker jacks zippers pinball and the most important item in your house the remote control imagine having to get up to change channels like some sort of 1950s chump thanks chicago we owe you number 84. speaking of the 50s in 1950 chicago resident gwendolyn brooks became the first ever african-american woman to win a pulitzer prize she won it for her book annie allen number 85 and of course chicago is home to another icon in the form of barack obama to refresh the old memory you have there he was not only the 44th president of the united states but also the first african-american president to take office in the white house number 86 while we're talking about icons who could possibly be more influential to pop culture than chicago-born walt disney born in 1901 in northwest chicago that's the first time i've done that in this video isn't it i'll know the intro he studied drawing at mckinley high school and the chicago academy of fine arts before building the media empire we know today number 87. not enough famous folk for you there's genuinely loads of famous chicagoans and we'd be here all day talking about them but here's a taster robin williams harrison ford michelle obama hillary clinton john mulaney jennifer hudson gina rodriguez andre brauer and the legend that is mr t number 88 the iconic road trip along route 66 actually starts in chicago at 2448 miles long it runs from chicago illinois through missouri kansas oklahoma texas new mexico arizona and finally ends in la california number 89 in 1930 chicago opened the first planetarium in the western hemisphere it's called the adler planetarium and you can still visit it today it's out of this world no it's not really it's very much in this world because it's in chicago which is on earth number 19. batman movies aren't the only thing being from chicago other movies that have had scenes filmed in chicago that are being recreated here using stock footage include irobot ferris bueller's day off ocean's 11 blues brothers space jam and home alone number 91 speaking of home alone if you wanted to catch a glimpse of the mccallister household which is frankly ludicrously big it's just north of chicago on lincoln avenue you're welcome number 92 of course there are many tv shows also filmed in chicago that we're going to recreate here using stock footage again these include chicago fire justice med and pd shows but also euphoria batwoman shameless er and the oprah winfrey show number 93 there's a road in chicago called the magnificent mile which runs from the chicago river to oak street in the near north side this stretch of street is the eighth most expensive street to rent on in the united states and is chicago's largest shopping district as well as having many restaurants museums and hotels number 94 there are many colleges and universities in chicago but three of them hold prestigious classification of highest research doctoral universities these are the university of chicago northwestern university and the university of illinois number 95 chicago's second most visited tourist attraction is navy pier which has over 50 acres of parks garden shops restaurants family attractions and exhibitions to put into perspective just how big that is we're talking around the size of 38 american football fields on up here number 96 lolopalooza music festival also originated in chicago founded in 1991 and inspired by reading festival over here in the uk it's expanded across the globe and unlike other festivals went on tour across the states number 97 much like taste of chicago lollapalooza couldn't take place because of the covered pandemic this year yet we're bored of talking about it too but because it couldn't happen normally the city of chicago live streamed a number of events for free on youtube as well as some older sets from past festivals to tide over fans number 98 much like new york chicago has their own thanksgiving day parade presented by the chicago festival association it was originally conceived as a way to boost the economy and public spirit after the great depression number the parade of rich news took place on december 7th 1934 and was actually a christmas parade with santa claus leading the way it remained a christmas parade even being held during world war ii until 1999 when it changed to become thanksgiving day parade number hunter one of chicago's bleaker nicknames is chiraq due to the volume of violence and crime in the city bbc reporter ian pannell said in an interview that he'd never seen so many weapons in civilian hands outside of a traditional war zone as he did in chicago the city currently ranks at 31 on a list of the most dangerous cities number 101 there's a park in north side called oz park after the wizard of oz in the park you can find statues of the characters and on certain days there are public events such as movies in the park a pumpkin patch where you can choose and decorate pumpkins and a lot of activities for children during the summer what a wholesome way to end a video so that was 100 facts about chicago are you a chicago woman have you been should i go let me know in the comments down below please and hey while you're down there be sure to click on that you know little like button because it really does put a pep in my step and to put a pep in the other step why not subscribe while you're at it if you haven't done already because there's more where this came from baby in the meantime though hark look two videos on screen right now that are going to blow your gasket yep that's right you heard gasket why not give it a click and i'll see you there goodbye now

Channel: 101Facts

Views: 54,655

Keywords: 101 facts, 101, 101facts, chiacgo facts, facts about chicago, chicago travel, chicago history, chicago tourism, l train, chicago transit authority, willis building, sears building, illinois, illinois facts, usa, america, lake michigan, chicago river, chicago, facts, america facts, chicago musical, cook county, italian beef sandwich, twinkies, o'hare airport, great chicago fire, mcdonalds, obama, chicago bears, grant park, chicago bulls, chicago cubs, al capone, chicago pizza

Id: ztnpHnJ0Bls

Length: 25min 52sec (1552 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 27 2021