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    • Chicago Facts Sheet

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    Chicago is home to the world’s largest population of Poles outside of Warsaw.
    Chrysanthemum is the city’s official flower.
    In 1796 the first birth on record for Chicago was of Eulalia Pointe du Sable (the daughter of Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable and his wife).
    It is the largest inland city in the country.
    King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales was the first royalty to visit Chicago (1860).
    Midway Airport opened in 1927. Originally called The Chicago Municipal Airport, it was renamed in 1949 to commemorate the World War II Battle of Midway. It had become the world’s busiest airport by 1959.
    Monadnock Building (a 17 story building at 53 W Jackson Boulevard) was the city’s first skyscraper. It was designed and built in two stages by two different companies and using two different techniques: 1889-1891 the northern half (by Burnham & Root using the load-bearing wall technique) and 1891-1893 the southern half (by Holabird & Roche using steel frame).
    On St. Patrick’s Day, the Chicago River dyes green.
    The Chicago Police Department bought its first motor vehicle in 1908.
    The Chicago River is the only river in the world to flow backwards. The flow has been reversed in 1900 by the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal for sanitary reasons.
    The first mayor of Chicago was William B. Ogden, elected in 1837.
    The Loop (see Speak Chicagoan) is the second largest downtown business district in the nation (after New York’s Midtown Manhattan).
    The oldest business in Chicago (still operating today) is C.D. Peacock Jewelers, founded in 1837.
    The opening ceremonies and the first game of the 1994 Soccer World Cup (the first one ever in the US) were held in Chicago.
    The oldest university in the Chicago area - Northwestern University - was founded in 1851.
    Western Ave (that runs N/S at the 2400 W block) is the world’s longest street.
    When his second term as mayor of Chicago came to a close in 1861, John Wentworth fired the entire Chicago Police Department (including 60 patrolmen, 3 sergeants, 3 lieutenants, and one captain). As a result, the city had no police force for a total of 12 hours until the the Board of Commissioners swore in new officers to take their place.