"Chicago" a Chicago Travel Page by Taistealai

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Chicago is a fascinating city with lots of unusual history and accomplishments. It was founded on swamplands and the early citizens got tired of wading through mud, so the level of the city was "raised" back in the 1860s and many ground floors became basements. Another feat of civil engineering was the reversal of the Chicago River. In the early 1900s, the city installed a mechanism that reversed the current in the river to flow away from Lake Michigan in order to protect the lake from the industrial waste being emptied into the river (this is also the river that is dyed green for St. Patrick's Day). Then there was the Great Fire of 1871, which led to the banning of wooden structures. The new buildings had steel frames and brick and glass exteriors. After the elevator was invented, skyscrapers appeared all over the city, and Chicago became a world leader in modern architecture. And did you know that Oreo cookies were invented in Chicago?