Chicago is a city located in the state of Illinois in the United States of America. Chicago is located in the Midwest region of the country and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan is one of the Great Lakes.
Chicago has the third highest population of all cities in the United States. With almost 3 million people, it has the highest population of any city in the state of Illinois and the Midwest of the United States. The Chicago metropolitan area, often called Chicagoland, has nearly 10 million people.
Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837, and its population grew rapidly in the mid-1800s. The city is an international center for finance, commerce, industry, technology, telecommunications, and transportation. Chicago O’Hare International Airport is the second busiest airport in the world when measured by aircraft traffic. Chicago has the third largest gross metropolitan product in the United States – about $ 630.3 billion according to 2014-2016 estimates. The city has one of the largest and most diversified economies in the world, with no single industry employing more than 14 percent of the workforce.
In 2015, Chicago welcomed more than 52 million national and international visitors, making it one of the most visited cities in the country. Chicago culture includes the visual arts, novels, film, theater, especially improv comedy, and music, particularly jazz, blues, soul, gospel, and house music. It also has professional sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. Chicago has many nicknames, the best known is Windy City
Windy city
The main possibility to explain the old nickname of the city is, of course, the weather. One explanation for Chicago being a natural breezy area is that it is on the shores of Lake Michigan. Chilly breezes blow off Lake Michigan and sweep across the city streets. The Chicago Wind is often called “The Hawk.”
However, there is another popular theory that says “Windy City” referred to overly talkative Chicago residents and politicians who considered themselves “full of hot air.” Proponents of the “bag of wind” view generally cite an 1890 article in The New York Sun newspaper editor Charles Dana.
At the time, Chicago was competing with New York to host the 1893 World’s Fair (Chicago eventually won), and Dana is said to have warned her readers to ignore the “nonsensical claims of that windy city.” Many now dismiss that reason as a myth.
Researcher Barry Popik has discovered evidence that the name was already well printed in the 1870s, several years before Dana. Popik also unearthed references that showed it functioned both as a literal reference to Chicago’s windy weather and as a metaphorical blow to its allegedly boastful citizens. Since Chicago had previously used the breeze from its lakes to promote itself as a summer vacation spot, Popik and others conclude that the name “Windy City” may have started as a reference to the weather and later acquired a double meaning when the profile of the city increased in the late nineteenth century.
Interestingly, although Chicago may have received its nickname in part because of its fierce winds, it is not the happiest city in the United States. In fact, meteorological studies have often rated the likes of Boston, New York, and San Francisco as having higher average wind speeds.
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