City Facts
Chicago's downtown area is known as what?
The Loop. This refers to the area encircled by the CTA's elevated "L" track
Who was Chicago's first permanent settler in 1779?
Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. He was a trapper and merchant credited with building the trading post that evolved into Chicago.
This Chicago native became the first African American to serve as President of the United States?
Barack Obama
This famous clarinetist, composer, and band leader was born in Chicago.
Benny Goodman, aka The King of Swing
Chicago is the third largest city in the U.S. with a 2023 population of 2,608,425. What U.S. city ranks first?
New York- population 7,888,121.
Los Angeles ranks second with 3,769,485
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed one-third of the city and left more than 100,000 homeless. Name one of the pre-fire buildings to survive the fire and are still remaining today.
The Chicago Water Tower and Pumping Station on Michigan Avenue. This is home to City Gallery.
Lookingglass Theatre.
Who became the first person to win a Pulitzer Prize for film criticism in 1975?
Roger Ebert at the Chicago Sun-Times
This talk show host, actor, and entrepreneur made Chicago her home, especially when her show was produced at the former Harpo Studios from 1986-2011.
Oprah Winfrey
What U.S. city is known as the railroad capital, with more major railroads serving this city more than any other place in America?
Chicago
What year was Chicago incorporated as a city?
1837. The city was incorporated as a town in 1833
On January 31, 1949, the first daytime soap opera premiered on NBC in Chicago. What was that soap opera?
These Are My Children. It was created by Irna Philips, who would become known as the Queen of the Soaps.
He led the Chicago Bulls to six National Basketball Association championships and earned the NBA;s Most Valuable Player Award six times.
Michael Jordan
Chicago is comprised to how many community areas?
77
This event in 1893 launched the so-called City Beautiful movement, which focuses on Beaux-Arts aesthetics in American city planning.
1893 World's Fair (World's Columbian Exposition).
It was held on the grounds of Chicago's Jackson Park. The exposition buildings were so striking that the City Beautiful movement was launched.
What dessert was created at Chicago's Palmer House for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition?
The brownie. Bertha Palmer, wife of millionaire hotelier Potter Palmer, requested a new dessert to serve at the Exposition.
In 1901, this animator was born in the Hermosa neighborhood of Chicago. He studies drawing at Chicago's McKinley High School and at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Walt Disney
A unique downtown Chicago feature is its multi-leveled streets. What is the name of the most well-known of these streets?
Wacker Drive. The upper-level is riverfront boulevard and a lower-level roadway for commercial and through traffic.
What is the first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere?
The Alder Planetarium
Who became the U.S. first African American female senator in 1992?
Senator Carol Moseley Braun
He was creator of Playboy Magazine. The Playboy Enterprises made its home on Michigan Avenue in the Palmolive Building from 1965-1989. The original Playboy Mansion was located in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood.
Hugh Hefner