The Chicago Portal

Chicago's population of approximately 3 million people and its metropolitan area of over 9 million people make it the third-most populous city and metropolitan area in the United States. Adjacent to Lake Michigan, it is the largest Great Lakes city and among the world's 25 largest urban areas by population. Incorporated as a city in 1837 after being founded in 1833 at the site of a portage, it became a transportation hub in North America and the financial capital of the Midwest. Since the World's Fair of 1893, it has been regarded as one of the ten most influential cities in the world. Among its influences are Chicago Pile-1, the first artificial nuclear reactor, and Chicago school architecture. It boast some of the world's tallest buildings (Chicago Spire, Willis Tower, and Trump International Hotel and Tower). The University of Chicago is a leader in many fields and has contributed to academic thought, such as the Chicago school of economics or Chicago school of sociology.

Today, Chicago has diverse cultural offerings: teams from each of the major league sports (Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls, Cubs, and White Sox), a financial district anchored by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on LaSalle Street in the Chicago Board of Trade Building, and an arts culture anchored by the Art Institute of Chicago and Millennium Park as well as Chicago Landmarks such as Wrigley Field. The Magnificent Mile is a fitting tribute for a city that has revolutionized retail merchandising with mail order catalogs, the money-back guarantee, bridal registry and using posted prices on goods.

Chicago hosts O'Hare (the world's second busiest) and Midway International Airports as well as the renowned 'L' rapid transit system. Chicago was once the capital of the railroad industry and the nation's meatpacking was hubbed at the Union Stock Yards. Chicago has seen the influence of Al Capone and the Cook County Democratic Organization run by Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley. More recent Democrats from Cook County include the first African-American female United States Senator, Carol Mosley-Braun, and the first African-American United States Presidential nominee, and former Senator President Barack Obama.

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Boeing Galleries are a pair of outdoor exhibition spaces within Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, USA. The spaces are located along the south and north mid-level terraces, above and east of Wrigley Square and the Crown Fountain. In a conference at the Chicago Cultural Center, Boeing President and Chief Executive Officer James Bell to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley announced Boeing would make a $5 million grant to fund both the construction of and an endowment for the space.

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Credit: John Vachon, Farm Security Administration

The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or The Yards, operated in the New City community area of Chicago, Illinois for 106 years, helping the city become known as "hog butcher for the world" and the center of the American meat packing industry for decades. From the Civil War until the 1920s and peaking in 1924, more meat was processed in Chicago than in any other place in the world.

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The Chicago Cubs are a Major League Baseball franchise based in Chicago, Illinois that plays in the National League Central division. In the history of the franchise, it has also played under the names Chicago White Stockings, Chicago Colts and Chicago Orphans. The Cubs have used 68 different starting pitchers on Opening Day since they first became a Major League team in 1876. The Cubs have a record of 74 wins, 58 losses and 2 ties in their Opening Day games. The Cubs have played at their current home, Wrigley Field, since 1916. They have a record of 22 wins, 20 losses and 1 tie in Opening Day games at Wrigley Field. They had an Opening Day record of six wins, one loss and one tie at their other home ball parks, for a total home record in Opening Day games of 28 wins, 21 losses and 2 ties. Their record in Opening Day away games is 46 wins and 37 losses. Ferguson Jenkins holds the Cubs record for most Opening Day starts with seven, in which his record was two wins, two losses and three no decisions. Larry Corcoran, Clark Griffith, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Charlie Root, Rick Sutcliffe and Carlos Zambrano have each made five Opening Day starts for the Cubs. Zambrano is the Cubs' most recent Opening Day starting pitcher, having made all Opening Day starts since 2005. Five Cubs' Opening Day starting pitchers have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame: Griffith, Alexander, Jenkins, Al Spalding and John Clarkson. In addition, 300–game winner Greg Maddux was the Cubs' Opening Day starting pitcher in 1992. (Read more...)

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Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). Born in Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s, where he became an actor, president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), and a spokesman for General Electric (GE). His start in politics occurred during his work for GE; originally a member of the Democratic Party, he switched to the Republican Party in 1962. After delivering a rousing speech in support of Barry Goldwater's presidential candidacy in 1964, he was persuaded to seek the California governorship, winning two years later and again in 1970. He was defeated in his run for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 as well as 1976, but won both the nomination and election in 1980. As president, Reagan implemented new political initiatives as well as economic policies, advocating a limited government and economic laissez-faire philosophy, but the extent to which these ideas were implemented is debatable. The supply side economic policies, dubbed "Reaganomics", included substantial tax cuts implemented in 1981. After surviving an assassination attempt and ordering controversial military actions in Grenada, he was re-elected in a landslide victory in 1984. Reagan's second term was marked by the ending of the Cold War, as well as a number of administration scandals, notably the Iran-Contra Affair. The president ordered a massive military buildup in an arms race with the Soviet Union, forgoing the previous strategy of détente.

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"My first day in Chicago, September 4, 1983. I set foot in this city, and just walking down the street, it was like roots, like the motherland. I knew I belonged here." — Oprah Winfrey

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The Rookery Building is an historic landmark located in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Completed by John Wellborn Root and Daniel Burnham of Burnham and Root in 1888, it is considered one of their masterpiece buildings and once housed the office of the famous architects. It measures 181 feet (55 m), is twelve stories tall and is considered the oldest standing high-rise in Chicago. It has a unique style with exterior load-bearing walls and an interior steel frame. The lobby was remodeled in 1907 by Frank Lloyd Wright. Starting in 1989, the lobby was again restored to the original Wright design. The building was designated a Chicago Landmark on July 5, 1972. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 17, 1970 and listed as a National Historic Landmark on May 151975. The name Rookery comes from the previous building on the property which became home to many birds, especially pigeons.

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News

Wikinews Chicago, Illinois portal

• October 2: Rio de Janeiro to host 2016 Olympics
• July 17: Chicago's Sears Tower renamed Willis Tower
• June 9: "Jezebel of Jazz" Anita O'Day dies at age 87
• March 22: "The Dark Knight" film director's brother arrested for murder, kidnapping

Did you know?

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  ...that the Heller House (pictured) marked a turning point in Frank Lloyd Wright's shift to Prairie School architecture?

• ...that on an average day, 1.6 million rides are taken on the CTA?
• ...that Garland Rivers was the only true freshman to earn a varsity letter on the 1983 Michigan Wolverines football team?
• ...that architect, former partner at Skidmore Owings & Merrill, and founder of Lucien Lagrange Architects, Lucien Lagrange was a high school dropout?
• ...that the Marshall Field and Company Building has three separate atria?

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