Chicago has two nicknames, 'Second City' and
'The Windy City'. It's the third largest city in the
United States, following New York and Los
Angeles. Chicago is located in the Midwestern
state of Illinois along the shore of Lake
Michigan. The city itself has a population of
about 3 million people, but once combined with
its suburbs and surrounding areas, known as
Chicagoland, there are about 9 million people.
Chicago's name comes from the native
American word Checagou, which means garlic.
It was named this because of the foul smelling
marshland that once covered it.
In 1871, most of the city burned in the Great
Chicago Fire. About 18,000 homes were
destroyed, leaving about 100,000 people
homeless. The destruction was actually good for
the city. It allow engineers and builders to start
fresh and build the city new.
Now Chicago is a lively city with excellent
shopping, entertainment, nightlife, and food.
Chicago even has its own specialty type of hot
dog. A traditional Chicago hot dog has mustard,
chopped onions, sliced tomato, relish, and a
pickle spear. A Chicago hot dog never has
ketchup. In fact, some hot dog shops will refuse
you service if you ask for it.
Of course a visit to Chicago wouldn't be
complete without going to the Sears Tower. The
Sears Tower was the tallest building in the world
from 1973 to 2004. The tower has 108 floors
and its roof has a height of about 442m.
