(1) First settler (1779)

In the18th century, Chicago was the territory of the Potawatomi Indian tribe. 1779, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, a black businessman from Haiti, settled in Chicago. He married Bertawatomi and opened the first warehouse in this area on the north shore of Chicago.

(2) Urban institutions (1837)

1803, the U.S. military established Fort Deere Berne here, and it was later destroyed in the massacre of Fort Deere Berne in 18 12. 18 16, Bertawatomi and other Indian tribes nearby signed the St. Louis agreement with the US government and gave up their land. On August 1833, Chicago Town was founded with 350 residents. With the increase of resident population, it became Chicago on March 4th, 1837, when the population was only 4 170.

(3) Strong development (19th century)

In the first hundred years of its history, Chicago was one of the fastest growing cities in the world at that time, from the blank starting point of 19 century to more than one million in 1900. It was the only city in the world with a population of over one million at that time, and this city did not exist a century ago.

/kloc-In the 20th century, Chicago became a major city in the Midwest of the United States and a distribution center for agricultural products. 1848, the Illinois-Michigan Canal connecting Lake Michigan and Mississippi River was completed, connecting the shipping between the two waterways. In the same year, the first railway in Chicago began to be built. Since then, Chicago has become an important transportation hub connecting the eastern and western parts of the United States. Convenient land and water transportation has greatly stimulated the development of industry and commerce. The prosperity of the city has attracted many foreigners to settle here, including a large number of rural population and new immigrants. From 1870 to 1900, the population of Chicago soared from 299,000 to170,000. The local manufacturing and retail industries have become the dominant forces in the midwest economy, which has had a great impact on the American economy.

(4) The origin of May 1 International Labor Day (1886)

On May 1886 and 1 Sunday, hundreds of thousands of workers in Chicago went on strike for an eight-hour working day and won a great victory. May Day International Labor Day originated here.

(5) Chicago fire (187 1 year)

A fire broke out from 187 1 Chicago1October 8 to 10. Almost all the buildings on about 6.5 square kilometers of land in the urban area (including the commercial area) were burned down, about 300 people died, 90,000 people were homeless, and the property loss reached 200 million US dollars. This is the famous Chicago fire in American history.

(6) Reconstruction after fire (187 1 year later)

187 1 After the Chicago fire, Chicago quickly rebuilt and resumed its growth. During the reconstruction period, the world's first steel-framed skyscraper was produced here, and the world reputation of Chicago's innovative urban architecture began. From 65438 to 0893, Chicago held the World Columbus Expo, which was a great success and attracted 27.5 million visitors. The year before, the University of Chicago was also founded here.

(7) Social unrest (1886)

Chicago in this period was plagued by frequent labor conflicts and chaos, including the famous 1886 hay market riots. The poor living conditions of the lower classes and various social problems have led to some social reform experiments, such as the Hull Building established by jane adams. Chicago has also planned and built a number of large urban parks in the urban area. From 1855, Chicago began to build the first complete sewage drainage system in a big city in the United States. These measures have improved the appearance of the city and the living conditions of ordinary citizens to a certain extent.

(8) Pollution control (1900)

Due to the rapid growth of population and the development of industry and commerce, the edge of Lake Michigan, as the main water source of the city, was seriously polluted during this period. In order to solve the problem of drinking water pollution, the city built the water inlet of the waterworks two miles away from Lake Michigan, and introduced water into the city's water supply system through underwater pipelines. However, the effect of this effort has proved to be limited, because rainwater may bring sewage from the Chicago River near the water intake. 1900, this problem has finally been completely solved. By building water level lifting facilities and gates, the Chicago River, which originally flowed into Lake Michigan, was reversed and flowed southward into the Illinois River. Since then, the city's sewage is no longer injected into Lake Michigan.

(9) lock-up period (1920s)

/kloc-during prohibition in the 1920s, Chicago underworld forces were rampant, resulting in a notorious underworld leader like al capone. During this period, a large number of blacks living in the south began to move into Chicago and other northern cities. 1942 65438+In February, the world's first controlled nuclear reaction test was successful at the University of Chicago, completing a key link of the Manhattan Project.

(10) urban prosperity (1950s)

1955, Richard J. Daley, who later served as the mayor of Chicago for 2 1 year, was elected mayor for the first time. From the 1950' s, the upper and middle class residents gradually began to migrate to the suburbs of the city, which led to the decline and impoverishment of many areas in the city center. During this period, Chicago held the 1968 Democratic National Congress, and built the iconic Hills Building, McCormick Convention Center and O'Hare Airport.

The current mayor Richard M Daley is the son of the former mayor Richard J. Daley. His policy focuses on improving the environmental quality of Chicago, and he has implemented some projects to revive declining neighborhoods and improve urban infrastructure and urban landscape along lakes and rivers. Chicago once bid for the 20 16 Olympic Games, but it was eliminated in the first round of voting on June 2, 2009.