4 March: Chicago

On this date in 1837 the City of Chicago was incorporated. Here are 10 things you might not know about Chicago.

1. The name of the city comes from a Native American word for the wild Onions which grew in the area. It also has a number of nicknames, including the Windy City, the City of Big Shoulders, the Second City, and the City that Works.
2. The first permanent settlement there was built by a Haitian immigrant called Jean Baptiste Point du Sable in 1779.
3. Chicago has a long tradition of Skyscrapers, with some of the first in the world having been built there. Not that we's call the nine storey Home Insurance Building (1885) or the thirteen storey Tacoma Building of Chicago (1889) skyscrapers these days, not when the city now has one of the world's tallest buildings, the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower). It has 110 floors and you can see four states from the top (Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin). It also has one of the world's fastest elevator which travels at 1,600 feet per minute. The first air conditioned office building in the world was also in Chicago - the Wrigley Building.
4. As well as skyscrapers, Chicago can claim the invention of many more things, including spray paint, Blood banks, Ferris wheels, Zip fasteners, Vacuum cleaners and the deep dish Pizza.
5. In the late 19th century, the growing city had a huge problem with sewage. The efforts of the authorities to do something about it resulted in almost the entire city being raised, over a period of 20 years, to accommodate a sewage and drainage system, and also the reversal of the flow of the Chicago river, making it the only river in the world to flow backwards. Changing the river meant that sewage no longer flowed into Lake Michigan, where the city's drinking water came from (and still does). It had the desired effect with deaths from typhoid dropping by 80%, although other cities around the Great Lakes weren't happy because they were afraid the water level would drop.
6. Chicago is often used as a location for filming Batman moves. Gotham City license plates were designed to look like Illinois plates so they'd blend in with the other cars in the background.
7. Famous people from Chicago include actors Gillian Anderson, Daryl Hannah, Billy Zane, Robin Williams, Harrison Ford, Mandy Patinkin, James Belushi, Jennifer Hudson and Mr T; writers Ray Bradbury, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Michael Crichton and Philip K. Dick; singers Curtis Mayfield and Patti Smith; Walt Disney, Hugh Hefner, and two former First Ladies - Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama.
8. In 1871 the city was devastated by a great Fire. Nobody knows how it started although a common belief is that it was caused by a lantern being kicked over by a Cow. Back then most of the buildings were wood, so it spread fast, and the Fire Department went the wrong way at first so by the time they got there the fire was already out of control. 18,000 buildings and structures were destroyed and 300 people died. Afterwards, the debris from the fire was used to reclaim some land from Lake Michigan and expand Chicago's Grant Park.
9. The first McDonalds restaurant opened in a suburb of Chicago in 1955. However, Hot dog stands outnumber not only McDonald's but Burger King and Wendy restaurants all put together. There are over two thousand of them.
10. The world's first elevated railway was installed in Chicago in 1892. It became known as the "L". While on the subject of trains, Chicago is known as the United State's railroad capital. More than 1,300 trains arrive at and leave the city each day.

My Books 

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The Ultraheroes series

Several new groups of superheroes, mostly British, living and working (mostly) in British cities like London and Birmingham. People discovering they have, and learning to live with, superpowers. Each book is complete in itself although there is some overlap of characters.

The Raiders series

A tale of two dimensions, and worm hole travel between the two. People displaced in both time and space, learning to get along and work together to find a way home while getting used to the superpowers wormhole travel gave them. A trilogy.

Golden Thread

A superhero tale with a difference. Five heroes from another dimension keep returning - whenever they return, they have a job to do and are a well-meshed team in order to do it. Until one time, something goes wrong...

Tabitha Drake series

A different kind of power - the ability to talk to dead people. Tabitha has it, and murder victims seek her out to make sure justice is done. Tabitha has this and a disastrous love life to cope with.

Short story collections

Some feature characters from the above novels, others don't. They're not all about superheroes. Some are creepy, romantic, funny.