page_title: Chicago
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Chicago / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Logo for the 2012 NATO summit in Chicago. Source: NATO.
context_page_description: Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the third most populous city in the United States. It has an estimated population of 2,705,994, it is also the most populous city in the Midwestern United States. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County, the second most populous county in the United States, with a small portion of the northwest side of the city going into DuPage County near O'Hare Airport. Chicago is the main city of the Chicago metropolitan area, often referred to as Chicagoland. At nearly 10 million people, the metropolitan area is the third most populous in the United States.
  It is located on the shores of freshwater Lake Michigan, Chicago was made into a city in 1837 near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed. It grew rapidly in the mid-19th century. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which destroyed many square miles and left more than 100,000 homeless, the city made a huge effort to rebuild.
context_section_description: Chicago was founded in the early 1700s by Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. The city was founded to create a canal that allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. The city later became a trading center for food, crops, and fur. The city grew very fast because of how the river back then was clean and healthy to drink. In 1837, Chicago became a city. The city grew until the Great Chicago Fire happened in 1871. The fire lasted for almost a week. Almost half the city and its population were lost in the fire. After the fire Chicago grew faster than ever.
  Also after the fire happened the city's economy grew and also more people migrated here from parts of the world. The immigrants include, Germans, Jews, Irish, Swedes, Poles, and Czechs. The immigrants made almost two-thirds of the city's population. In 1889, Jane Addams had built the first Hull house in Chicago for children and the poor. The city's public health became better, so that the city would be healthy. In 1893, the city hosted the World's Columbian Exposition. And later the University of Chicago was founded in 1892.
  In 1919 the city later became known for its gangsters such as Al Capone, Dean O’Banion, Bugs Moran and Tony Accardo. Later the city also became known for one of the most infamous massacres, the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre when Al Capone ordered many gangsters to be shot on St. Valentine's Day in 1929. Shortly after that the city became known for John Dillinger, a bank robber who could rob an entire bank under two minutes. Dillinger was shot and killed at the Biograph Theatre in 1934.
  During a Democratic party convention in 1933, the 44th Mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak was shot and killed when a man tried to shoot at Franklin D. Roosevelt when Cermak blocked the bullet so that the President would not be hurt. Cermak died hours later. In 1955, Mayor Richard J. Daley became one of the most powerful and well known Democrats in the country. He also helped Martin Luther King and other activist share their thoughts and opinions without being arrested in Chicago.
  In 1968, during the 1968 Democratic National Convention led to a massive protest and riots that happened where the convention was held. Richard J. Daley helped create the construction sites for the Willis Tower, O'Hare International Airport, the McCormick Place, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Jane Byrne helped Chicago to become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the United State  s. She was the first female mayor of Chicago.
  In 1982, seven people were poisoned with cyanide in Tylenol pills across the city. These incidents led to reforms in the packaging of over-the-counter substances and to federal anti-tampering laws.
  In 1983, Harold Washington became the first African American mayor of Chicago and helped clean all dangerous and poor neighborhoods in the city. He was later re-elected, but died of a heart attack. He would become the second mayor of Chicago to die from a heart attack while in office, the first was Richard J. Daley. Washington's second full term was finished by Eugene Sawyer, the second African American Mayor of Chicago.
  In 1989, Richard M. Daley, the son of Richard J. Daley, became the mayor of Chicago.  Daley was the longest serving Mayor of Chicago.
  In 2011, Rahm Emanuel became the first Jewish Mayor of Chicago.
  In 2012, the NATO Summit was held in Chicago and lasted for three days. The city would also host the 38th G8 summit, but was moved to Camp David because the city was already hosting the NATO summit in Chicago.
  Chicago has the fourth-largest gross domestic product (GDP) of any city in the world, just behind Tokyo, New York City, and Los Angeles, and ahead of London and Paris.
  In 2019, Lori Lightfoot was elected mayor, making Chicago the largest city to have a female, African-American female and LGBT+ mayor in the country.
caption: The Chicago NATO Summit logo, 2012
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