Portal:Chicago

The Chicago Portal

Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the third-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 2.74 million at the 2020 census. The Chicago metropolitan area has 9.41 million residents and is the third-largest metropolitan area in the country. Chicago is the seat of Cook County, the second-most populous county in the U.S.

Chicago is an international hub for finance, culture, commerce, industry, education, technology, telecommunications, and transportation. It has the largest and most diverse finance derivatives market in the world, generating 20% of all volume in commodities and financial futures alone. O'Hare International Airport is routinely ranked among the world's top ten busiest airports by passenger traffic, and the region is also the nation's railroad hub. The Chicago area has one of the highest gross domestic products (GDP) of any urban region in the world, generating $689 billion in 2018. Chicago's economy is diverse, with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

edit

Selected article

Harold Washington Cultural Center is a performance facility located in the Grand Boulevard community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It was named after Chicago's first Afro-American Mayor Harold Washington and opened August 17, 2004 ten years after initial groundbreaking. In addition to the 1000 seat Com-Ed Theatre, the center offers a Digital Media Resource Center. Both Chicago City Council Alderman Dorothy Tillman and singer Lou Rawls take credit for championing the center, which cost $19.5 million. It was originally to be named the Lou Rawls Cultural Center, but Alderman Tillman changed the name without telling Rawls. Although it is considered part of the Bronzeville neighborhood it is not part of the Chicago Landmark Black Metropolis-Bronzeville District that is in the Douglas community area. The limestone building, which is located on the same site as a former historic black theatre, has become the subject of controversy stemming from nepotism. After a construction phase marked by delays and cost overruns, it has had a financially disappointing start and has been underutilized by many standards. These disappointments were chronicled in an award winning investigative report.

More selected articles

Read more

General images

The following are images from various Chicago-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The University of Chicago campus as seen from the Midway Plaisance (from Chicago)
Image 2Jay Pritzker Pavilion (from Chicago)
Image 3A satellite image of Chicago (from Chicago)
Image 4The Field Museum of Natural History (from Chicago)
Image 5Buckingham Fountain is located in Grant Park in the Loop. (from Chicago)
Image 6Men outside a soup kitchen during the Great Depression (1931) (from Chicago)
Image 7Traditional Potawatomi regalia on display at the Field Museum of Natural History (from Chicago)
Image 8When it was opened in 1991, the central Harold Washington Library appeared in Guinness World Records as the largest municipal public library building in the world. (from Chicago)
Image 9A Polish market in Chicago (from Chicago)
Image 10Chicago Union Station, opened in 1925, is the third-busiest passenger rail terminal in the United States. (from Chicago)
Image 11The Chicago Picasso (from Culture of Chicago)
Image 12People walking around Buckingham Fountain to attend a rally (2013) (from Culture of Chicago)
Image 13Protesters in Grant Park outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention (from Chicago)
Image 14The Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower (from Culture of Chicago)
Image 15Map of racial distribution in Chicago, 2010 U.S. census. Each dot is 25 people: ⬤ White ⬤ Black ⬤ Asian ⬤ Hispanic ⬤ Other (from Chicago)
Image 16An artist's rendering of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 (from Chicago)
Image 17Aerial photo of the Jane Byrne Interchange (2022) after reconstruction; it initially opened in the 1960s. (from Chicago)
Image 18Home Insurance Building (1885) (from Chicago)
Image 19Ford Explorer SUV as a Chicago Police Department vehicle, 2021 (from Chicago)
Image 20An Amtrak train on the Empire Builder route departs Chicago from Union Station. (from Chicago)
Image 21The Chicago Board of Trade Building (from Chicago)
Image 22Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (from Chicago)
Image 23Ferries offer sightseeing tours and water-taxi transportation along the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. (from Chicago)
Image 24Chicago-style hot dog (from Culture of Chicago)
Image 25Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo on the North Side (from Chicago)
Image 26The Chicago Picasso (1967) inspired a new era in urban public art. (from Chicago)
Image 27Chicago Half Marathon on Lake Shore Drive on the South Side (from Chicago)
Image 28The Chicago River during the January 2014 cold wave (from Chicago)
Image 29Court of Honor at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 (from Chicago)
Image 30Aerial view of Navy Pier located in the Streeterville neighborhood, one of the most visited attractions in the Midwestern United States. (from Chicago)
Image 31Daley Plaza and the Chicago Picasso, with City Hall-County Building visible in background. At right, the Daley Center contains the state law courts. (from Chicago)
Image 32The Chicago Building (1904–05) is a prime example of the Chicago School, displaying both variations of the Chicago window. (from Chicago)
Image 33Chicago Theatre (from Chicago)
Image 34Chicago was home of The Oprah Winfrey Show from 1986 until 2011, and of other Harpo Production operations until 2015. (from Chicago)
Image 35Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears (from Culture of Chicago)
Image 36Willie Dixon (from Culture of Chicago)
Image 37Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs (from Culture of Chicago)
Image 38Chicago-style deep-dish pizza (from Chicago)
Image 39Ethnic origins in Chicago (from Chicago)
Image 40Aerial view of the Chicago Loop in 2012 (from Chicago)
Image 41Chicago tenants picket against rent increases (March 1920) (from Chicago)
Image 42Downtown and the North Side with beaches lining the waterfront (from Chicago)
Image 43Chicago Theatre (from Culture of Chicago)
Image 44Flag of Chicago (from Culture of Chicago)
Image 45Community areas of Chicago (from Chicago)
Image 46Prentice Women's Hospital on the Northwestern Memorial Hospital Downtown Campus (from Chicago)
Image 47O'Hare International Airport (from Chicago)
Image 48The main hall of the Field Museum of Natural History in 2007, with Sue the T. rex in the foreground (from Culture of Chicago)
Image 49WGN began in the early days of radio and developed into a multi-platform broadcaster, including a cable television super-station. (from Chicago)
Image 50Replica of Daniel Chester French's Statue of The Republic at the site of the World's Columbian Exposition (from Chicago)

edit

Selected list

The Chicago Cubs are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Chicago, Illinois. They play in the National League Central division. Since the institution of MLB's Rule 4 Draft, the Cubs have selected 56 players in the first round. Officially known as the "First-Year Player Draft", the Rule 4 Draft is MLB's primary mechanism for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings, with the team possessing the worst record receiving the first pick. In addition, teams which lost free agents in the previous off-season may be awarded compensatory or supplementary picks. Of the 56 players picked in the first round by the Cubs, 28 have been pitchers, the most of any position; 22 of these were right-handed, while 6 were left-handed. Fifteen players picked in the initial round were outfielders, while seven shortstops, two catchers, and one player each at first base, second base, and third base were also taken. The Cubs drafted 24 players out of high school, and 32 out of college. Chicago has drafted eleven players from high schools or colleges in the state of California, with six more coming from Texas and five from Indiana. The Cubs have also taken three players from their home state of Illinois. The Cubs have not won a World Series championship since 1908, and no pick has been elected to the Hall of Fame. The Cubs' first-round selection in 1995—Kerry Wood—won the MLB Rookie of the Year award with the franchise in 1998, his first season in the Major Leagues. One pick—1985 selection Rafael Palmeiro—is a member of both the 3,000 hit club and the 500 home run club. The Cubs have held the first overall pick in the draft only once, in 1982, when they selected Shawon Dunston. (Read more...)

More selected lists

edit

Related portals

Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

... that a window-washing railroad track ran atop Chicago's Inland Steel Building?
... that the architect of Chicago's 860–880 Lake Shore Drive nearly quit the project after his original floor plans were rejected?
... that the Chicago Community Bond Fund sought to put itself out of business by eliminating cash bail?
... that the Chicago "L"'s Laflin station had an elevator for caskets?
... that the Chicago Police Department regularly cited vehicles of the Philippine consulate general in Chicago for parking in a no-parking zone, causing a diplomatic incident?
... that 900 West Randolph, Chicago's first high-rise building built by a black-owned construction firm, has penthouses that can be rented for over $20,000 per month?
... that the Chicago Bears media guide had an asterisk next to the result of the Instant Replay Game for 10 years, noting the team's belief that the game was decided incorrectly?
... that when the architect of Chicago's IBM Building was driven to the construction site, he reportedly asked, "Where's the site"?

edit

Selected biography

William Ashley Sunday was an American athlete and religious figure who, after being a popular outfielder in baseball's National League during the 1880s, became the most celebrated and influential American evangelist during the first two decades of the 20th century. Born into poverty, Sunday spent some years in an orphanage before taking a series of odd jobs in several small Iowa towns as he demonstrated his prowess in amateur athletics. Converted to evangelical Christianity in the 1880s, Sunday left baseball for the Christian ministry. He gradually developed his skills as a pulpit evangelist in the Midwest and then, during the early 20th century, he became the nation's most famous evangelist with his colloquial sermons and frenetic delivery. Sunday held heavily reported campaigns in America's largest cities, made a great deal of money, and was welcomed into the homes of the wealthy and influential. He may have personally preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to more people than any other person in history up to that time. Sunday almost certainly played a significant role in the adoption of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919.

More selected biographies

Read more

edit

Selected landmark

Washington Park Court District is a Grand Boulevard community area neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on October 2, 1991. Despite its name, it is not located within either the Washington Park community area or the Washington Park park, but is one block north of both. The district was named for the Park. The district includes row houses built between 1895 and 1905, with addresses of 4900–4959 South Washington Park Court and 417–439 East 50th Street. Many of the houses share architectural features. The neighborhood was part of the early twentieth century segregationist racial covenant wave that swept Chicago following the Great Migration. The community area has continued to be almost exclusively African American since the 1930s.

More selected articles

Read more

edit

Selected quote

"Chicago—is—oh well a façade of skyscrapers facing a lake, and behind the façade every type of dubiousness." — E. M. Forster

More selected quotes

Read more

edit

News

Wikinews Chicago, Illinois portal

October 8, 2025 – 2025 deployment of federal forces in the United States: Hundreds of Texas Military Forces troops arrive at a United States Army Reserve military base near Chicago, Illinois, ahead of a deployment to the city. (Sky News)
October 5, 2025 – 2025 deployment of federal forces in the United States: U.S. president Donald Trump authorizes the deployment of 300 National Guard personnel to Chicago, Illinois. (BBC News)

edit

Topics

Chicago

History of Chicago: Windy City • 1871 Great Chicago Fire • Haymarket affair • World's Columbian Exposition • Chicago race riot of 1919 • Chicago Board of Trade • McDonald's • Millennium Park • Cook County Democratic Party

Geography: Chicago River • Fort Dearborn • Prairie Avenue • Magnificent Mile • Cook County, Illinois

People: Daniel Burnham • Richard J. Daley • Oprah Winfrey • Al Capone • Barack Obama • Michael Jordan • Jesse Jackson • Aaron Montgomery Ward • Marshall Field • Potter Palmer • Pope Leo XIV • Harold Washington • Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable

Landmarks & Tourist Attractions: Chicago Landmarks • Wrigley Field • Buckingham Fountain • Willis Tower • John Hancock Center • Chicago Cultural Center

edit

More did you know?

...that Ronald Reagan announced his engagement to his first wife, Jane Wyman, at the Chicago Theatre (pictured)?
...that the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, an outdoor bandshell and great lawn, uses an innovative sound system that recreates an indoor concert hall sound experience?
...that the Grant Park Music Festival, a Chicago tradition since its 1931 introduction by Anton Cermak, is America's only remaining free, outdoor concert series featuring classical music?
...that the Chicago City Council revoked the McCarthy Building's Chicago Landmark status to make way for the controversial redevelopment of Chicago's Block 37 in the Chicago Loop?

More did you know

edit

Featured content

Extended content

This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Chicago}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.