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Fun Facts:
Cloud Gate, designed by British Artist Anish Kapoor, is 66 feet long, 33 feet high, weighs 110 tons and is made up of 168 welded plates.

Crown Fountain at Millennium Park features faces of 1,000 Chicagoans who are randomly shown on the 50-foot-high screens.

The first Ferris Wheel made its debut in Chicago in 1893 at the World's Columbian Exposition.

The term "jazz" was coined in Chicago in 1914 at a time when the city's native musicians included band leader Benny Goodman and drummer Gene Krupa.

Founded in 1848, The Chicago Board of Trade is the world's oldest and largest futures and options exchange.

The Wrigley Building's landmark clock tower is patterned after the Giralda Tower in Spain.

The four stars on the Chicago flag represent Fort Dearborn, the Chicago Fire, the World's Columbian Exposition and the Century of Progress Exposition.

Chicago boasts 32 miles of Lake Michigan frontage, paralleled by 18 miles of lakefront recreational path.

Inventions:
Roller skates 1884
Steel frame skyscraper 1885
Cracker Jacks, or caramel popcorn 1893
Zipper 1896
Window envelope 1902
The Ferris Wheel 1893
The first McDonalds 1955
Stainless steel building
Electric iron and cooking range
Winding watch
Dunkin Donuts ®
Butterfinger ® and Baby Ruth ® candy bars
Lemonheads ®, Red Hots ® and Boston Baked Beans ® candies

Major motion pictures filmed in Illinois and Chicago:
Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
What Women Want (2000)
High Fidelity (1999)
My Best Friend’s Wedding (1996)
While You Were Sleeping (1994)
The Fugitive (1993)
Groundhog Day (1992)
A League of Their Own (1991)
Wayne’s World (1991)
Backdraft (1990)
Home Alone (1990)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Blues Brothers (1980)