Chicago's population of nearly 3 million people and over 9 million people in its metropolitan area make it the third-most populous city and metropolitan area in the United States. Adjacent to Lake Michigan, it is the largest Great Lakes city and among the world's 25 largest urban areas by population. Incorporated as a city in 1837 after being founded in 1833 at the site of a portage, it became a transportation hub in North America and the financial capital of the Midwest. Since the World's Fair of 1893, it has been regarded as one of the ten most influential cities in the world. Among its influences are Chicago Pile-1, the first artificial nuclear reactor, and Chicago school architecture. It boast some of the world's tallest buildings (Chicago Spire, Willis Tower, and Trump International Hotel and Tower). The University of Chicago is a leader in many fields and has contributed to academic thought, such as the Chicago school of economics or Chicago school of sociology. Today, Chicago has diverse cultural offerings: teams from each of the major league sports (Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls, Cubs, and White Sox), a financial district anchored by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on LaSalle Street in the Chicago Board of Trade Building, and an arts culture anchored by the Art Institute of Chicago and Millennium Park as well as Chicago Landmarks such as Wrigley Field. The Magnificent Mile is a fitting tribute for a city that has revolutionized retail merchandising with mail order catalogs, the money-back guarantee, bridal registry and using posted prices on goods. Chicago hosts O'Hare (the world's second busiest) and Midway International Airports as well as the renowned 'L' rapid transit system. Chicago was once the capital of the railroad industry and the nation's meatpacking was hubbed at the Union Stock Yards. Chicago has seen the influence of Al Capone and the Cook County Democratic Organization run by Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley. More recent Democrats from Cook County include the first African-American female United States Senator, Carol Mosley-Braun, and the first African-American United States Presidential nominee, and former Senator President Barack Obama. McCormick Tribune Plaza & Ice Rink or McCormick Tribune Plaza is a multi-purpose venue located along the western edge of Millennium Park in the Historic Michigan Boulevard District of the Loop area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, USA. Opening in 2001, it was the first attraction in Millennium Park. The plaza was funded by a donation from the McCormick Tribune Foundation. For four months a year, it operates as McCormick Tribune Ice Rink, a free public outdoor ice skating rink, and one of the ten parks on ice in the Chicago Park District. It is generally open for skating from mid-November until mid-March. It is known as one of Chicago's better outdoor people watching locations during the winter months. For the rest of the year, it serves as Plaza at Park Grill or Park Grill Plaza, Chicago's largest outdoor dining facility. The park grill hosts various culinary events as well as music during its months of outdoor operation. This is a complete list of Chicago Bears head coaches. There have been 16 head coaches for the Chicago Bears, including coaches for the Decatur Staleys (1919–1920) and Chicago Staleys (1921), of the National Football League (NFL). The Bears franchise was founded as the Decatur Staleys, a charter member of the American Professional Football Association. The team moved to Chicago in 1921, and changed their name to the Bears in 1922, the same year the American Professional Football Association (APFA) changed its name to the National Football League. The Chicago Bears have played over one thousand games. In those games, five different coaches have won NFL championships with the team: George Halas in 1921, 1933, 1940, 1941, 1946, and 1963, Ralph Jones in 1932, Hunk Anderson and Luke Johnsos in 1943, and Mike Ditka in 1985. George Halas is the only coach to have more than one tenure and is the all-time leader in games coached and wins, while Ralph Jones leads all coaches in winning percentage with .706. Of the 16 Bears coaches, three have been elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: George Halas, Paddy Driscoll, and Mike Ditka. The current coach is Lovie Smith, who was hired on January 14, 2004. Statistics correct as of December 30, 2007, after the end of the 2007 NFL season. (Read more...) Murray Albert "Bert" Olmstead is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Black Hawks and Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League (NHL). Olmstead began his career with the Black Hawks in 1949. In December 1950, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens via Detroit. Olmstead had his best statistical years playing for Montreal, leading the league in assists in 1954–55 with 48, and setting a league record for assists with 56 the following season. Olmstead was claimed in an Intra-League Draft by Toronto Maple Leafs in 1958, and played there until his retirement in 1962. In the 1967–68 season, Olmstead served as coach of the expansion Oakland Seals. Olmstead played in the Stanley Cup final in 11 of his 14 seasons in the NHL, winning it five times. He won it four times with Montreal, in 1953, and from 1956 to 1958, and once with Toronto, in 1962, which was his last season. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985. "It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago-she outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them. She is always a novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time." — Mark Twain |  |
