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310:, in a New York Sun article in the 1890s complaining about Chicago's victory in 1890 over New York in its bid to host the World's Fair. However, the term was in common use since at least 1886, while the first known use of it was from 1876. As Chicago did not win the bid to host the World's Fair until 1890, Dana cannot possibly have been the source of the term.
291:, July 2, 1876: "The Cincinnati Enquirer, in common with many other papers, has been waiting with great anxiety for the fulfillment of its prophecy: that the Chicago papers would call the Whites hard names when they lost. Witness these scraps the day after the Whites lost to the Athletics: There comes a wail to us from the Windy City."
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Nineteenth-century journalists frequently referred to
Chicago as the windy city because they allegedly believed Chicagoan politicians were nothing but profit-centric. However, it's worth noting that the rivalry was between Chicago, a growing metropolis in the nineteenth century, and other cities such
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of June 14, 1876, discussed "Chicago as a Summer Resort" at length, proudly declaring that "the people of this city are enjoying cool breezes, refreshing rains, green fields, a grateful sun, and balmy air—winds from the north and east tempered by the coolness of the lake, and from the south and west,
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But in another sense
Chicago is actually earning the title of the "windy" city. It is one of the effects of the tall buildings which engineers and architects apparently did not foresee that the wind is sucked down into the streets. Walk past the Masonic Temple or the Auditorium any day even though it
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Chicago has been called the "windy" city, the term being used metaphorically to make out that
Chicagoans were braggarts. The city is losing this reputation, for the reason that as people got used to it they found most of her claims to be backed up by facts. As usual, people go to extremes in this
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and
Chicago were rival cities in the 1860s and 1870s. Cincinnati was well known in the meatpacking trade and it was called "Porkopolis" from at least 1843. Starting from the early 1860s, Chicago surpassed Cincinnati in this trade and proudly claimed the very same "Porkopolis" nickname.
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I was born in a city that they call "The Windy City". They call it The Windy City because of the Hawk. "The Hawk" – almighty Hawk. "Mr Wind". Takes care of plenty of business around winter time...
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as New York City, from where most of these journalists came. In other words, the Windy City is not a nickname
Chicago gave itself, but rather something that the city has embraced over time.
156:, at 12.4 mph (20 km/h). Chicago is not significantly windier than any other U.S. city. For example, the average annual wind speed of Chicago is 10.3 mph (16.6 km/h);
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of July 8, 1873, wrote that "a few years ago, Chicago advertised itself as a summer resort, on the strength of the lake breezes which so nicely tempered the mid-summer heats." The
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series of columns in 1934 attempted to examine the origin of the phrase, "Hawkins is coming", for a cold, winter wind. The first recorded
Chicago citation is in the
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While
Chicago is widely known as the "Windy City", it is not the windiest city in the United States. Some of the windier cities recorded by the NOAA/NCDC are
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may be perfectly calm elsewhere, and you will meet with a lively breeze at the base of the building that will compel you to put your hand to your hat.
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660:"Why can't Cecil get his facts straight about the origin of "Big Apple" and mention John J. Fitz Gerald? And what about "Windy City"?"
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There are four main possibilities to explain the city's nickname: the weather, as
Chicago is near Lake Michigan; the rivalry with
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in 1856. The first known repeated effort to label
Chicago with this nickname is from 1876 and involves Chicago's rivalry with
283:, May 13, 1876: "Only the plucky nerve of the eating-house keeper rescued the useful seats from a journey to the Windy City."
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267:, April 20, 1876, headline: "The WINDY CITY Jay-Rollers La-Crosse Team Wins Inaugural Game against Cincinnati Nannies."
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thing also, and one can tell a stranger almost anything about
Chicago today and feel that he believes it implicitly.
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to defeat them. "Windy City" often appeared in the Cincinnati sporting news of the 1870s and 1880s.
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Four of the first known citations of "Windy City" are from 1876, all involving Cincinnati:
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Chicago had long billed itself as an ideal summer resort because of its cool lake breeze.
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Chicago Tribune, Feb. 25, 1890, p.1 (reporting the Congressional votes for the host city)
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An explanation for Chicago being a naturally breezy area is that it is on the shores of
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bearing to us frequent hints of the grass, flowers, wheat and corn of the prairies."
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were the pride of all of baseball, so Chicago came up with a rival team called the
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Various other cities have also claimed the nickname "Windy City". They include:
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Chicago's wind is often called "The Hawk". This term has long been popular in
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It is a popular myth that the first person to use the term "Windy City" was
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This newspaper article was published by the Cleveland Gazette in 1885.
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The earliest known reference to the "Windy City" was actually to
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823:, Dec. 7, 2004, Tempo section, pp. 1, 5. Reprinted in
716:"LOU RAWLS - Dead End Street (The Very Best of LOU RAWLS)"
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inter-city matches were especially intense. The 1869
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from the original on 2021-12-22 – via YouTube.
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Surprising Reason Chicago Is Called the “Windy City”
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In the 1967 song, "Dead End Street", Chicago native
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called Chicago "the great city of winds and fires."
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The following "windy city" explanation involving a "
735:"Steve Goodman: A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request"
46:but its sources remain unclear because it lacks
714:The OldSCHOOL Kid BillyMatt (1 December 2011).
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811:. Ongoing updates to the source of the name.
359:It is also referenced in the first line of
105:, but it is most widely recognized as the "
152:, at 13.5 mph (21.7 km/h); and
817:, "Windy City: Where did it come from?",
658:Adams, Cecil; Popik, Barry (1999-09-17).
77:Learn how and when to remove this message
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434:on Java, Indonesia ("the City of Wind")
685:, Meghan Jones, Reader's Digest, 2018
508:"The Big Apple: Windy City (summary)"
168:: 9.3 mph (15.0 km/h); and
148:, at 13.9 mph (22.3 km/h);
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570:"Wind – Average Wind Speed – (MPH)"
329:African American Vernacular English
160:: 12.4 mph (20.0 km/h);
16:Nickname for Chicago, Illinois, US
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172:: 7.5 mph (12.1 km/h).
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406:, Morocco, "Wind City of Africa"
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551:"WeatherDB – A Research Engine"
365:A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request
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574:National Climatic Data Center
568:Dellinger, Dan (2004-01-04).
780:, academic investigation of
733:cubbymark (3 October 2007).
459:Port Elizabeth, South Africa
351:speaks the following intro:
594:"Origin of the "Windy City"
506:Popik, Barry (2004-10-11).
450:('The Beautiful Windy One')
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454:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
438:Newcastle, New South Wales
323:"The Hawk" wind or Hawkins
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555:wind-speed.weatherdb.com
412:, "Windy City" of Taiwan
249:Cincinnati Red Stockings
187:, on November 20, 1892:
181:Freeborn County Standard
32:This article includes a
478:Wellington, New Zealand
280:The Cincinnati Enquirer
272:The Cincinnati Enquirer
61:more precise citations.
828:, VII, 2006, pp. 72–77
774:, VII, 2006, pp. 50–71
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222:The February 4, 1873,
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801:at WorldWideWords.org
225:Philadelphia Inquirer
185:Albert Lea, Minnesota
179:" effect is from the
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487:La ciudad del viento
136:; and the politics.
416:Lethbridge, Alberta
399:Edinburgh, Scotland
844:History of Chicago
701:www.barrypopik.com
636:www.barrypopik.com
617:www.barrypopik.com
489:("The Windy City")
428:("The Windy City")
426:Den blåsiga staden
394:Davao, Philippines
232:Cincinnati rivalry
146:Dodge City, Kansas
101:has been known by
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34:list of references
854:American toponymy
809:The Straight Dope
664:The Straight Dope
537:www.ncdc.noaa.gov
334:The Baltimore Sun
296:World's Fair Myth
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97:The city of
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53:Please help
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778:Barry Popik
446:in Mexico,
440:, Australia
177:wind tunnel
170:Los Angeles
59:introducing
838:Categories
805:Windy City
795:Windy City
786:letter in
782:Windy City
669:2020-08-10
579:2008-11-25
514:2011-10-01
494:References
432:Majalengka
363:'s song, "
237:Cincinnati
130:Cincinnati
118:Cincinnati
107:Windy City
67:March 2023
791:by Popik.
788:USA Today
404:Essaouira
349:Lou Rawls
124:Etymology
114:Green Bay
739:Archived
418:, Canada
314:Politics
245:baseball
720:YouTube
531:Enloe.
473:Austria
410:Hsinchu
306:editor
140:Weather
99:Chicago
55:improve
469:Vienna
386:("the
158:Boston
132:; the
40:, or
243:The
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183:of
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