Chicago is the second largest city in the United States. It is in the state of Illinois. The population of the city is about 4 million, and together with the suburbs, it comes to over 6 million people. Chicago is often called “the most American” of all American cities and towns, and it is the second largest industrial center. It lies on the banks of Lake Michigan.
Chicago is not a very old city. It was founded in 1848, when the first English settlements appeared on the territory of present-day Chicago. The city has grown quickly in the last 125 years due to the great number of newcomers.
Like New York and other large American cities, Chicago has two different parts: the center, with its skyscrapers and comfortable houses on the Golden Shore of Lake Michigan; and the districts where many workers live in older one- and two-story houses.
Chicago is the country’s greatest railway center, where thirty-eight railroads meet. It also has the largest stockyards in the country and the largest grain market.
The idea of May Day — the international day of labor and workers’ solidarity — was born here in Chicago in 1886 during the struggle for the eight-hour working day.
On May 1, 1886, the workers came to Haymarket Square and called a strike in support of the eight-hour working day. When the police came, the workers organized a mass demonstration. The police opened fire and many workers were killed or wounded. In memory of this day, the First of May was later recognized as a day of international workers’ solidarity.
