Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles, Château de Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. Versailles is therefore not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime. First built by Louis XIII in 1623, as a lodge of brick and stone. The first phase of the expansion was designed and supervised by the architect Louis Le Vau and it culminated in the addition of three new wings of stone, which surrounded Louis XIIIs original building on the north and west. After Le Vaus death in 1670, the work was taken over and completed by his assistant, charles Le Brun designed and supervised the elaborate interior decoration, and André Le Nôtre landscaped the extensive Gardens of Versailles. Le Brun and Le Nôtre collaborated on the fountains, and Le Brun supervised the design. During the second phase of expansion, two enormous wings north and south of the wings flanking the Cour Royale were added by the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart.
He replaced Le Vaus large terrace, facing the garden on the west, with became the most famous room of the palace. The Royal Chapel of Versailles, located at the end of the north wing, was begun by Mansart in 1688. One of the most baffling aspects to the study of Versailles is the cost – how much Louis XIV, owing to the nature of the construction of Versailles and the evolution of the role of the palace, construction costs were essentially a private matter. Initially, Versailles was planned to be a residence for Louis XIV and was referred to as the kings house. Once Louis XIV embarked on his campaigns, expenses for Versailles became more of a matter for public record. To counter the costs of Versailles during the years of Louis XIVs personal reign. Accordingly, all materials that went into the construction and decoration of Versailles were manufactured in France, even the mirrors used in the decoration of the Hall of Mirrors were made in France. While Venice in the 17th century had the monopoly on the manufacture of mirrors, to meet the demands for decorating and furnishing Versailles, Colbert nationalised the tapestry factory owned by the Gobelin family, to become the Manufacture royale des Gobelins.
In 1667, the name of the enterprise was changed to the Manufacture royale des Meubles de la Couronne, the Comptes meticulously list the expenditures on the silver furniture – disbursements to artists, final payments, delivery – as well as descriptions and weight of items purchased. Entries for 1681 and 1682 concerning the silver used in the salon de Mercure serve as an example. 5 In anticipation, For the silver balustrade for the bedroom,90,000 livres II
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, United States, owned by tronc, Inc. formerly Tribune Publishing. The Tribune was founded by James Kelly, John E. Wheeler, publishing its first edition on June 10,1847. The paper saw numerous changes in ownership and editorship over the eight years. Initially, the Tribune was not politically affiliated but tended to either the Whig or Free Soil parties against the Democrats in elections. By late 1853, it was frequently running xenophobic editorials that criticized foreigners, about this time it became a strong proponent of temperance. Ray became editor-in-chief, Medill became the editor, and Alfred Cowles, Sr. brother of Edwin Cowles. Each purchased one third of the Tribune, under their leadership the Tribune distanced itself from the Know Nothings and became the main Chicago organ of the Republican Party. However, the continued to print anti-Catholic and anti-Irish editorials. Between 1858 and 1860, the paper was known as the Chicago Press & Tribune, on October 25,1860, it became the Chicago Daily Tribune.
Before and during the American Civil War, the new editors pushed an abolitionist agenda and strongly supported Abraham Lincoln, the paper remained a force in Republican politics for years afterwards. In 1861, the Tribune published new lyrics for the song John Browns Body by William W. Patton, Medill served as mayor of Chicago for one term after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Under the 20th-century editorship of Colonel Robert R. Joseph McCarthy, when McCormick assumed the position of co-editor in 1910, the Tribune was the third-best-selling paper among Chicagos eight dailies, with a circulation of only 188,000. At the same time, the Tribune competed with the Hearst paper, by 1914, the cousins succeeded in forcing out Managing Editor William Keeley. By 1918, the Examiner was forced to merge with the Chicago Herald, in 1919, Patterson left the Tribune and moved to New York to launch his own newspaper, the New York Daily News. In a renewed war with Hearsts Herald-Examiner, McCormick and Hearst ran rival lotteries in 1922.
The Tribune won the battle, adding 250,000 readers to its ranks, in 1922, the Chicago Tribune hosted an international design competition for its new headquarters, the Tribune Tower. The competition worked brilliantly as a publicity stunt, and more than 260 entries were received, the winner was a neo-Gothic design by New York architects John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood. The newspaper sponsored an attempt at Arctic aviation in 1929
The Amazing Race 6
The Amazing Race 6 was the sixth installment of the U. S. reality television series The Amazing Race. It premiered on November 16,2004, and concluded on February 8,2005, Season 6 featured 11 teams of two people, each with a pre-existing relationship, racing around the world. Engaged couple Freddy Holliday and Kendra Bentley were the winners of this season, a DVD for this season was released on April 24,2012, via Amazon. coms CreateSpace program. In May 2004, CBS ordered the sixth installment of the show, early renewal was likely due to the success of the changes made in Season 5. The Amazing Race 6 spanned a total of 40,000 miles over ten countries on four continents, the 30 days of filming began on August 13,2004, and finished on September 12,2004. The race made its first trip to seven countries, Norway, Hungary, Sri Lanka and this season was the first in which team members had to complete an equal number of Roadblock tasks. No team member was permitted to complete more than six Roadblocks on the entire race, throughout the season, Phil Keoghan verbally stated this rule when introducing each legs Roadblock.
While the rule has remained in all subsequent seasons, Keoghan eventually stopped reciting it in each episode and this season featured many Olympic-themed challenges such as water polo and field, and archery. The race visited past Olympic cities including Oslo and this was likely a result of the 2004 Summer Olympics taking place in Athens, while the race was being filmed. A task in the leg of the race marked the first time teams were required to work with each other. The ten teams had to split themselves into two groups of five, each of which had to row a Viking boat across a fjord to a dock with a clue box. During the fifth leg, one of the shows most controversial moments occurred at the Pit Stop when Jonathan, angry at his wife Victoria for picking up his bag during a footrace to the mat and he was modestly rebuked by Phil Keoghan at the mat. They appeared on a Dr. Phil special to try to improve their marriage, later, in a celebrity version of Fear Factor, Victoria attacked contestant Jon Jonny Fairplay Dalton, and Jonathan attacked host Joe Rogan – these incidents resulted in their expulsion from the show.
The sixth leg was planned as two separate legs with the first part being a non-elimination point. These planned legs were combined into one after producers realized that begging was prohibited in Hungary and this season featured a visit to Sri Lanka, where filming occurred just a few weeks before the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The episodes aired after the earthquake had devastated the nation and all of the sights. A special message was inserted at the beginning of the episodes featuring Sri Lanka, dedicating them to the victims, post-game interviews suggested that Kris & Jon were less than a minute behind winning team Freddy & Kendra before they were held back by a train at a railway crossing. At thefishbowl. com, Bolo suggested that Kris & Jon were only 30–40 seconds behind Freddy & Kendra to the finish
Museum Campus
Museum Campus sits adjacent to Northerly Island along the waterfront. The area is landscaped with greenery and flora as well as jogging paths, a picturesque promenade along Solidarity Drive, an isthmus, links Northerly Island to the mainland. The Museum Campus opened on June 4,1998, when the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive were moved west of Soldier Field following the route of the southbound lanes. By removing the roadway which bisected the area, Museum Campus was created into a space for the enjoyment of both residents and tourists. In 2014, a consortium of museums in or near the University of Chicago, these plans were cancelled in June 2016 due to opposition from the Friends of the Parks advocacy group
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza /ˌlɒləpəˈluːzə/ is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock, hip hop, and EDM bands and artists and comedy performances and craft booths. It has provided a platform for non-profit and political groups and created in 1991 by Janes Addiction singer Perry Farrell as a farewell tour for his band, Lollapalooza ran annually until 1997, and was revived in 2003. From its inception through 1997 and its revival in 2003, the festival toured North America, in 2004, the festival organizers decided to expand the dates to two days per city, but poor ticket sales forced the 2004 tour to be cancelled. In 2011, the company Geo Events confirmed the Brazilian version of the event, the music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a two or three day period. Lollapalooza is broadcast live and globally on Red Bull TV and its earliest known use was in 1896. In time the term came to refer to a large lollipop. Farrell, searching for a name for his festival, liked the euphonious quality of the term upon hearing it in a Three Stooges short film.
Paying homage to the double meaning, a character in the festivals original logo holds one of the lollipops. The word has caused a slang suffix to appear in event-planning circles as well as in news and opinion shows that is used synonymously with other suffixes like a-go-go, o-rama. The suffix palooza is often used to imply that an event or crowd was made over that term, e. g. Parks-apalooza, Nipple-apalooza. Another key concept behind Lollapalooza was the inclusion of non-musical features, performers like the Jim Rose Circus Side Show, an alternative freak show, and the Shaolin monks stretched the boundaries of traditional rock culture. There was a tent for display of art pieces, virtual reality games and it was at Lollapalooza where Farrell coined the term Alternative Nation. Punk rock standbys like mosh pits and crowd surfing became part of the canon of the concerts, after 1991, the festival included a second stage for up-and-coming bands or local acts. Attendee complaints of the festival included high ticket prices as well as the high cost for food, grunge band Nirvana was scheduled to headline at the festival in 1994, but the band officially dropped out of the festival on April 7,1994.
Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobains body was discovered in Seattle the next day, Cobains widow, Courtney Love, made guest appearances at several shows, including the Philadelphia show at FDR Park, speaking to the crowds about the loss, singing a minimum of two songs. In 1996, who had been the soul of the festival, decided to focus his energy to produce his new project, ENIT. Moreover, festival cofounder Farrell felt that Metallicas macho image violated his peaceful vision for the festival, Farrell quit the tour in protest. Responding to the controversial Metallica tour, Lollapalooza made efforts to revive its relevance to audiences, the festival booked eclectic acts such as country superstar Waylon Jennings in 1996, and emphasized heavily electronica groups such as The Orb and The Prodigy in 1997
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879 and located in Chicagos Grant Park, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. Recognized for its efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 million guests annually. The growth of the collection has warranted several additions to the museums original 1893 building, the Art Institute is connected to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a leading art school, making it one of the few remaining unified arts institutions in the United States. In 1866, a group of 35 artists founded the Chicago Academy of Design in a studio on Dearborn Street, the organization was modeled after European art academies, such as the Royal Academy, with Academicians and Associate Academicians. The Academys charter was granted in March 1867, classes started in 1868, meeting every day at a cost of $10 per month. The Academys success enabled it to build a new home for the school, a stone building on 66 West Adams Street.
When the Great Chicago Fire destroyed the building in 1871 the Academy was thrown into debt, attempts to continue despite the loss by using rented facilities failed. By 1878 the Academy was $10,000 in debt, members tried to rescue the ailing institution by making deals with local businessmen, before some finally abandoned it in 1879 to found a new organization, named the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. When the Chicago Academy of Design went bankrupt the same year, in 1882, the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts changed its name to the current Art Institute of Chicago and elected as its first president the banker and philanthropist Charles L. Also in 1882, the purchased a lot on the southwest corner of Michigan Avenue. By January 1885 the trustees recognized the need to provide space for the organizations growing collection. The city agreed, and the building was completed in time for the year of the fair. Construction costs were met by selling the Michigan/Van Buren property, on October 31,1893 the Institute moved into the new building.
For the opening reception on December 8,1893, Theodore Thomas, from the 1900s to the 1960s the school offered with the Logan Family the Logan Medal of the Arts, an award which became one of the most distinguished awards presented to artists in the US. Between 1959 and 1970 the Institute was a key site in the battle to gain art and documentary photography a place in galleries, under curator Hugh Edwards and his assistants. As Director of the museum starting in the early 1980s, James N. Wood conducted an expansion of its collection. He retired from the museum in 2004, in 2006, the Art Institute began construction of The Modern Wing, an addition situated on the southwest corner of Columbus and Monroe. The project, designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Renzo Piano, was completed, the 264, 000-square-foot building makes the Art Institute the second-largest art museum in the United States
Michigan
Michigan /ˈmɪʃᵻɡən/ is a state in the Great Lakes and Midwestern regions of the United States. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, Michigan is the tenth most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive total area. Its capital is Lansing, and its largest city is Detroit, Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is noted to be shaped like a mitten. The Upper Peninsula is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, the two peninsulas are connected by the Mackinac Bridge. The state has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, as a result, it is one of the leading U. S. states for recreational boating. Michigan has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds, a person in the state is never more than six miles from a natural water source or more than 85 miles from a Great Lakes shoreline.
What is now the state of Michigan was first settled by Native American tribes before being colonized by French explorers in the 17th century, the area was organized as part of the larger Northwest Territory until 1800, when western Michigan became part of the Indiana Territory. Eventually, in 1805, the Michigan Territory was formed, which lasted until it was admitted into the Union on January 26,1837, the state of Michigan soon became an important center of industry and trade in the Great Lakes region and a popular immigrant destination. Though Michigan has come to develop an economy, it is widely known as the center of the U. S. automotive industry. When the first European explorers arrived, the most populous tribes were Algonquian peoples, which include the Anishinaabe groups of Ojibwe, Odaawaa/Odawa, the three nations co-existed peacefully as part of a loose confederation called the Council of Three Fires. The Ojibwe, whose numbers are estimated to have been between 25,000 and 35,000, were the largest, French voyageurs and coureurs des bois explored and settled in Michigan in the 17th century.
The first Europeans to reach what became Michigan were those of Étienne Brûlés expedition in 1622, the first permanent European settlement was founded in 1668 on the site where Père Jacques Marquette established Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan as a base for Catholic missions, missionaries in 1671–75 founded outlying stations at Saint Ignace and Marquette. Jesuit missionaries were received by the areas Indian populations, with relatively few difficulties or hostilities. In 1679, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle built Fort Miami at present-day St. Joseph, in 1691, the French established a trading post and Fort St. Joseph along the St. Joseph River at the present day city of Niles. The hundred soldiers and workers who accompanied Cadillac built a fort enclosing one arpent, cadillacs wife, Marie Thérèse Guyon, soon moved to Detroit, becoming one of the first European women to settle in the Michigan wilderness. The town quickly became a major fur-trading and shipping post, the Église de Saint-Anne was founded the same year
National Lampoon's Vacation
John Candy, Imogene Coca, Christie Brinkley, and a young Jane Krakowski appear in supporting roles. The screenplay was written by John Hughes, based on his short story Vacation 58 which appeared in National Lampoon, the film was a box-office hit, earning more than $60 million in the US with an estimated budget of $15 million, and received positive reviews from critics. In 2000, readers of Total Film voted it the 46th greatest comedy film of all time, in August 2015 was listed as the best film in the Vacation film series by Daniel Cohen. It continues to be a film and a staple on cable television. Ellen wants to fly, but Clark insists on driving, so he can bond with his family and he has ordered a new car in preparation for the trip, but the dealer claims that it will not be ready for six weeks. Clark is forced to accept a Wagon Queen Family Truckster, an ugly, out-sized station wagon, as the car he brought to trade in has already been hauled away and crushed. After stopping at a decrepit and dirty campground in Colorado for the night, a state trooper pulls the Griswolds over and angrily lectures Clark over animal cruelty but accepts Clarks apology, Edna learns of her dogs death and becomes more irate with Clark.
Exiting Colorado, Ellen loses her bag which had her credit cards, while Ellen and Clark argue during a drive between Utah and Arizona, they crash and become stranded in the desert. After setting off alone in the desert to look for help, Clark eventually reunites with his family, the mechanic extorts the remainder of Clarks cash only to make the car barely operational. Leaving, they find that Aunt Edna has died in her sleep and they tie the deceased to the roof of the car, wrapped in a tarpaulin. When they reach Normans home, they discover he is out of town, having enough of the road-trip and of the mishaps they encountered and the children want to go back home, but Clark has become obsessed in reaching Walley World and they continue on. Ellen forgives Clark, and the couple goes skinny-dipping as well, despite the familys misfortunes, they finally arrive the next day, only to find that the park is closed for the next two weeks for repairs. Eventually, an LAPD SWAT team arrives, along with park owner Roy Walley, Roy understands Clarks impassioned longing to achieve the perfect vacation, bringing back memories of his own childhood years ago.
He decides not to file charges against the Griswolds and lets the family –. During the Chicago Blizzard of 1979, writer John Hughes began developing a story entitled Vacation 58 for an issue of the National Lampoon. While the story ended up being bumped from the initial vacation-themed issue, it was published in September 1979. When I brought it to Hollywood, the first guy I brought it to was Jeff Katzenberg who was at Paramount, recalled producer Matty Simmons and he said it would never make a movie, it was too episodic, too consequential. I said, its a road trip and you go from town to town, place to place
Illinois
Illinois is a state in the midwestern region of the United States, achieving statehood in 1818. It is the 6th most populous state and 25th largest state in terms of land area, the word Illinois comes from a French rendering of a native Algonquin word. For decades, OHare International Airport has been ranked as one of the worlds busiest airports, Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics. With the War of 1812 Illinois growth slowed as both Native Americans and Canadian forces often raided the American Frontier, mineral finds and timber stands had spurred immigration—by the 1810s, the Eastern U. S. Railroads arose and matured in the 1840s, and soon carried immigrants to new homes in Illinois, as well as being a resource to ship their commodity crops out to markets. Railroads freed most of the land of Illinois and other states from the tyranny of water transport. By 1900, the growth of jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted a new group of immigrants.
Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars, the Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans in Chicago, who created the citys famous jazz and blues cultures. Three U. S. presidents have been elected while living in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Ronald Reagan, whose political career was based in California, was the only U. S. president born and raised in Illinois. Today, Illinois honors Lincoln with its official slogan, Land of Lincoln. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is located in the capital of Springfield. Illinois is the spelling for the early French Catholic missionaries and explorers name for the Illinois Native Americans. American scholars previously thought the name Illinois meant man or men in the Miami-Illinois language and this etymology is not supported by the Illinois language, as the word for man is ireniwa and plural men is ireniwaki. The name Illiniwek has said to mean tribe of superior men.
The name Illinois derives from the Miami-Illinois verb irenwe·wa he speaks the regular way and this was taken into the Ojibwe language, perhaps in the Ottawa dialect, and modified into ilinwe·. The French borrowed these forms, changing the ending to spell it as -ois. The current spelling form, began to appear in the early 1670s, the Illinois name for themselves, as attested in all three of the French missionary-period dictionaries of Illinois, was Inoka, of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms. American Indians of successive cultures lived along the waterways of the Illinois area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, the Koster Site has been excavated and demonstrates 7,000 years of continuous habitation
Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east on the Chicago grid. The northern end of the street is at Lake Shore Drive on the shore of Lake Michigan in the Gold Coast Historic District, the streets southern terminus is at Sibley Boulevard in the southern suburb of Harvey, though like many Chicago streets it exists in several disjointed segments. Michigan Avenue is the commercial street of Streeterville. It includes all of the Historic Michigan Boulevard District and most of the Michigan–Wacker Historic District, the oldest section of Michigan Avenue is the portion that currently borders Grant Park in the Chicago Loop section of the city. The name came from Lake Michigan, which until 1871 was immediately east of Michigan Avenue, the street at that time ran north to the Chicago River and south to the city limits. Originally, Michigan Avenue was primarily residential, and by the 1860s, large homes, but in the 1900-1907 Ads for the Chicago Musical College, the address was referred to as 202 Michigan Boul.
As recently as the 1920s, North Michigan Avenue was referred to as Upper Boul Mich, pariss Boulevard Saint-Michel is the original Boul Mich. In the Great Fire of 1871, all buildings on Michigan Avenue from Congress Street north to the river were destroyed. Beginning in the 1880s, the expansion of the business district replaced houses on Michigan Avenue so that today. The first city showcase on Michigan Avenue was the Exposition Building, which was built on the current site of the Art Institute, the east side of Michigan at Adams, in 1874. By the 1890s, a wall of buildings was constructed on the west side of Michigan Avenue downtown, including the Auditorium Building. As the east side of Michigan Avenue downtown was developed as a park, in 1924, the first traffic lights in Chicago were installed on Michigan Avenue after John D. Hertz fronted the city $34,000 for the purchase, historically, Illinois Route 1 and U. S. Route 41 were routed on Michigan Avenue. Illinois Route 1 has been truncated to Chicagos south side and U. S.
Route 41 is now routed on Lake Shore Drive, as early as 1891 plans were proposed to extend Michigan Avenue north across the river. When the Michigan Avenue Bridge was completed, Pine Street was renamed Michigan Avenue, at its north end it merges into Lake Shore Drive near the Drake Hotel. Today, the north of the Chicago River is referred to as the Magnificent Mile. It contains a mixture of upscale department stores, high-end retailers, office buildings and hotels, and caters primarily to tourists, the area has a high concentration of the citys advertising agencies and major media firms, including the Chicago Tribune. North of the center can be found the famous John Hancock Center, the art deco Palmolive Building
Daniel Burnham
Daniel Hudson Burnham, FAIA was an American architect and urban designer. He was the Director of Works for the Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Burnham took a leading role in the creation of master plans for the development of a number of cities, including Chicago and downtown Washington, D. C. Burnham was born in Henderson, New York and raised in Chicago and his parents brought him up under the teachings of the Swedenborgian called The New Church, which ingrained in him the strong belief that man should strive to be of service to others. After failing admissions tests for both Harvard and Yale and a stint at politics, Burnham apprenticed as a draftsman under William LeBaron Jenney. At age 26, Burnham moved on to the Chicago offices of Carter and Wight, Burnham and Root were the architects of one of the first American skyscrapers, the Masonic Temple Building in Chicago. Measuring 21 stories and 302 feet, the temple held claims as the tallest building of its time, under the design influence of Root, the firm had produced modern buildings as part of the Chicago School.
Following Root’s premature death from pneumonia in 1891, the became known as D. H. Burnham & Company. Burnham and Root had accepted responsibility to design and construction of the Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago’s then-desolate Jackson Park on the south lakefront. The largest worlds fair to date, it celebrated the 400-year anniversary of Christopher Columbus famous voyage. Under Burnhams direction, the construction of the Fair overcame huge financial and logistical hurdles, including a financial panic. Considered the first example of a planning document in the nation, the fairground was complete with grand boulevards, classical building facades. Often called the White City, it popularized neoclassical architecture in a monumental and rational Beaux-Arts plan, the remaining population of architects in the U. S. were soon asked by clients to incorporate similar elements into their designs. Initiated in 1906 and published in 1909, Burnham and his co-author Edward H. Bennett prepared The Plan of Chicago and it was the first comprehensive plan for the controlled growth of an American city, and an outgrowth of the City Beautiful movement.
The plan included proposals for the lakefront and river and declared that every citizen should be within walking distance of a park. Sponsored by the Commercial Club of Chicago, Burnham donated his services in hopes of furthering his own cause and conceptual designs of the south lakefront from the Exposition came in handy, as he envisioned Chicago being a Paris on the Prairie. French-inspired public works constructions and boulevards radiating from a central, City planning projects did not stop at Chicago though. Burnham had previously contributed to plans for such as Cleveland, San Francisco. The Plan for Manila never fully materialized due to the out of World War II
Chicago Loop
The Loop is the central business district of Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the citys 77 designated community areas, the Loop is home to Chicagos commercial core, City Hall, and the seat of Cook County. In the late century, cable car turnarounds and prominent elevated railway encircled the area. In what is now the Loop, on the bank of the Chicago River, near todays Michigan Avenue Bridge. It was the first settlement in the sponsored by the United States. Other research has concluded that the Loop was not used as a proper noun until after the 1895–97 construction of the Union elevated railway loop, Loop architecture has been dominated by skyscrapers and high-rises since early in its history. Some of the buildings in this district were instrumental in the development of towers. Chicagos street numbering system – dividing addresses into North, East, Chicago is still the nations rail transportation hub and passenger lines once reached seven Loop-area stations by the 1890s. Transfers from one to the other was a business for taxi drivers until the long-distance lines gave way to Amtrak in the 1970s with the majority of trains concentrated at Chicago Union Station.
This area abounds in shopping opportunities, including the Loop Retail Historic District and it includes Chicagos former Marshall Fields department store location in the Marshall Field and Company Building, the original Sullivan Center Carson Pirie Scott store location. Chicagos Downtown Theatre District is found within this area, along with numerous restaurants, Chicago has a famous skyline which features many of the tallest buildings in the world as well as the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District. Chicagos skyline is spaced out throughout the area, giving it a graceful beautiful appearance. Chicagos third tallest building, the Aon Center, is located just south of Illinois Center, the complex is at the east end of the Loop, east of Michigan Avenue. Two Prudential Plaza is located here, just to the west of the Aon Center, the Loop contains a wealth of outdoor sculpture, including works by Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Henry Moore, Marc Chagall, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Alexander Calder, and Jean Dubuffet.
Chicagos waterfront, which is almost exclusively recreational beach and park areas from north to south, the area hosts the annual music festival Lollapalooza which features popular alternative rock, heavy metal, EDM, hop hop and punk rock artists. Trips down the Chicago River, including tours, by commercial boat operators are great favorites with both locals and tourists alike. The Loop is the seat of Chicagos government and it is the government seat of Cook County and houses an office for the governor of the State of Illinois. The century old City Hall/County Building houses the chambers of the Mayor, City Council, across the street, the Richard J. Daley Center accommodates a famous Picasso sculpture and the state law courts
