Chicago Facts

Next to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world.

In 1987, a Chicago TV station had its broadcast interrupted by a pirate signal that shows a man in a Max Headroom mask mumbling and being spanked with a fly swatter. Despite investigations by the FCC and FBI, this became the only known incident in which a hacker interrupted a major TV broadcast without getting caught.

The rarest motorcycle in the world was found behind a brick wall in Chicago and has engine technologies well ahead of its time. The “Traub” is still running to this day.

In 1996, a 3-year-old boy climbed a barrier at Brookfield Zoo and fell 24 feet into the gorilla enclosure. He was unconscious. An 8-year-old gorilla named Binti Jua picked him up, cradled him against her body, and carried him to the enclosure door where keepers could reach him. Her own 17-month-old baby, Koola, clung to her back the entire time. The boy spent four days in hospital and made a full recovery. Binti Jua is still alive at Brookfield Zoo — now a grandmother.