Scientific Firsts That Happened In Chicago.

Chicago is a city of great innovation and wonderful inventions. If you live in our luxury Chicago apartments, then you’re probably already familiar with how famous your city is for being at the forefront of so many industries! 

Many global firsts have happened right here in Chicago, and the rest of the world has this city to thank for many of the scientific discoveries and technological gains made here.

Here are some of the scientific firsts that happened right here in Chicago!

Scientific firsts that happened in Chicago.

First American Nobel Peace Prize winner (science)

We use the term “speed of light” all the time, whether it’s in reference to the scientific term, an exaggerated speed or even in science fiction. Nowadays we take the phrase for granted, but it wasn’t too long ago that no one actually knew how fast light travelled, or even that it travelled at all! Thanks to a Chicago physicist, however, now we know all that and more.

Albert A. Michelson was born in Prussia (modern-day Poland) on December 19, 1852. He moved to the United States with his parents when he was just two years old, moving from New York City to Nevada and to California, where they settled in San Francisco. Michelson showed interest in the sciences from a young age, and when he entered the United States Naval Academy he excelled in scientific courses. He taught science at the Academy from 1875-1879. 

Toward the end of his career at the Naval Academy, Michelson began to devote a great deal of time to studying light and, more importantly, how to measure its speed. He spent years developing the tools and experiments for measuring the speed of light, and in 1881 he discovered that it travelled at around 299 million meters per second. Well, 299,792,458 meters per second, to be exact. 

Michelson served as the head of the physics department at the University of Chicago from 1892-1929, where he continued to study the speed of light and the various methods by which it could be measured. It was while he was here that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for Physics, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize in the sciences.

First skyscraper

When we think of skyscrapers, we think of big cities with international connections and astounding success. It’s no wonder, then, that Chicago was home to the first skyscraper in the world, officially cementing the city as a world-class center of commerce, trade and innovation.

The first skyscraper in the world was the Home Insurance Building which used to stand on the corner of LaSalle and Adams Streets in Downtown Chicago. It was built in 1885, shortly after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed most of the wooden buildings in the area. The renovation plan for the city included plans to build structures out of much less flammable materials, like stone, iron, steel and brick rather than wood. This allowed for taller, stronger buildings, and it gave engineer William LeBaron Jenney an idea for a project no one had ever seen before. 

Jenney designed a brick building supported by a skeleton of steel columns and beams, rather than heavy supporting walls. The lighter steel meant that the building could be taller and stronger while still weighing less than previous designs, and it allowed for more windows and doors, too. This revolutionary new concept was finally completed in 1890, and it measured 12 stories high, just over 185 feet. It was, by far, the tallest building in the city and, indeed, the world. 

Chicago residents can proudly say that not only did their city have the first skyscraper in the world, but that by the time New York City got its very first skyscraper, Chicago already had five. Take that, NYC.

Although the original Home Insurance Building is no longer standing (it was demolished in 1931), Chicago will always hold the Guinness title of having the first skyscraper in the world.

First nuclear reactor

The Atomic Era began with the first split atom, starting a chain of events (literally and figuratively) that defined much of World War II, the Cold War and many subsequent events. The new technology that exists in this Atomic Age has changed the sociopolitical climate all over the world and has introduced many new policies, innovations and dangers. The ability to harness nuclear energy has become such a major part of the world as we know it today that it has come to define the very era of human history we live in now. 

In 1942, Enrico Fermi led a team of scientists and researchers in creating what would be the first artificial nuclear reactor in the world. The project was developed by the University of Chicago’s Metallurgical Laboratory, but the only space they had available to work on the project was underneath the stadium stands at the original Stagg Field. Undeterred and confident that their experiment would be safe, the team built the first ever nuclear reactor under the stands, naming it Chicago Pile-1.

On December 2, 1942, Fermi began the experiment in the completed reactor. That day, the first artificial nuclear reaction was initiated inside the reactor, thus thrusting humanity into a new era of science, technology and innovation, and it all started underneath the stands of a Chicago football stadium.

How cool!

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Featured photo courtesy Pixabay/Free-Photos