Having read about an automobile race in France, Kohlsaat decided he'd host America's first auto race in Chicago. The year was 1895 and automobiles were still a great curiosity. Kohlsaat, owner/publisher of the Chicago Times Herald, planned to exploit the growing interest in motoring by sponsoring a 54-mile race from downtown Chicago to nearby suburb Evanston, Illinois, and back. The match was open to all comers, foreign or domestic, whether powered by gas, electricity, or steam. The top prize: $2,000 (that's 50,000 2016 dollars).

Chicagoans are very particular about their hot dogs. To begin with, it has to be an all-beef product, served on a steamed poppy seed bun. But just as important are the essential toppings. If you walk into a proper Chicago hot dog stand and order it "Chicago Style," you'll get exactly these seven ingredients on your dog: yellow mustard, chopped white onions, neon green pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato wedges, sport peppers and, of course, celery salt.

Chicago has been known as many things over the years—“Hog Butcher to the World,” “The City That Works,” “The Windy City” and “The City of Big Shoulders” among them. Although perhaps lesser known, add “City of Bridges” to the list.

The gear lover's guide to "da show," plus native dishes, language lessons, amazing factoids and other bits about our kind of town.

In spite of being the "Second City," Chicago has always cultivated a reputation for bigness. We're known for big talk, big shoulders, big basketball players - and big gears. While not necessarily the biggest in the world (more about that late), some Chicago gears are among the hardest working.

About the time we were midst of planning the editorial content for this issue of Gear Technology, we, like everyone else in the metro area, found ourselves diverted by the Great Chicago Flood. For a week, it seemed to be all we thought about. Then the tunnels dried out, the stores reopened, and we all went back to work.