Chi-Town's OG Iron Lady: Home Insurance Building

Back in the 19th century, Chicago's lively streets welcomed an architectural marvel: the Home Insurance Building. This jazzy wonder was the groundbreaker, dreamt up by a creative designer named none other than William Le Baron Jenney. She was the first to take a leap of faith with a steel skeleton – both inside and out – and she soared at 138 feet (42.1 meters), an impressive sight to behold. With her staggering altitude, this knockout sky-riser sent shockwaves across the architectural scene, even turning the heads of city officials who, at first, had concerns about safety.

But they eventually eased up, and that's when she earned her title as the 'daddy of the skyscraper'. To honor her enduring importance, a plaque was planted in the southwest section of the Field Building in 1932, saluting Jenney as the architect of the first skyscraper. His innovative architectural strategies have been adopted by most modern skyscrapers today.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons