In 1864, the CBOT listed the first ever standardized 'exchange traded' forward contracts, which were called futures contracts. A committee then developed bylaws that were adopted on the first Monday of April by 82 charter members of the Board of Trade. Whiting regarding the propriety of creating a board of trade led to the March 13 meeting merchants and businessmen in favor of establishing it and a resulting resolution for such an establishment and a Constitution. An early 1848 discussion between Thomas Richmond and W. The CBOT took shape to provide a centralized location, where buyers and sellers can meet to negotiate and formalize forward contracts.

Still, credit risk remained a serious problem. merchants to ensure that there were buyers and sellers for commodities have resulted in forward contracts to sell and buy commodities. (In America, only New York City had a larger population at the time.) In 1893, Chicago hosted the World’s Columbian Exposition, a tourist attraction visited by some 27.5 million people.Trading floor at the Chicago Board of Trade in 1993 By 1890, the city was a major economic and transportation hub with an estimated population of more than 1 million people. At the time of the fire, Chicago’s population was approximately 324,000 within nine years, there were some 500,000 Chicagoans. Reconstruction efforts began quickly and spurred great economic development and population growth, as architects laid the foundation for a modern city featuring the world’s first skyscrapers. His victory might also be attributable to the fact that most of the city’s voting records were destroyed in the fire, so it was next to impossible to keep people from voting more than once.ĭespite the fire’s devastation, much of Chicago’s physical infrastructure, including its transportation systems, remained intact. The month after the fire, Joseph Medill (1823-99) was elected mayor after promising to institute stricter building and fire codes, a pledge that may have helped him win the office. What is known is that the fire quickly grew out of control and moved rapidly north and east toward the city center. Legend holds that the blaze started when the family’s cow knocked over a lighted lantern however, Catherine O’Leary denied this charge, and the true cause of the fire has never been determined. The Great Chicago Fire began on the night of October 8, in or around a barn located on the property of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary at 137 DeKoven Street on the city’s southwest side.

In October 1871, dry weather and an abundance of wooden buildings, streets and sidewalks made Chicago vulnerable to fire. Following the blaze, reconstruction efforts began quickly and spurred great economic development and population growth. Legend has it that a cow kicked over a lantern in a barn and started the fire, but other theories hold that humans or even a meteor might have been responsible for the event that left an area of about four miles long and almost a mile wide of the Windy City, including its business district, in ruins. The Chicago Fire of 1871, also called the Great Chicago Fire, burned from October 8 to October 10, 1871, and destroyed thousands of buildings, killed an estimated 300 people and caused an estimated $200 million in damages.

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