<P> The city of Chicago has been known by many nicknames, but it is most widely recognized as the "Windy City". </P> <P> The earliest known reference to the "Windy City" was actually to Green Bay in 1856 . The first known repeated effort to label Chicago with this nickname is from 1876 and involves Chicago's rivalry with Cincinnati . The term "Windy City" came into common usage when it was popularized by New York City editor, Charles Dana, in The Sun during the bidding for the 1893 Columbian Exposition . Chicago won the Exposition, which did not please Dana . The popularity of the nickname has endured, long after the Cincinnati rivalry and the Columbian Exposition ended . </P> <P> There are four main possibilities to explain the city's nickname: the weather, as Chicago is near Lake Michigan; the World's Fair; politics; and the rivalry with Cincinnati . </P> <P> While Chicago is widely known as the "Windy City", it is not the windiest city in the United States . Some of the windier cities recorded by the NOAA / NCDC are Mount Washington, NH at 35.1 mph (56.5 km / h), Blue Hill, MA at 15.2 mph (24.5 km / h), Dodge City, KS at 13.9 mph (22.3 km / h), Amarillo, Texas at 13.5 mph (21.7 km / h), and Lubbock, Texas at 12.4 mph (20 km / h). Chicago is not significantly windier than any other U.S. city . For example, the average annual wind speed of Chicago is 10.3 mph (16.6 km / h); Boston: 12.4 mph (20.0 km / h); Central Park, New York City: 9.3 mph (15.0 km / h); and Los Angeles: 7.5 mph (12.1 km / h). </P>

Where does the term windy city come from