Chicago River

Chicago River is the only river in the world that flows backwards ... It's an ENGINEERING MARVEL ... [btw the colour of water is indeed green]

Before 1900, the river flowed into Lake Michigan ... but ... Since 1900, the flow of the river has been reversed and now ... Chicago River begins from Lake Michigan and empties into the Mississippi River System.

WHY??? This growth was of the city was accompanied by real costs in terms of pollution ... as large amounts of industrial wastes and domestic garbage was dumped into the river. It often resulted in deadly water-borne epidemics like cholera, typhoid and other diseases. In 1889, The "Sanitary District of Chicago" was created to find a solution to these problems. It planned to reverse the river's flow ... to change it from emptying into Lake Michigan to emptying into Mississippi River System. On Jan.16, 1900; the job was accomplished.

Now River Chicago is the only river in the world that flows backwards. This engineering feat has been compared to the building of Panama Canal. A 28 mile canal has been built from which more earth and rocks has been removed than from the Panama project. There are 52 movable bridges, one of the highest in the world!!!

The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art

The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art located on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis, Minnesota has been a teaching museum for the university since 1934. The museum's current building, designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, was completed in 1993.

It is one of the major landmarks on campus, situated on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River at the east end of the Washington Avenue Bridge. The building presents two faces, depending on which side it is viewed from. From the campus side, it presents a brick facade that blends with the existing brick and sandstone buildings. On the opposite side, the museum is a playground of curving and angular sandblaster steel sheets.

The most stunning views of the building are from the pedestrian and highway decks of the adjacent bridge. Some locals critical of the radical architectural style frequently point out that the building's design could unexpectedly reflect the light of the sun into the eyes of motorists on the bridge. Studies commissioned by MNDOT have found that the museum is not hazardous to motorists.

Often called a "modern art museum," the 20,000+ image collection has large collections of Marsden Hartley, Alfred Maurer, Charles Biederman, Native American Mimbres culture pottery, and Korean furniture.