Milwaukee began as a settlement for Native Americans on the banks of the fifth-largest lake in the world, Lake Michigan. However, the city has developed in many ways since that time and today serves as an industrial center and a home to a large immigrant population. Milwaukee was known in the early 20th century for Germanism, socialism and beer. Today it is still known for beer and provides a base for two major companies in that industry: Miller and Pabst Blue Ribbon.

The first settler to arrive in the area was Solomon Juneau in 1818. However, the city of Milwaukee wasn't incorporated until 1846. To accomplish this feat required a meeting of the minds between three rivals. Byron Kilbourn and George Walker had founded towns to the west and south of the river. The rivalry between the towns was a driving factor in their early development, and the legacy remains today in various idiosyncrasies such as the city's many angled bridges. Those angles resulted from Kilbourn's determination that the streets in Kilbourntown (west of the river) would not match up with the streets in Juneautown on the other side of the river.

However, the rivalries slowly subsided as the three "founding fathers" all saw the potential for the region and for a Great Lakes port city. Today Milwaukee still serves as an international seaport.

After the Civil War, the city's growing industry brought immigrants from several countries including many from Germany, Poland, Ireland and Russia. The different ethnic backgrounds of this influx of immigrants has helped to form the base of Milwaukee's current diversity.

In 1895 Milwaukee built a 15-story City Hall that gained it temporary notoriety as possessing the world's tallest skyscraper. The title was overtaken by New York City's Park Tower four years later, but this established Milwaukee as one of only three cities in the United States (and four in the world) to be able to claim that it was ever home to one of the world's tallest buildings.

Milwaukee was also at one time one of the largest cities in the country. In the 1960s the city experienced a time of urban renewal. Developments such as the freeway were envisioned and executed while other projects sought to restore and improve the city's infrastructure with new high rises and housing projects.

Here are a few other interesting pieces of historical trivia:

• France's historic St. Joan of Arc Chapel was moved from New York to Milwaukee in 1966. Today it resides on the Marquette University campus.
• Milwaukee is home to Harley-Davidson.
• The city boasts famous natives including rocker Steve Miller, actress Heather Graham and actor Gene Wilder.

Sources:
(http://www.broadcast.net/~sbe28/milw.html)