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Audio By Carbonatix
Many people out there already know this fact. It’s not like it is a secret. But apparently, there are thousands upon thousands of people who are just now learning that the city of Chicago is almost directly north of part of Florida.
That’s right. If you traveled in an almost direct line south in an airplane from Chicago, you would end up around Pensacola, Florida.
This fact, while it doesn’t seem to make sense, has gone viral thanks to X (Twitter) user Jay Cuda. Because of him, a whole lot of people, including yours truly, are having a TIL moment.
if u start in chicago & go straight south u will eventually be in florida pic.twitter.com/gXTTvAYI81
— Jay Cuda (@JayCuda) June 23, 2025
Now this little bit of handiwork, which came from a post on Tumblr, doesn’t work on all maps of the United States. Go ahead and try it. I did, and the straight line south from Chicago actually ended up in the state of Mississippi. (Try it on the map at the top of this story.)
That’s why, originally, I didn’t believe that if you traveled straight south from the city of Chicago you would end up in the western part of Florida. I didn’t even believe it when Grok said it was true.
Yes, it’s true. Traveling straight south from Chicago, following the 87.65°W longitude, leads to Florida’s western panhandle, near Pensacola (87.24°W). The path goes through Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. However, not all of Florida is directly south; Miami (80.2°W)…
— Grok (@grok) June 23, 2025
Then I realized that the Earth is round, not flat. So, I grabbed a map of the world with the latitudes and longitudes on it, and, voila! It is true! Chicago is directly north of a very, very small part of Florida.
It also explains why Chicago, Illinois and Pensacola, Florida are in the same time zone, which is something else I had never realized and at first glance also doesn’t seem to make any sense.
Content shared from brobible.com.