Daniel H. Burnham was a very influential American architect in the late 1890s and early 1900s. He helped rebuild Chicago after the Great Fire, helped to develop the modern skyscraper and helped revolutionize urban planning. His plan to redesign Chicago still influences the design of modern cities today, and his "Flat Iron" building is still one of the best-known buildings of the twentieth century. Daniel H. Burnham was born just outside of New York City on September 4, 1846. When Daniel was nine years old, he and his family moved from New York to Chicago, Illinois, where he would end his childhood and graduate from high school public high school. In his early adult years, Daniel applied to college but was rejected. Subsequently, he worked as a retail salesman, mined gold in Nevada, and even tried to run for a seat in the Illinois State Senate. In his early twenties, Burnham began working as an apprentice for William Le Baron Jenney, a prominent Chicago architect. . In 1872 Burnham moved from Jenney's firm to the Carter, Drake and Wight Firm, where he worked as a draftsman. During this time, he met his future business partner, John Wellborn Root. After a year working at the Carter, Drake and Wight firm, Burnham and Root began their partnership and business flourished after the Great Chicago Fire. They were the primary firm that helped rebuild Chicago, and from 1873 to 1891 they designed and helped build 165 private residences and 75 buildings for various purposes. Many of their buildings were heavily influenced by European design. The exteriors derived from the sumptuous but simple ideas of ancient Greek and Roman monuments. Due to the high demand for office space in downtown Chicago, the company has adapted the most modern designs...... middle of paper... of the cities could be and have helped revolutionize urban planning. Even today his ideas on urban and regional planning "remain influential as a way to accommodate work, home, and leisure in close proximity to each other" (Gale Encyclopedia). Works Cited"Burnham, Daniel Hudson." Gale Encyclopedia of the Economic History of the United States. 1999. Retrieved April 10, 2011, from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3406400128.htmlDaniel H. Burnham. (2011). In the Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/85650/Daniel-H-BurnhamDaniel H Burnham. (2011) Flatiron Building. Retrieved from http://www.aviewoncities.com/nyc/flatiron.htm Sullivan, Louis, The Autobiography of an Idea, Press of the American Institute of Architects, Inc, 1924. Retrieved April 10, 2011, from http://en .wikipedia .org/wiki/Daniel_Burnham#cite_note-7