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100 unusual facts about Illinois


18th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment

The 18th Illinois Infantry was organized at Aurora, Illinois and mustered into Federal service on May 28, 1861 for a three year enlistment.

1921 APFA season

The Staleys, who moved from Decatur, Illinois, to Chicago before the season, were named the APFA Champions over the Buffalo All-Americans.

Acosada

However it was not until 1 June 1966 that the film premiered in the USA in Champaign, Illinois.

Adam's Ribs

Hawkeye and Trapper go down to try to negotiate them from a stubborn supply sergeant, who is willing to help once he finds out where they're from (as he lives in Joliet, a Chicago suburb, and is a huge fan of Adam's Ribs).

Alfred Babcock

In 1850, Babcock moved to Illinois and settled in Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois where he continued the practice of his profession until his death in 1871.

Bloomfield, Illinois

Bloomfield, Scott County, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Scott County, Illinois

Bremen, Illinois

Bremen, Jo Daviess County, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Jo Daviess County

Calvin B. Hoover

Hoover was born in Berwick, Illinois to John Calvin Hoover and Margaret Delilah Roadcap Hoove.

Canadian Martyrs

The martyrs are honored at Camp Ondessonk, a Catholic summer camp in Ozark, Illinois, where each unit of cabins is named after one of the martyrs.

Candace Kroslak

Candace Kaye Kroslak (born Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, July 22, 1978) is an American actress of Slovak descent, probably best known for her role as Lindy Maddock in the Swedish-American soap opera Ocean Ave.

Casey Claw

It was originally developed by Mark Casey in 1993, a former marching member and drum sergeant of the The Cavaliers of Rosemont, Illinois.

Cecil Bothwell

Bothwell was born 1950 in Oak Park, Illinois, lived in several states and held several jobs in the area of Asheville, North Carolina.

Central Street

Central Street (Evanston, IL), a major east-west road and shopping district in Evanston, Illinois

Chaim Kreiswirth

In 1947, he moved to the United States and from 1947 to 1953 served as Rosh Yeshiva at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois.

Chicago Business College

The Chicago Business College (founded as the Gondering and Virden Business College in 1888) was a for-profit business school located on Wabash Avenue in downtown Chicago, Illinois.

Chicago Storm

The team moved its home games to the newly built Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, a northwest suburb of Chicago, for the 2006-07 season.

Chicago United Breeze

The team plays its home games in the stadium on the campus of Harry D. Jacobs High School in the city of Algonquin, Illinois, 45 miles north-west of downtown Chicago.

Chicagoland Television

The channel began operations on January 1, 1993, originally broadcasting out of studios located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook.

Clint Frank

Clinton E. Frank died at the Evanston Hospital in Evanston, Illinois after a brief illness.

Cy Touff

Cyril James Touff (March 4, 1927, Chicago – January 24, 2003, Evanston, Illinois) was a jazz bass trumpeter.

Dale Barnstable

Dale Barnstable (born 1925) is an American retired basketball player from Antioch, Illinois who was banned from the NBA for life in 1951 for point shaving.

Danville New Tech High

Danville New Tech High School is a school located in Danville, Illinois.

Dennis Vaske

Dennis James Vaske (born October 11, 1967 in Rockford, Illinois) is a retired American ice hockey defenseman.

E. Woolsey Peck

In 1867, he moved to Sycamore, Illinois then to Rockford, Illinois and then back to Tuscaloosa, Alabama.He was elected chairman of the Military Reconstruction Convention of 1867.

Eichorst Island

Eichorst Island was named by the United States Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) for Marvin H. (Ike) Eichorst of Glenview, Illinois, licensed operator of amateur radio station W9RUK who handled radio traffic between points in the United States and Palmer Station during the period 1964-1972.

Flat as a Pancake

Head East recorded the album at Golden Voice Studios in South Pekin, Illinois.

Francena H. Arnold

Francena Harriet Long was born Sept. 9, 1888, on a farm near Literberry, Illinois, to James Harvey Long and Hannah Cox Long.

Francis Clay

Born and raised in Rock Island, Illinois, he started playing jazz, professionally at the age of 15, played drums behind many of the biggest names of 20th century popular American music.

Fred Paul Hedges

Originally from Ewing, Illinois, Freddie Paul Hedges was a long-time friend of Grand Ole Opry star Billy Grammer who hired Hedges to help establish Grammer's newly formed guitar company.

Genoa-Kingston High School

Genoa-Kingston High School is a public high school located in Genoa, Illinois.

George E. Coghill

Born in Beaucoup, Illinois, to John Waller and Elisabeth Tucker Coghill, George started college at Shurtleff College in Alton, Illinois.

Girard incident

Specialist Third Class Girard, a 21-year-old enlisted man from Ottawa, Illinois, used a grenade launcher mounted on an M1 rifle to fire an empty casing at Sakai, which killed her.

Glenbard North High School

Michael Quigley is a United States Congressman, representing the 5th Congressional District of Illinois; a seat he won in a special election to replace Rahm Emanuel.

Gregory Perino

His fascination with the past and his innate ability to locate and meticulously excavate prehistoric cemeteries and burial mounds soon led him into a career as a self-taught professional archaeologist, first with the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma; then with the Foundation for Illinois Archeology in Kampsville, Illinois; and finally with the Museum of the Red River in Idabel, Oklahoma.

Harding Tomb

The memorial is also important in American history because it is the last of the elaborate presidential tombs, a trend that began with the burial of President Abraham Lincoln in his tomb in Springfield, Illinois.

Henry S. Magoon

Born in Monticello, Wisconsin, Magoon attended the Rock River Seminary, Mount Morris, Illinois, and was graduated from the Western Military College, Drennon, Kentucky, in 1853.

Herb Hake

Herbert V. Hake, son of Henry and Louisa Hake, was born August 10, 1903, in Hoyleton, Illinois.

Howie Crittenden

He was head basketball coach at Metropolis High School in Metropolis, Illinois and Calloway County High School in Murray, Kentucky.

Illinois Route 103

Route 103 begins at a junction with U.S. Route 24 in Woodstock Township in southern Schuyler County, northeast of Ripley.

Illinois Route 116

Illinois 116 was a popular agricultural and commercial truck route from Burlington, Iowa (on the Mississippi River) to Peoria, Illinois (on the Illinois River) during World War II and through the late 1960s.

Illinois Route 163

At Booker T. Washington Cemetery, the route heads northwest into Centreville Township, where it meets Illinois 157.

Illinois Route 179

From here, the highway ran west through farmland to Dana.

Illinois's 19th congressional district

The district became obsolete for 2013's 113th Congress, as population growth in Illinois was slower compared to other states.

Isaac N. Morris

He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1835 and commenced practice in Warsaw, Illinois, in 1836.

J. Frank Duryea

On November 28, 1895, Frank Duryea won the first motor-car race in the United States, a 54-mile loop along the lakeshore from Chicago to Evanston and back again.

James Bullough Lansing

James Martini was born on January 14, 1902, in Greenridge, Nilwood Township, Macoupin County, Illinois to parents Henry Martini of St. Louis, Missouri, and Grace Erbs Martini of Central City, Illinois.

Jimtown, Illinois

Jimtown, Champaign County, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Champaign County, Illinois

John Baricevic

Justice Baricevic presides over the Twentieth Judicial Circuit (Fifth Appellate District) in Illinois for the counties of Monroe, Perry, Randolph, St. Clair, and Washington.

John Richard Parker

John Parker was born in 1830 in Crawford County, Illinois the second oldest child of Silas Mercer Parker (1802–1836) and Lucy (Duty) Parker.

Jonathan Blitstein

Jonathan Blitstein (born 1982 Lincolnshire, Illinois) is an American playwright, and indie filmmaker.

Julius Sterling Morton

 Sterling Morton High School District, located in Berwyn and Cicero, Illinois.

Kate Booth

At her husband's wish, Katie and the children travelled with him to the cult leader John Alexander Dowie's Zion City, a township about 40 miles north of Chicago.

Kevin Stevens

Not only did he rarely see the ice during this season, but after a game against the St. Louis Blues, he was caught in an East St. Louis, Illinois motel with a prostitute and crack cocaine.

KGCW

KGCW can also be seen on KLJB's second digital subchannel (UHF channel 49.2 or virtual channel 18.2 via PSIP) from a transmitter in the Orion village of Western Township, Illinois.

Kinderhook plates

The Kinderhook plates were a set of six small, bell-shaped pieces of brass with strange engravings which were claimed to have been discovered in 1843 in an Indian mound near Kinderhook, Illinois.

Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards

The awards have been restricted to teachers in Cook County in Illinois, but beginning in 2008, the honor will be extended to DuPage County as well.

Lake Township, Illinois

Lake Township, Cook County, Illinois, also known as the Town of Lake, annexed to Chicago in 1889

Ledyard Tucker

Ledyard R Tucker (19 September 1910 Glenwood Springs, Colorado – 16 August 2004 Savoy, Illinois) was an American mathematician who specialized in statistics and psychometrics.

Legality of piggybacking

David M. Kauchak was the first person to be charged with "remotely accessing another computer system" in Winnebago County.

Lou Black

Born in Rock Island, Illinois, he began playing banjo during early childhood and became professional in 1917.

Macon County, Illinois

Milam (former, now defunct, after merger with Mount Zion Township)

Mary's River Covered Bridge

The bridge was built in 1854 as part of a plank toll road connecting Chester to Bremen; the bridge allowed agricultural products to be transported to Chester, a significant port on the Mississippi River.

Megan Kane

Kane attended Lutheran High School in Springfield, Illinois.

Mercer County High School

Aledo residents began offering educational opportunities to their children in the mid-19th century.

Milam Township, Macon County, Illinois

Milam Township is a former township which was located in Macon County, Illinois.

Milledgeville High School

MHS serves the communities and surrounding areas of Milledgeville, Chadwick, Lanark, Mt. Carroll, Savanna, and Thomson.

National Register of Historic Places listings in West Side Chicago

The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Historic District extends through Cook County west of Chicago, DuPage County and Will County to Lockport.

Network Solutions

During January, 2006, Network Solutions acquired e-commerce solutions company MonsterCommerce co-founded by Stephanie Leffler and Ryan Noble in Belleville, Illinois.

Olney Township, Nobles County, Minnesota

Finally, on June 15, 1874, the board accepted the suggestion of pioneer settler R. W. Moberly that the township be named after Olney, Illinois, county seat of Richland County, Illinois.

Oscar Albuquerque

He is currently the president of Pro Soccer International, an ownership group which holds the rights to American Indoor Soccer League teams in Chicago and Rockford, Illinois.

Osco Drug

Also in 1968, Osco's headquarters relocated from Melrose Park, Illinois to Franklin Park, Illinois.

Owen Scott

Born on a farm in Jackson Township, Illinois, Scott attended the common schools, a private school in Kinmundy, and the State normal school in Normal, Illinois.

Peoria, Illinois City Council election, 2003

In Peoria, Illinois, each elector casts five votes in the At-Large elections.

Peru, Nebraska

The first attempt to settle the community occurred in 1853 when some residents of Peru, Illinois.

Pleasant Rowland

Rowland was born in the Chicago area and grew up in Bannockburn, a suburb north of Chicago.

Ralf Henricksen

Murals were also commissioned to him as part of the Treasury Section of Fine Arts at the Stanton (IL) and Monroe (Michigan) Post Offices.

Reptile centre

A Burmese Python at the reptile centre Serpent Safari in Gurnee, Illinois was billed as the heaviest living snake in captivity.

Rock Creek, Illinois

Rock Creek, Hardin County, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Hardin County, Illinois

Rolling Meadows High School

It serves primarily central and east Rolling Meadows (east of Route 53), a significant part of Arlington Heights and a small part of Mount Prospect.

Ron Wells

Ron Wells, (born October 2, 1961, in Rantoul, Illinois) is a former American football player.

Rosemary Mulligan

In the fall of 2009 Mulligan announced her intention to run for Republican Committeeman of Maine Township Maine Township, Cook County, Illinois against incumbent Mark Thompson.

Ryan Weemer

Ryan G. Weemer is a former Marine from Hindsboro, Illinois, who was tried in a military court for war crimes that were allegedly committed while he was on active duty during the Iraq War.

Schreder HP-15

In the April 2011 the sole HP-15 prototype, registered N5488, still existed and was privately registered in Peoria, Illinois.

Shirley Allen

Shirley Allen, of Roby, Illinois, is a former nurse whose family's 1997 attempt to have her involuntarily committed led to a 39-day standoff (described by some as a "siege") with Illinois State Police and other law-enforcement agencies.

Shop 'n Save

Shop ’n Save was founded in 1979 as a grocery store in Belleville, Illinois, near St. Louis, Missouri.

Stanley Girard Schlarman

After serving as chaplain to a local Catholic hospital, he became a pastor in St. Rose Township and later in Cairo.

Sverre Lassen-Urdahl

Sverre Lassen-Urdahl (1913–2005) was a Norwegian alpine skier, born in Lake Forest, Illinois, United States.

Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas

One of the quotes from this Tablet, "The source of all learning is the knowledge of God, exalted be His glory" was chosen by Shoghi Effendi to adorn one of the doors on the House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois.

Teco pottery

The American Terra Cotta Tile and Ceramic Company was founded in 1881; originally as Spring Valley Tile Works; in Terra Cotta, Illinois, between Crystal Lake, Illinois and McHenry, Illinois near Chicago by William Day Gates.

The Great Santini

Believing that the film's title - giving the perception that it was about circus stunts - would be the problem, it was tested as Sons and Heroes in Fort Wayne, Indiana, as Reaching Out in Rockford, Illinois, and The Ace in Peoria, Illinois.

Trend Is Dead! Records

Records (stylized as tREND iS dEAD! records) is an independent record label based out of Normal, Illinois, United States.

Union Pacific North Line

The Union Pacific North Line (UP-N) is a Metra commuter rail line in the Chicago metropolitan area that runs between Chicago and Waukegan, Illinois, with some trains continuing to Kenosha, Wisconsin.

W29CI-D

W29CI-D is a low-power religious television station in Salem, Illinois, broadcasting locally on channel 29 as an affiliate of 3ABN.

WDDD

WDDD (AM), a defunct radio station (810 AM) formerly licensed to Johnston City, Illinois, United States

William Burton Roy

William Burton "Bill" Roy (born on 4 December 1958 in Versailles, Illinois) is a retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force and former U.S. Olympian in skeet shooting.

William Harrison Holly

He was an assistant state's attorney of Cook County, Illinois from 1914 to 1916, thereafter returning to private practice in Chicago until 1933.

WLMM

WLMM-LP, a low-power radio station (103.9 FM) licensed to Channahon, Illinois, United States

WQAD-DT3

Over-the-air, the station airs a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 38.3 (or virtual channel 8.3 via PSIP) from a transmitter in Orion, a village of Western Township, Illinois.

WXJO

In March 2000, the station changed call signs to the current WXJO, previously used on what is now WFUN-FM 95.5 Bethalto, Illinois.

Yorkville High School

Yorkville High School, or YHS, is a public four-year high school located in Yorkville, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States.


1921 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

An Illinois team of the great Robert Zuppke was the opponent.

1992–93 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

After sitting out a season, Andy Kaufmann returned for the 1992-93 campaign and helped lead Illinois to a 19-13 record and trip to the

Beatmania IIDX 14: Gold

The build was first seen at a location test at Brunswick Zone Naperville in Naperville, Illinois.

Bessemer Park

Bessemer Park is a public park in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. Created in 1904, it was named for Henry Bessemer, the inventor of the eponymous steelmaking process.

Cal Pritner

Students from the Illinois State University Department of Theatre, which Pritner served as founding department chair, include: a majority of the founding members of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble; Tony winners Judith Ivey and Rondi Reed; Oscar nominee John Malkovich; former Steppenwolf Theatre artistic directors Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Randy Arney; and film and television stars Gary Cole and Jane Lynch.

Classical 24

WNIU, broadcasting from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, is another full power FM that carries Classical 24 on a full-time basis.

Cook County Courthouse

Richard J. Daley Center, the location of the Court of Cook County, Illinois

Craig Virgin

Additionally, Virgin remains the record-holder in Illinois Boys Cross Country, running a 13:50.6 in 1972, which has only been approached by within five seconds by Chris Derrick in 2007 (13:51.8) and Lukas Verzbicas in 2010 (13:53.8)

Douglas Otto

Otto then was the superintendent of schools for the North Scott School Community District in Eldridge, Iowa and the Rockridge Community Unit School District in Taylor Ridge, Illinois.

Eric Sedler

As a leading member of the Issue Department for the Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, Sedler worked with House leadership and state legislators to develop communications programs to advance the caucus agenda.

Fab Lab MSI

Fab Lab MSI (Fabrication Laboratory at the Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago), Illinois) - The Fab lab MSI is a small scale workshop that uses various machines to create both prototypes for individuals and small projects for museum members and visitors.

Frederick Lundin

In 1908 Lundin was elected as a Republican Congressman to the 61st United States Congress from Illinois' 7th congressional district, a Chicago seat.

Greens/Green Party USA

The Clearinghouse has operated from various locations, including (originally) Kansas City, Missouri; Blodgett Mills, New York; Lawrence, Massachusetts; and Chicago, Illinois.

Hopewell, Illinois

Hopewell, Illinois is the location used by author Terry Brooks in his fantasy novel Running with the Demon.

Illinois State Fair

The Illinois State Fair was featured on the NBC-TV show The Great American Road Trip in July 2009.

Jacques Gravier

In 1696 Gravier was named to found the Illinois mission among the Illinois, Miami, Kaskaskia and others of the Illiniwek confederacy situated in the Mississippi River and Illinois River valleys.

James Edgar

Jim Edgar, former secretary of state and governor of Illinois

James Harrod

A contemporary of better known explorers like Daniel Boone, George Rogers Clark, Benjamin Logan, and Simon Kenton, Harrod led many expeditions into the regions that now form Kentucky and Illinois.

Jewelers Building

35 East Wacker - in Chicago, Illinois, built in 1925-1927, designed by Joachim G. Giaver and Frederick P. Dinkelberg

Jocelyn Brando

Jocelyn and Marlon Brando and their sister Frances grew up mostly in the Midwest—in Omaha, Nebraska, Evanston and Libertyville, Illinois, though the family also spent time in California.

Joe Rutgens

Joseph Casimiere Rutgens (born January 26, 1939 in Cedar Point, Illinois) is a former American football defensive tackle in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins.

Luke Stannard

After college, Stannard continued training at Illinois for another year, working as an assistant for Justin Spring.

Lybster

However, during the American Revolution, following some victories in the Ohio and Illinois territories, Patrick Sinclair felt it was necessary to move Fort Michilimackinac from its exposed location on the northernmost point of the lower peninsula of Michigan to Mackinac Island.

Mary Bartelme

Mary Margaret Bartelme (July 24, 1866 – July 25, 1954) was the first woman appointed Cook County Public Guardian in Illinois, and the first women elected judge in a court of high jurisdiction in that state.

Mary Odilia Berger

The congregation, through SSM Health Care, today operates in Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

Mitchigamea

In 1673, Marquette and Joliet needed a translator from Miami-Illinois to understand the Michigamea; most contact was in Plains Sign Language.

Northfield, Illinois

This department is Accredited by CALEA, and was one of the first in the State of Illinois to become so accredited.

One Live Kiss

The live concert was recorded at the House of Blues in Chicago, IL, on November 6, 2006 and features performances of Stanley's songs from his 1978 self-titled solo album and the 2006 release Live to Win, as well as selected songs from various eras of Kiss.

Pecatonica, Illinois

Pecatonica is the hometown of Hacks Auction, Northern Illinois premier auction house and J&J Tumbling and Trampoline which has produced several world class athletes, including 1988 Woman's Tumbling World Champion Megan Cunningham Gearhart (later a coach) and National Trampoline Team member Michael Devine.

Salpointe Catholic High School

The Board of Members consists of the members of the Provincial Council of the Society of Mount Carmel of Illinois (The Most Pure Heart of Mary Province of the Carmelite Order).

Samuel Mason

By 1797, he moved the base of his river piracy further downriver to Cave-in-Rock on the Illinois shore.

Serve Illinois Commission

The Commission is accomplishing this mission through the support of local community-based efforts to enhance volunteer opportunities and the administration of Illinois' AmeriCorps programs.

Sister Kinderhook

The album revolves around a fantastical theme that explores subject matter such as the New Netherland settlements, Colonial Federalism, feral children, the Anti-Rent Wars of 1844, Early American portraiture, and the prehistoric Mound Builder giants of Illinois and Ohio.

Sludgeworth

Sludgeworth is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois consisting of Dan Schafer (vocals), Adam White (guitar), Dave McClean (guitar), Mike Hootenstrat (bass), and Brian Vermin (drums).

Stanley Steemer

The company sponsors the NASCAR "30-lap Stanley Steemer NASCAR Late Model" race held at Rockford Speedway in Rockford, Illinois.

State Farm Downtown Building

The building is listed as a contributing property to the National Register of Historic Places listed Bloomington Central Business District, a historic district encompassing much of downtown Bloomington, Illinois.

Steadfast Networks

Steadfast Networks is a Chicago, Illinois-based Internet Service Provider primarily focused on Shared Hosting, Dedicated Servers and Colocation.

Sunset Ridge School District 29

Sunset Ridge was the top middle school in Illinois in ISAT testing in 2005, and is always one of the top two public schools in the State of Illinois.

Thorn Creek Nature Center and Preserve

Thorn Creek Woods Nature Center and Preserve is located in Will County, Illinois near the municipality of Park Forest, Illinois.

Tony Lagouranis

He was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and graduated from high school in 1987 in New York City, going on to study Ancient Greek as part of his degree program at St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Arabic at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California.

Tri-state area

Three other prominent areas that have been labeled tri-state areas are the Cincinnati tri-state area, including Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana; the Pittsburgh tri-state area, covering parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia; and the Chicago tri-state area, also known as Chicagoland, which includes Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

Wauconda

Wauconda Township, Lake County, Illinois, a township in Lake County, Illinois, United States

WBLN

WYZZ-TV, a television station (channel 43) licensed to Bloomington, Illinois, United States, which used the call sign WBLN from 1982 to September 1985

WDDD

WDDD-FM, a radio station (107.3 FM) licensed to Johnston City, Illinois, United States

William H. Block Co.

Restaurants located within the Illinois Street store included the Fountain Luncheonette, the Terrace Tea Room, the Men’s Grille, and the James Whitcomb Riley Room.