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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.

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.

Archeophone Records

Archeophone Records, LLC, based in Champaign, Illinois, specializes in preserving recordings of the acoustic era of the recording industry by remastering phonograph cylinders and gramophone records from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and releasing them on compact disc.

Ayers, Illinois

Ayers, Carroll County, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Carroll County, Illinois

Best Country Today

Beginning as one of the original Satellite Music Network formats over 20 years ago, its studios and offices were located in Mokena, Illinois, just outside of Chicago.

Bremen, Illinois

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

Buda Engine Co.

Buda Engine was founded in 1881 by George Chalender in Buda, Illinois to make equipment for railways.

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.

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.

Chicago Garter Snake

It was described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1892, and can be found in the vicinity of rural waterways in northeastern Illinois, such as Piscasaw Creek in Boone County and McHenry County, 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.

Danville New Tech High

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

Domasi

The Shallow Well Project funded by the First Presbyterian Church of Urbana in Urbana, Illinois, United States is providing safe drinking water for the villages around Domasi.

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.

Edward E. Wilson

Moving to Chicago, he filled the post of assistant state attorney for Cook County, Illinois, from 1912 until his retirement in 1947.

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.

Ellyn

Glen Ellyn, Illinois, affluent village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States

Flat as a Pancake

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

For the Lonely Lest the Wiser

For the Lonely Lest the Wiser is the first EP but second release from Wauconda, Illinois rock outfit Dr Manhattan.

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.

Frederick J. Kapala

He was an assistant state's attorney of Winnebago County, Illinois from 1976 to 1977, and was in private practice in Rockford, Illinois from 1977 to 1982.

Furniture Style

The magazine was based in Lincolnshire, Illinois, at Vance Publishing's corporate headquarters; it was founded in October 1996.

Genoa-Kingston High School

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

George Corneal

From 1911 to 1914, Corneal was the basketball coach at Rock Island High School in Rock Island, Illinois.

George E. Coghill

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

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.

Halsted Street

The road continues intermittently and ends, marked as Halstead Street, at 287th street north of Beecher, Illinois.

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.

Herb Hake

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

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 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.

Illinois's 19th congressional district election, 2006

Illinois's 6th congressional district election 2006 was an election that pitted incumbent John Shimkus since 1997 and Centralia City Councilman and College Professor Danny Stover.

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

Johan Engholm

Several descendants of Johan Engholm emigrated to the US (mainly Illinois) in the beginning of the 20th century.

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.

John Wilson Ruckman

Biographies, however, usually list his place of birth as Sidney, Illinois (Champaign County).

Justin Tranter

Justin Tranter and his three older brothers were raised by his parents in Lake Zurich, 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.

Kumler

Kumler, Illinois, ghost town in West Township, McLean County, Illinois, USA

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.

Mentor Graham

William Mentor Graham (1800 - 1886) was an American teacher best known for tutoring Abraham Lincoln and giving him his higher education during the future US President's time in New Salem, Illinois.

Mercer County High School

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

Midwest League

In 1976 the Midwest League contracted from ten teams to eight when teams in Danville and Dubuque were eliminated.

Mike Errico

Errico also showcases his skill as a guitarist in an intricate arrangement of the Tom Waits classic, "Johnsburg, Illinois." "The song has such an aching quality to it, and I just needed to arrange it, so I'd always have it with me," Errico says.

Milam Township, Macon County, Illinois

In 2009, it was merged into Mount Zion Township.

Nation of Celestial Space

The Nation of Celestial Space (also known as Celestia) was a micronation created by Evergreen Park, Illinois, resident James Thomas Mangan.

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.

Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory

The Nathan M. Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory, or Newmark Lab, located at 205 N. Mathews Avenue in Urbana, Illinois on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, houses the university's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Ogden Avenue

ends when U.S. Route 34 leaves Aurora at the intersection of U.S. Route 34 and U.S. Route 30 on the border of Aurora; Montgomery, Illinois; and Oswego, 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.

Peter Newell

A native of McDonough County, Illinois, Newell built a reputation in the 1880s and 1890s for his humorous drawings and poems, which appeared in Harper's Weekly, Harper's Bazaar, Scribner's Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, Judge, and other publications.

Philo, California

Two versions of how Philo was named are current: first, that its founder Cornelius Prather named it after his favorite female cousin; second, that he named it for his former home at Philo, Illinois.

Pleasant Rowland

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

Popcorn

At least six localities (all in the Midwestern United States) claim to be the "Popcorn Capital of the World": Ridgway, Illinois; Valparaiso, Indiana; Van Buren, Indiana; Schaller, Iowa; Marion, Ohio; and North Loup, Nebraska.

Prentice Marshall

In 1959, Marshall, then a resident of Wheaton, Illinois, ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for state's attorney in DuPage County, a Republican stronghold.

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.

Roanoke High School

Roanoke High School (Illinois) — a public school in Roanoke, Woodford County, Illinois, also known as Roanoke Victory High School or Roanoke Township High School, and consolidated with Benson High School in 1957 to form Roanoke-Benson High School

Rock Creek, Illinois

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

Rockford East High School

Rockford East High School is a comprehensive four year high school in Rockford, Illinois.

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.

Rushville-Industry High School

Rushville-Industry High School, or RIHS, is a public four-year high school located at 730 North Congress Street in Rushville, Illinois, a small city in Schuyler County, Illinois, in the Midwestern United States.

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.

Sherman Barton

Sherman "Bucky" Barton (born February 2, 1875 in Normal, Illinois - July 11, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois) was an Outfielder in the Negro Leagues.

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.

Spray pool

The spray pool at Phillips Park in Aurora, Illinois dates from the 1930s and has closed and reopened several times.

Stanley Girard Schlarman

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

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.

Nearing the end of his life, William D. Gates constructed a residence just north of Crystal Lake, Illinois named "Trail's End" symbolizing his decreasing involvement in the company.

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Three Angels Broadcasting Network, or 3ABN, is an American nonprofit television and radio network broadcasting Christian and health-oriented programming, based in West Frankfort, Illinois.

Titanine Ltd.

DeSoto Inc., of Des Plaines, Illinois, purchased a 50% interest in Dufay Titanine plc for £4m.

Tonti

Tonti, Illinois, unincorporated community in Illinois, United States

Uncle Tupelo discography

The discography of Uncle Tupelo, an alternative country band from Belleville, Illinois, consists of four studio albums, two compilation albums, three demo tapes, and five singles.

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.

Wauconda

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

Wauconda, Illinois, a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States

WHBF

Where Historic Black Hawk Fought, a reference to Chief Black Hawk whose tribe occupied the land that is now Rock Island, Illinois, United States, and the namesake for the WHBF broadcasting stations in Rock Island

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.

Winnetka, Los Angeles

Later Weeks renamed the colony Winnetka, after a farm he owned in Winnetka, Illinois.

WLMM

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

WVMC

WVMC (AM), a defunct radio station (1360 AM) formerly licensed to Mount Carmel, Illinois, United States

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.

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.

Charles E. Freeman

In September, 1973 governor Dan Walker named Freeman to the Illinois Commerce Commission, a rate regulatory agency with power over telephone, electricity and gas companies.

Charles Woodward

Charles Edgar Woodward - (1876 – 1942), United States federal judge, and formerly Attorney-General of Illinois

Christen Craig

While attending Southern Illinois University, Craig worked as an anchor, reporter and executive producer for River Region Evening Edition on WSIU-TV, the university-owned news station.

Cook County Courthouse

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

Frank Bonilla

Bonilla spent his first years of high school attending a Franciscan high school in Illinois, where he showed academic and leadership skills.

Frederick Lucian Hosmer

Frederick Lucian Hosmer (1840-1929) was an American Unitarian minister who served congregations in Massachusetts, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, and California and who wrote many significant hymns.

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 Route 119

Illinois 119 begins at a junction with US 136 and Illinois 1 in rural South Ross Township east of Henning.

Illinois Route 31

The bypass was even featured on the front cover of IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation)'s Capital Improvements Plan during the Republican George Ryan years but was completely taken off the project list under Democrat Rod Blagojevich's administration.

Janet Lewis

Lewis was born in Chicago, Illinois, and was a graduate of the University of Chicago, where she was a member of a literary circle that included Glenway Wescott, Elizabeth Madox Roberts, and her future husband Yvor Winters.

Jehan Gordon-Booth

She defeated Joan Krupa, but Krupa was appointed to the seat to fill the remaining nine days of Schock's term when Schock became U.S. Representative for Illinois' 18th congressional district.

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.

John Burgmeier

John Burgmeier (born October 24, 1974 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American anime voice actor, ADR script/head writer and the son of voice actress, Linda Young.

John Fritchey

Fritchey was one of many candidates who ran for former US Representative Rahm Emanuel's seat in Illinois's 5th congressional district special election, 2009.

John W. N. Watkins

The Unity of Popper's Thought. In Paul A. Schilpp (ed.): The Philosophy of Karl Popper, Book I. La Salle, Illinois 1974 (Open Court), ISBN 0-87548-141-8, pp.

Lakeview College of Nursing

An affiliation with the Illinois Teacher's College in Charleston (now Eastern Illinois University) provided additional on-campus instruction.

Little Ten Conference

Founded in 1919, it was originally comprised the following small high schools in northern Illinois: Earlville, Hinckley, Leland, Paw Paw, Plano, Rollo, Sandwich, Shabbona, Somonauk, and Waterman.

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 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.

ORDVAC

J. P. Nash of the University of Illinois was a developer of both the ORDVAC and of the university's own identical copy, the ILLIAC, which was later renamed the ILLIAC I. Donald B. Gillies assisted in the checkout of ORDVAC at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

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.

Robert Kennicott

Kennicott was born in New Orleans and grew up in "West Northfield" (now Glenview), Illinois, a town in the prairie north of the then nascent city of Chicago.

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).

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.

Step pyramid

The largest earthen work step pyramid of this type in North America is Monk's Mound, located in present-day Cahokia, Illinois.

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.

The Felix Culpa

For their second release, The Felix Culpa released THOUGHTCONTROL (2005, Common Cloud Records) - an EP/DVD combo that featured 4 new songs, a video for "A Murderer" (Commitment), a live set at the Knights of Columbus, Arlington Heights, IL, and roughly 2 hours of random tour footage.

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.

Transportation in Greater St. Louis

At Missouri Route 367, US 67 turns north, crosses the Missouri River on the Clark Bridge into Illinois, through Madison and Jersey counties, then leaving the region.

Treaty of Prairie du Chien

By this treaty, the tribes ceded to the United States an area in present-day northwestern Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin, as well as the areas currently occupied by the cities of Wilmette and Evanston.

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.

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.

William T. Major

He founded the First Christian Church (affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) denomination) and built the city's first public meeting hall, Major's Hall, which hosted an early convention of the Illinois branch of the Republican Party and became best known as the site of "Lincoln's Lost Speech".