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99 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.

96th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment

The original officers were Colonel Thomas E. Champion of Warren, Illinois and Lieutenant Colonel Issac L. Clarke of Waukegan, Illinois.

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.

Archer Avenue

Outside Chicago, Archer Avenue/Road passes through the villages of Summit, Justice, Willow Springs, and the southern edge of Lemont before terminating on the north side of Lockport.

Ayers, Illinois

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

Basement Jack

And on a stormy night, in the town of Downers Grove (most likely Downers Grove, Illinois), the killer and his prey would find one another and as they hunt one another the citizens would have to fight to survive the blade of Basement Jack.

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.

BYD Company

US operations are limited to sales and marketing and can be found in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, and San Francisco, California.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Dunkle

Dunkel, Illinois, unincorporated community in Christian County, Illinois, USA

Edward C. Bosbyshell

Bosbyshell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1822 and spent some of his early adult life in Calhoun County, Illinois, "where, in an overflow of the rivers, he lost his entire property."

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.

Elgin Racers

The Windy City Dawgs were an International Basketball League team based in Palatine, Illinois.

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.

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.

George Corneal

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

Great Disappointment

In Loraine, Illinois, a mob attacked the Millerite congregation with clubs and knives, while a group in Toronto was tarred and feathered.

Halsted Street

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

Heinen's Fine Foods

On August 22, 2012, after two years of market and distribution logistics research, the company opened its first store outside the Greater Cleveland area in The Shops at Flint Creek in Barrington, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

Horton Smith

When he resigned as head professional of Oak Park Country Club in River Grove, Illinois, in 1936, his brother Ren replaced him at the club.

Howie Crittenden

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

Illinois Route 163

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

Jerusalem University College

The company that operates Jerusalem University College has an office in Rockford, Illinois.

Jimtown, Illinois

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

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 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 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 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 Shastid House

A few of Pike County's other sites include the address restricted Naples Mound 8 and New Philadelphia Town Site as well as the Massie Variety Store in New Canton and the Lyman Scott House in Summer Hill.

John Wilson Ruckman

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

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.

Lemuel Milk

Born in New York, Milk came to Illinois after purchasing a large tract of land in Iroquois 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)

Madison Kocian

Kocian's senior career started in 2013, at the Secret U.S Classic, held at the Hoffman Estates, Illinois, where she placed 7th all-around but managed a silver on the bars, scoring 14.450.

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.

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.

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.

Minooka High School

The district, is largely composed of the communities of Minooka and Channahon, and also includes portions of Shorewood, Joliet and Troy.

Moon Mullins

Frank Henry Willard was born on September 21, 1893 in Anna, Illinois, the son of a physician, who early on determined to become a cartoonist.

Mount Lowe Railway

The railway was sold at auction to a Mr. Valentine Peyton of Danville, Illinois, who personally came to California to run the operation.

Muskego, Wisconsin

When Marriott's Great America (now Six Flags Great America) opened in 1976, it lured people away from Muskego, and into Gurnee, Illinois.

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.

Osco Drug

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

Penny Bernard Schaber

Schaber was raised in Mundelein, Illinois and remained in Illinois to complete her Associate and Bachelor’s of Science degree from Southern Illinois University.

Peotone High School

Peotone High School or PHS, is a four-year high school located approximately 1 mile east of Interstate 57 near the intersection of Corning Ave and Rathje Rd in Peotone, Illinois, a village located 43 miles (69 km) south of Chicago, Illinois and 16 miles (25 km) north of Kankakee, Illinois, in the United States.

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.

Quashquame

Quashquame maintained a village near what is now Nauvoo, Illinois until it was combined with an older village on the west side of the Mississippi near Montrose, Iowa.

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.

Rock Creek, Illinois

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

Roger Sedarat

He was born in Normal, Illinois to an Iranian father and American mother, and grew up in San Antonio, Texas.

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.

Roy Vernon Scott

Scott was born to Roy J. Scott and the former Edna Dodson in Wrights, an unincorporated community in Greene County in west-central Illinois.

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.

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.

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

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.

Trend Is Dead! Records

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

Ulysses F. Doubleday

He was interred in the Bloomington Township Old City Cemetery, Bloomington, Illinois.

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.

Wally Lemm

During the first season of play, the Oilers captured the league's first-ever title, but Lemm resigned after the season, returning to Libertyville, Illinois to work in the sporting goods industry.

Wauconda

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

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

WBKM

WBKM-LP, a low-power television station (channel 46) licensed to Chana, Illinois, United States

WDDD

WDDD (AM), a defunct radio station (810 AM) formerly licensed to Johnston City, 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 McKendree

In 1830, he lent his support to the Lebanon Seminary, Lebanon, Illinois.

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.


1921 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

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

Alexander Girard

Girard was commissioned to create a mural for the John Deere Company, in the entrance to their administration building designed by Saarinen near Moline, Illinois.

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.

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.

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

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)

Dan Douglas

He is a former president of the Washington County Farm Bureau and a board member of the Illinois River Watershed Partnership though the Illinois River does not reach Arkansas.

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.

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.

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.

Gloria Foy

The phrase was uttered at a Legion banquet which convened at the Drake Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, in October 1923.

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.

Hopewell, Illinois

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

Illinois Route 150

SBI Route 150 originally ran from the U.S. 51/60/62 bridges south of Cairo north to Hamel (located northeast of Saint Louis, Missouri) on what is now Illinois Route 3, the portion of Illinois 150 from Chester to Steeleville, and Illinois Route 4.

Illinois State Fair

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

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.

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.

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 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.

Labor Department Act

Lathrop’s father, William Lathrop of Illinois, had helped found the Republican Party in 1854, while she herself was a graduate of Vassar College, a friend of Jane Addams, and a social reformer who had worked at Hull House in Chicago.

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.

Malcolm X College

Malcolm X College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago, is a two-year college located on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois, USA, at 1900 W. Van Buren St. It was founded as Crane Junior College in 1911 and was the first of the City Colleges.

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.

Parke County, Indiana

The architects for this building were Thomas J. Tolan and his son Brentwood of Fort Wayne; they designed seven Indiana courthouses, as well as several in Ohio, Iowa, Illinois and Tennessee.

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.

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.

Silver carp

By August 2009, they had become abundant in the Mississippi River watershed from Louisiana to South Dakota and Illinois, and had grown close to invading the Great Lakes via the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

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.

Spalding High School

Spalding Institute, later Academy of Our Lady-Spalding Institute, now consolidated as Peoria Notre Dame High School in Peoria, Illinois

Stanley Steemer

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

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.

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.

Tylman

Stanley D. Tylman (1893–1982), professor of dentistry (1920–1962), University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry

WDLM

WDLM-FM, a radio station (89.3 FM) licensed to East Moline, Illinois, United States

Women's suffrage in the United States

On June 26, 1913, Illinois Governor Edward F. Dunne signed the bill in the presence of Trout, Booth and union labor leader Margaret Healy.