Present-day Illinois was inhabited by various indigenous cultures for thousands of years, including the advanced civilization centered in the
Cahokia region. The French were the first Europeans to arrive, settling near the Mississippi and
Illinois River in the 17th century in the region they called
Illinois Country, as part of the sprawling colony of
New France. Following
U.S. independence in 1783, American settlers began arriving from
Kentucky via the Ohio River, and the population grew from south to north. Illinois was part of the United States' oldest territory, the
Northwest Territory, and in 1818 it achieved
statehood. The
Erie Canal brought increased commercial activity in the Great Lakes, and the small settlement of Chicago became one of the fastest growing cities in the world, benefiting from its location as
one of the few natural harbors in southwestern
Lake Michigan. The invention of the self-scouring
steel plow by Illinoisan
John Deere turned the state's rich
prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmland, attracting
immigrant farmers from
Germany and
Sweden. In the mid-19th century, the
Illinois and Michigan Canal and a sprawling railroad network greatly facilitated trade, commerce, and settlement, making the state a transportation hub for the nation.
The SS Christopher Columbus was an American
excursion liner on the
Great Lakes, in service between 1893 and 1933. She was the only
whaleback ship ever built for passenger service. The ship was designed by Alexander McDougall, the developer and promoter of the whaleback design. Columbus was built between 1892 and 1893 at
Superior, Wisconsin, by the
American Steel Barge Company. Initially, she ferried passengers to and from the
World's Columbian Exposition. Later, she provided general transportation and excursion services to various ports around the lakes.
At 362 feet (110 m), the ship was the longest whaleback ever built, and reportedly also the largest vessel on the Great Lakes when she was launched. Columbus is said to have carried more passengers during her career than any other vessel on the Great Lakes. After a career lasting four decades, she was retired during the
Great Depression and scrapped in 1936 by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company at
Manitowoc, Wisconsin. (Read more...)
Black Hawk, or Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak in the
Sauk language, (1767 – October 3, 1838) was a war leader of the
SaukAmerican Indian tribe in what is now the Midwest of the
United States. He earned his status as a war chief or captain by leading raiding and war parties as a young man, and a band of Sauk warriors during the
Black Hawk War of 1832.
Black Hawk was born in 1767 in the village of
Saukenuk on the
Rock River (present-day
Rock Island,
Illinois). During the
War of 1812, Black Hawk had fought on the side of the
British against the U.S., hoping to push white American settlers away from Sauk territory. Later he led a band of Sauk and Fox warriors, known as the
British Band, against European-American settlers in
Illinois and present-day
Wisconsin in the 1832 Black Hawk War. After the war, he was captured by U.S. forces and taken to the eastern United States. Shortly before being released from custody, Black Hawk told his story to an interpreter; aided also by a newspaper reporter, he published Autobiography of Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak, or Black Hawk, Embracing the Traditions of his Nation.... Black Hawk died in 1838 in what is now southeastern
Iowa. He has been honored by an enduring legacy: his book, many eponyms, and other tributes. (Read more...)
... that although Olga Hartman believed that her
basic research on marine worms had no practical value, it was applied to experimental studies of oysters?
... that Jack Washburn was called "Cinderella Boy" for winning a starring role in his first Broadway show?
... that four course records were broken during the 2023 Chicago Marathon(women's winner pictured)?
... that the restaurant CosMc's is named after a character from
McDonaldland?
... that Salty Parker, who spent 60 years in organized
baseball, described his lifelong love of the game as "a beautiful disease"?
Image 6"Hon. Abraham Lincoln, Republican
candidate for the presidency, 1860," a lithograph by Leopold Grozelier, et al. According to the Library of Congress, "Thomas Hicks painted a portrait of Lincoln at
his office in Springfield specifically for this lithograph." Image credit: Thomas Hicks (painter), Leopold Grozelier (lithographer), W. William Schaus (publisher), J.H. Bufford's Lith. (printer),
Adam Cuerden (restoration) (from Portal:Illinois/Selected picture)
Image 14The dome of the
Illinois State Capitol. Designed by architects
Cochrane and Garnsey, the dome's interior features a plaster frieze painted to resemble bronze and illustrating scenes from Illinois history. Stained glass windows, including a stained glass replica of the
State Seal, appear in the oculus. Ground was first broken for the new capitol on March 11, 1869, and it was completed twenty years later. Photo credit:
Daniel Schwen (from Portal:Illinois/Selected picture)
Image 23"The Great Presidential Puzzle": This
chromolithograph cartoon about the
1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago shows
Roscoe Conkling, leader of the
Stalwarts of the Republican Party, playing a puzzle game. All blocks in the puzzle are the heads of the potential Republican presidential candidates. The cartoon parodies the famous
15 puzzle. Image credit: Mayer, Merkel, & Ottmann (lithographers); James Albert Wales (artist);
Jujutacular (digital retouching) (from Portal:Illinois/Selected picture)
Image 45A poster for the
Century of Progress World's Fair showing exhibition buildings with boats in the foreground.. Image credit: Weimer Pursell (artist); Neely Printing Co., Chicago (silkscreen print);
Jujutacular (digital retouching) (from Portal:Illinois/Selected picture)
Image 47A
great blue heron(Ardea herodias) flying with nesting material in Illinois. There is a colony of about twenty heron nests in trees nearby. Image credit: PhotoBobil (photographer),
Snowmanradio (upload),
PetarM (digital retouching) (from Portal:Illinois/Selected picture)
Image 49A street view of the
Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in
Oak Park. Wright built the house in 1889 and added the Studio and Connecting Corridor in 1898. The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust has restored the property to its appearance in 1909, the last year the architect lived there with his family. Photo credit:
User:Banewson (from Portal:Illinois/Selected picture)
October 26, 2021: Workers for Chicago-based
McDonald's in ten cities go on strike to protest the company's handling of sexual harassment in the workplace.
October 18, 2021: The
Chicago Police Department reports that more than a third of its officers have failed to meet a deadline for reporting whether they have received a
COVID-19 vaccine.
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