On November 8, 1810, the first recorded load of Illinois coal reached the market in New Orleans. The event may sound ordinary, but it represented a significant pivot in state […]
Category: Illinois / regional
Awards: St. Louis Rising
The 2016 Missouri History Book Award goes to Carl J. Ekberg’s and Sharon K. Person’s St. Louis Rising: The French Regime of Louis St. Ange de Bellerive, adding to acclaim that has already […]
200 Years of Illinois: That Ribbon Lincoln Highway
The nation’s great coast-to-coast route in the pre-interstate era, Lincoln Highway was formally dedicated by the Lincoln Highway Association on October 31, 1913. Carl G. Fisher, the head of the […]
200 Years of Illinois: Tarzan the Everlasting
This October marks the 104th anniversary of the debut of a pop culture titan. Born of woman, raised by apes, Tarzan swung into American consciousness via the pen of underemployed […]
In search of good cornbread
Tonight Cynthia Clampitt continues her barnstorming book tour of the Midwest with a reading a book signing in Winfield, Illinois. (Seven p.m. at the Public Library.) To celebrate, the blog […]
200 Years of Illinois: Grange’s Ghost Story
On October 18, 1924, a streak of fire and breath of flame named Harold “Red” Grange had a game for the ages, scoring six touchdowns against a University of Michigan defense […]
200 Years of Illinois: White Squirrel Roundup
This weekend, citizens in Olney will begin the annual census of the town’s famous albino squirrel population, to see just how the white varmints have fared over the past year. […]
200 Years of Illinois: Mies van der Rohe in the House
On October 7, 2004, the National Register of Historic Places added the Farnsworth House, located near Plano, to its list of significant locales. Beautiful, yet a challenge to human habitation, […]
200 Years of Illinois: Moses in No Man’s Land
On October 4, 1923, Charlton Heston floated down Lake Michigan in a reed basket and bumped ashore at No Man’s Land, Illinois. A proverbial land of milk and honey—well, booze and […]
200 Years of Illinois: Lead Is Galena and Galena Is Lead
On September 30, 1822, the federal government gave the first lease to mine lead in the Galena region to Richard M. Johnson. They also provided armed soldiers as guards to […]
Trivia Friday
1. University of Illinois scientists have long endeavored to create a base for chewing gum that uses zein, a protein found in corn. In 2005, researcher Graciela Padua announced that […]
Throwbacklist Thursday: Photos of America
Though UIP published photography on the beauty of the Midwest and the University of Illinois campus, we also venture out of these expected subjected areas. This week we present a […]