Tag Archives: 200 Years of Illinois

December 15, 2017

200 Years of Illinois: Making way for Fermilab

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It came from the future: Tevatron. The villain in the new Michael Bay feature? Actually, the world’s largest particle accelerator once it opened in 1983. But to get there, the giant underground atom racer/smasher needed a town to get out of … Continue reading →

November 3, 2017

200 Years of Illinois: The half-eaten bison sandwich of Richard M. Nixon

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September 22 is an auspicious date in Illinois history. As this post recounts, boxing history took place on the date. Willie Nelson took time out from his 1985 to team with John Mellencamp and Neil Young on the first Farm Aid … Continue reading →

August 31, 2017

200 Years of Illinois: They Haunt By Night

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Forget Halloween. August is the time for monster mashing in Illinois. One peruse of the state’s long history of monster sightings shows that warm summer nights bring the cryptids out of their otherworldly lairs to frighten rural folk and interrupt … Continue reading →

July 12, 2017

200 Years of Illinois: Golden Nature Guides

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Born on July 12, 1909, Herbert S. Zim taught at the University of Illinois in the 1950s. It was during his years in Champaign-Urbana that Zim penned or cowrote several of the Golden Nature Guides that taught generations of schoolchildren about … Continue reading →

July 4, 2017

200 Years of Illinois: Cosmic Fireworks

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On July 4, 1054, an extraordinary event attracted the attention of peoples around the world. A supernova appeared in the constellation Taurus. This guest star, to use a Chinese term, suddenly appeared beside a crescent moon. For the next twenty-three days, … Continue reading →

June 14, 2017

200 Years of Illinois: Eads and elephants

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The Eads Bridge, named for its designer/builder James B. Eads, materialized  in 1874 amidst a blizzard of superlatives. At 6,442 feet, it was the largest arch bridge on earth, and the world’s first major bridge project of entirely steel construction. The … Continue reading →

June 5, 2017

200 Years of Illinois: The Elwood Ordnance Plant explosion

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On June 5, 1942, the Herald-News in Joliet reported on one of the deadliest industrial accidents in state history: the explosion at the Elwood Ordnance Plant. At 2:41 a.m., an explosion took place in a loading line at a plant Building … Continue reading →

June 2, 2017

200 Years of Illinois: Get your same-sex marriage license

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We’re a day late with this bit of recognition, but here goes. On June 1, 2014, a same sex marriage law passed the previous fall went into effect across the state of Illinois. Passed over opposition and claims it violated … Continue reading →

May 15, 2017

200 Years of Illinois: Cal Coolidge, controversy, and Cairo

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The 1927 Mississippi River flood disaster had a far-reaching social impact, inspired timeless music, influenced policy that includes what happened during Hurricane Katrina, and received its due in at least one very interesting book. It even roused the laissez-faire federal government … Continue reading →

May 8, 2017

200 Years of Illinois: Starved Rock’s historic lodge

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On May 8, 1985, the National Register of Historic Places anointed the famous Starved Rock Lodge and its nearby cabins. Once known as a vacation hotspot with a hotel and dance pavilion, Starved Rock opened as a state park in 1912 … Continue reading →