Illinois (IL).

• Region: Midwest
• Population: 12,582,032 (ranked 6th) (2022 estimate)
• Capital: Springfield (pop. 113,273) (2022 estimate)
• Largest city: Chicago (pop. 2,665,039) (2022 estimate)
• Number of counties: 102
• State nickname: Prairie State
• State motto: State Sovereignty, National Union
• State flag: White field with state seal and name “Illinois” in blue

Illinois, nicknamed the "Prairie State" and the "Inland Empire," is located in the Upper Midwest. It entered the Union on December 3, 1818, as the twenty-first state. Illinois is bordered on the east by Indiana, on the southeast by Kentucky, on the southwest by Missouri, and on the northwest by Wisconsin. The state's central location has made it into an important economic and cultural hub. One of the nation's greatest metropolitan areas is Chicago, the industrial powerhouse described by poet Carl Sandburg as the "City of Broad Shoulders." Tourist attractions include American Indian sites such as the Cahokia Mounds, as well as sites associated with Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States.

State Name: The name "Illinois" is a French rendering of the American Indian word "Illini-wek" ("men" or "warriors.") "Illini-wek" was how the Illinois Indians, an Algonquian tribe, referred to themselves. The state is nicknamed the "Prairie State" because of its Midwestern landscape. Another nickname is the "Inland Empire," referring to the state's great wealth and industry. Because of the historic connection with the sixteenth US president, Illinois is often called "the Land of Lincoln."

Capital: The capital of Illinois is Springfield, located in the center of the state. It has served as the state capital since 1836. There have been two previous capitals: Kaskaskia, in southern Illinois, served as capital from 1818 to 1820, while Vandalia, somewhat farther north of Kaskaskia, served as capital from 1820 to 1836.

Flag: The current Illinois flag was approved by the General Assembly in 1915, following a design contest sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The flag is a white union, or background, bearing the state seal. Since 1969, the word "ILLINOIS" has appeared under the seal. The seal shows a bald eagle roosting on a rock that bears the dates 1818 and 1868. The first date refers to Illinois's entry into the Union. The second date refers to the adoption of the state seal. In its mouth, the eagle holds a scroll bearing the state motto: "State Sovereignty-National Union." In front of the eagle, resting on the rock, is a shield symbolizing the thirteen original states of the Union, with thirteen stars and thirteen stripes. Behind the eagle is a rising sun appearing over the prairie.

Official Symbols

• Flower: Violet
• Bird: Northern cardinal
• Tree: White oak
• Animal: White-tailed deer
• Fish: Bluegill
• Song: "Illinois" by Charles H. Chamberlin and Archibald Johnston

State and National Historic Sites

• Lincoln Home National Historic Site (Springfield)
• Cahokia Mounds (Collinsville)
• Carl Sandburg State Historic Site (Galesburg)
• Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Site (Ellis Grove)
• Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor
• Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center (Hartford)
• Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail (Located in eleven states)
• Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices State Historic Site (Springfield)
• Lincoln Tomb (Springfield)
• Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site (Petersburg)
• Pullman National Monument (Chicago)
• Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail (Various states)
• U. S. Grant Home (Galena)
• Vandalia Statehouse (Vandalia)

State-Specific Holidays

• Lincoln’s Birthday, February 12
• Casimir Pulaski's Birthday, First Monday in March
• General Election Day, first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years

DEMOGRAPHICS

• Population: 12,582,032 (ranked 6th) (2022 estimate)
• Population density: 230.8/sq mi (2020)
• Urban population: 86.9% (2020 estimate)
• Rural population: 13.1% (2020 estimate)
• Population under 18: 21.6% (2022)
• Population over 65: 17.2% (2022)
• White alone: 76.1% (2022)
• Black or African American alone: 14.7% (2022)
• Hispanic or Latino: 18.3% (2022)
• American Indian and Alaska Native alone: 0.6% (2022)
• Asian alone: 6.3% (2022)
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone: 0.1% (2022)
• Two or More Races: 2.2% (2022)
• Per capita income: $39,571 (ranked 13th; 2022 estimate)
• Unemployment: 4.6%

American Indians: The Illinois, or Illini-wek, were the dominant tribe in the part of the Mississippi River Valley that eventually bore their name. Other tribes include the Peoria and the Kaskaskia. Tribes including the Illinois became allies of the French, who established trading posts and forts in what the French called the "Illinois Country."

During the eighteenth century, the Illinois became caught up in France's struggle against Great Britain for control of North America. In 1763, the British gained French possessions in the Mississippi River Valley, including the Illinois country, as part of the peace treaty ending the French and Indian War. Many American Indians, who found the French easier to live with than the English, settled on the western side of the Mississippi River in order to avoid British rule. By the mid-nineteenth century, most of the state's American Indians had departed westward. The Kaskaskia and Peoria tribes, for example, settled in eastern Kansas in the early 1830s. In 1940, the Peorias of Oklahoma incorporated their tribe.

The American Indian population declined for other reasons as well. Many American Indians died of European diseases against which they had no immunity. The Illinois had also suffered a population drop because of wars with the Iroquois during the colonial era.

ENVIRONMENT AND GEOGRAPHY

• Total area: 57,914 sq mi (ranked 24th)
• Land area: 55,519 sq mi (95.9% of total area)
• Water area: 2,395 sq mi (4.1% of total area)
• National parks: 2
• Highest point: Charles Mound (1,235 feet)
• Lowest point: Mississippi River (279 feet)
• Highest temperature: 117° F (East St. Louis, July 14, 1954)
• Lowest temperature: –38° F (Mt. Carroll, January 31, 2019)

Topography: Illinois, like neighboring Indiana, is largely flat—hence the nickname "Prairie State"—and covered with rivers that are part of the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys. The level terrain is due to glacier action during the last Ice Age. During the era before European settlement, much of the land was covered with forests, swamps, and marshes. In the statehood era, many of these areas have been converted into agricultural land, though many forested acres remain.

Major Lakes

• Chain O'Lakes
• Fox Lake
• Lake Decatur Reservoir
• Lake Michigan
• Lake Pittsfield Reservoir
• Lake Shelbyville
• Lake Springfield Reservoir
• Nippersink Lake

Major Rivers

• Calumet River
• Chicago River
• Des Plaines River
• Illinois River
• Kankakee River
• Mississippi River
• Rock River
• Sangamon River
• Wabash River
• Vermilion River

State and National Parks: Illinois has over 140 public-use areas, a category that includes not only state parks and historic memorials but also state forests and other natural areas. Historic sites include numerous locations associated with President Abraham Lincoln; Lincoln Trail Homestead State Park, for example, follows the route his family took in moving from Indiana to Illinois in the 1830s.

The state also has two national parks, the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, and Pullman, a planned industrial community in Chicago.

Natural Resources: Illinois has abundant natural resources, especially minerals such as coal and petroleum. Lake Michigan, a huge freshwater lake, is home to fish and shellfish; its connection to the Atlantic, via the St. Lawrence Seaway, has made Chicago one of the world's great ports. Much of the state's wealth is also agricultural, including grain crops, dairy, and cattle.

Plants and Animals: Prior to extensive European settlement, Illinois was home to numerous large mammal species. These included bears in the forests, as well as bison on the vast prairies. Today, the largest wild animal is the white-tailed deer. Smaller animals include cottontail rabbits, raccoons, beavers, and foxes. Common birds include the northern cardinal (the state bird), ringneck pheasants, and chickadees.

Much of the state was covered with immense forests of many kinds. Many of these forests were cut down to make way for farms, but thousands of forested acres remain. In southern Illinois, typical species include the tulip tree and bald cypress. The "savanna" or grassland regions of northern Illinois feature numerous oak species including the white oak and post oak. Sandy northern regions include trees such as the American elm and the swamp white oak. Much of central Illinois is covered with prairie grass.

Climate: Illinois' climate is generally temperate. The average annual precipitation is 32 to 36 inches, but this can vary widely from north to south; by the early twenty-first century, climate change also meant that rates of precipitation and average temperatures had become less consistent. Northern Illinois can be extremely cold in the winter, as low as 25 degrees Fahrenheit with large amounts of snowfall. Southern Illinois is warmer, with an average winter temperature of 36 degrees Fahrenheit and an average summer temperature of 79 degrees Fahrenheit. The south receives less snow, but annually has typically received more rain on average than the north. The central prairies are somewhat liable to drought, which leads to more frequent forest fires. The extreme weather conditions associated with climate change had led to increased and more severe periods of drought in areas of the state.

EDUCATION AND CULTURE

Major Colleges and Universities

• Aurora University (Aurora)
• Benedictine University (Lisle)
• Blackburn College (Carlinville)
• Bradley University (Peoria)
• Chicago State University (Chicago)
• Concordia University Chicago (River Forest)
• DePaul University (Chicago)
• Dominican University (River Forest)
• Eastern Illinois University (Charleston)
• Elmhurst University (Elmhurst)
• Governors State University (University Park)
• Greenville University (Greenville)
• Illinois College (Jacksonville)
• Illinois State University (Greenville)
• Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington)
• Kendall College (Evanston)
• Knox College (Galesburg)
• Lake Forest College (Lake Forest)
• Lewis University (Romeoville)
• Lincoln College (Lincoln)
• Loyola University Chicago (Chicago)
• Midwestern University (Downers Grove)
• North Park University (Chicago)
• Northern Illinois University (De Kalb)
• Northwestern University (Evanston)
• Quincy University (Quincy)
• Rockford University (Rockford)
• St. Augustine College (Chicago)
• St. John's College (Springfield)
• Southern Illinois University (Carbondale, Edwardsville)
• University of Chicago (Chicago)
• University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana)
• University of St. Francis (Joliet)
• Western Illinois University (Macomb)
• Wheaton College (Wheaton)

Major Museums

• Adler Planetarium (Chicago)
• Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago)
• Burpee Museum of Natural History (Rockford)
• DuSable Museum of African American History (Chicago)
• Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago)
• Illinois State Museum (Springfield)
• Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago)
• Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)
• Peoria Riverfront Museum (Peoria)

Major Libraries

• Chicago Public Library (Chicago)
• Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield)
• Illinois State Library (Springfield)
• John Crerar Library (Chicago)
• Newberry Library (Chicago)

Media

Illinois (and especially Chicago) is a huge media market, with daily newspapers found throughout the state. Daily newspapers in the "Windy City" include the rival Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune. Chicago also has a thriving ethnic media, including Spanish and German papers. The Chicago suburbs are largely served by Tribune Publishing. Springfield, the state capital, is served by the daily State Journal-Register. Several prominent American literary magazines were also founded in Illinois, including the Dial, the Little Review, and Poetry. The state has several hundred licensed radio stations and dozens of television stations scattered around the state, including public television.

ECONOMY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

• Gross domestic product (in millions $USD): 1,033,310.1 (ranked 5th) (2022)
• GDP percent change: 2.3%

Major Industries: Illinois is both strongly agricultural and strongly industrial. The state's rich soil and temperate climate have made it a world leader in food crops such as corn, as well as in cattle raising.

Chicago's famous stockyards show the important linkages between the state's agricultural and industrial worlds. The Windy City also serves as the Midwestern economic and financial capital, with numerous commercial exchanges such as the Chicago Board of Trade. The state's primary industries include finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing; professional and business services; government and government enterprises; and education, health care, and social assistance. Despite Chicago's preeminence, many smaller cities such as Peoria, Springfield, and Decatur have strong industrial sectors as well.

Tourism: Illinois is a popular tourist destination, due to a combination of scenic beauty, the attractions of big cities such as Chicago, and the state's historical heritage. Chicago, in particular, has many convention facilities, and draws many exhibitions each year. Other parts of the state, particularly New Salem and Springfield, offer historic sites connected with sixteenth president Abraham Lincoln. Tourism is a major industry. In 2022, Illinois received 111.3 million visitors who as a group spent $44.3 billion in the state that year, supporting 437,500 jobs.

Energy Production: The state has relied heavily on coal, natural gas, and nuclear power as sources of energy and has also exported large amounts of coal. Illinois has one of the nation's largest reserves of bituminous coal. Much of the state's coal is exported to countries such as China and India that have had growing markets for the state’s high-sulfur coal. Illinois also generated more electricity from nuclear power than any other state in the nation in 2022.

Illinois does not produce most of the natural gas it uses, but it has an extensive pipeline system to import from Canada and the Gulf of Mexico. The state is a top producer of ethanol, ranking third in the United States in 2022. Illinois is also among the top states in the nation for crude oil refining capacity and biodiesel fuel production.

In order to become more energy efficient, Illinois has invested in renewable sources such as hydropower and landfill gas.

In September 2021, Illinois became the first state in the Midwest to adopt a law to ban coal and electricity from fossil-fuel sources by 2050. The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act also provides the state's nuclear power plants $700 million in carbon-mitigation credits and invests up to $580 million in wind and solar each year.

Agriculture: Illinois is a major agricultural state, producing numerous food crops as well as cattle and hogs. In 2022, around 27 million acres of land in the state was farmland. Corn is the main crop. Other important crops include soybeans, hay, wheat, pumpkins, snap beans, and oats. Food processing is one of the state's main industries.

Ports: Illinois has 19 public port districts and more than 350 private terminals along its network of rivers as well as Lake Michigan, one of the Great Lakes. The state's main port is the Illinois International Port District (Port of Chicago), which connects the state's extensive highways, riverways, railroads, and air hubs with the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. The seaway, opened in the late 1950s, allows deep-draft cargo ships to reach Chicago from the Atlantic Ocean.

GOVERNMENT

• Governor: J. B. Pritzker (Democrat)
• Present constitution date: December 15, 1970
• Electoral votes: 19
• Number of counties: 102
• Violent crime rate: 425.9 (per 100,000 residents; 2020 estimate)
• Death penalty: No (abolished in 2011)

Constitution: The current Illinois constitution was adopted in 1970. Previous constitutions were adopted in 1818, 1848, and 1870.

Branches of Government

Executive: The governor serves as the Illinois chief executive and is elected to a four-year term. There are no term limits. The governor has the power to propose legislation as well as to veto measures passed by the General Assembly. The "amendatory veto" power allows the governor to make small changes in legislation, without altering the substance of the measure. The governor's other duties include presenting the annual state budget to the General Assembly and appointing the heads of the various executive departments. The lieutenant governor is elected on the same ticket as the governor, and undertakes responsibilities as given by the governor.

Other top state officials are the attorney general, the secretary of state, the comptroller, and the treasurer. The secretary of state serves as the state librarian of Illinois.

Legislative: The Illinois General Assembly has two houses—the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives, the lower house, has 118 members elected for two-year terms. The Senate, the upper house, has fifty-nine members who serve for four-year terms.

Judicial: The Illinois court system has three levels—the Supreme Court, the Appellate Court, and the Circuit Court. Seven justices sit on the Supreme Court, the state's highest judicial body. The high court oversees the 400 appellate and circuit court judges.

HISTORY

1663 France establishes the colony of New France in what is now Canada, also claiming title to the Illinois Country.

1666 Father Claude-Jean Allouez, a Jesuit missionary, is reportedly the first to meet the Illinois. The American Indians visit him at his mission at La Pointe, present-day Bayfield, Wisconsin.

1673 French explorers Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet travel through the Illinois region.

1675 Near Starved Rock, Fr. Marquette founds a Jesuit mission among the Kaskaskia.

1680 Fort Crevecoeur is established by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, near the site of present-day Peoria.

1682–1683 De la Salle and his subordinate Henri de Tonti construct Fort St. Louis on Starved Rock cliff.

1691 The region around Fort Crevecoeur grows in population, as Fr. Marquette's Starved Rock mission relocates to the area. The fort and the mission begin attracting additional French settlers.

1699 French missionary priests establish an outpost among the Tamaroa at Cahokia, across the river from St. Louis. The priests are members of the Seminary of Foreign Missions.

ca. 1700 The Jesuits move their mission near the Fort Crevecoeur, down into the Mississippi River Valley. They establish the settlement of Kaskaskia, near the mouth of the Kaskaskia River. The region is home to the Kaskaskia, part of the Illinois tribe.

1717 France incorporates the Illinois Country into Louisiana.

1718 The French found the city of New Orleans, at the mouth of the Mississippi River. This becomes the territorial capital for the Illinois region, previously governed from Canada. The Crown gives the colonial charter to the state-sponsored French Company of the Indies.

1719 Illinois gains a new center of colonial administration, when the French begin building Fort de Chartres. The fortification is made of wooden palisades.

1731 The French Company of the Indies loses its royal charter to administer Illinois. The French Crown makes the region a royal province, under a governor who reports directly to the monarch.

1753 The French begin rebuilding wooden Fort de Chartres as a stone fortification. It is completed three years later, in the midst of the French and Indian War.

1762 The French Crown, fearing that the Jesuits have become too powerful, disbands the order and expels its members from Illinois. Only secular priests—those who are not in monastic orders—are permitted to remain.

1763 The French and Indian War ends in British victory. As part of the peace settlement, the French are forced to give the entire Illinois country to Britain. By 1765, the British have taken possession of Fort de Chartres. This causes an exodus of French Catholics into the Spanish territories west of the Mississippi River.

1763–66Pontiac's Rebellion. Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa tribe leads American Indian resistance against the British, who had received the Illinois country in the peace ending the French and Indian War. This war prevents the British from immediately occupying all of Illinois following the war with France.

ca. 1779 Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, a Black Haitian immigrant, establishes a trading post on Lake Michigan near the site of present-day Chicago.

1775–83 The American Revolution. American forces battle the British for control of the "Old Northwest," including the Illinois country. Virginia militia leader George Rogers Clark leads a force in 1778 against British forts in Illinois. In February 1779, he captures the garrison at Fort Vincennes. Virginia turns the Illinois country into a new county. This leads to the first American settlement in the region.

1784 Virginia cedes the Illinois country to the United States government, as part of the land to form the Northwest Territory. The other states with western-land claims (New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts) also cede their claims to the central government.

1785 Congress passes the Ordinance of 1785, which provides for a system of surveying the Northwest Territory. All the land will be divided into regularly-sized townships, based on a rectangular grid.

1794 General "Mad Anthony" Wayne leads an American army to victory over American Indian forces at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, in the Ohio Country. In the Treaty of Greenville, the American Indians cede many western lands to the US government. The cession includes parts of present-day Illinois, such as the area around Chicago.

1803 The Kaskaskia tribe signs the Treaty of Vincennes (Indiana) with the Americans, ceding land east of the Mississippi. This opens the way for white settlement of the Illinois region. The US Army builds Fort Dearborn near the mouth of the Chicago River, not far from du Sable's trading post. That same year, US President Thomas Jefferson purchases the Louisiana Territory from Emperor Napoleon of France for $15 million. This Louisiana Purchase, which includes the Illinois Country, doubles the size of the United States.

1809 Congress creates the Illinois Territory. Originally, this included part of Wisconsin.

1812 The Potawatami, allied with the British in the War of 1812, massacre the inhabitants of Fort Dearborn. The US Army rebuilds the fort in 1816, following the end of the war.

1818 Illinois joins the Union on December 3, 1818, as the twenty-first state, with Kaskaskia as the state capital. That same year, the Peoria tribe cedes its land in Illinois. By the early 1830s, the tribe has migrated to a reservation in eastern Kansas.

1819 The Illinois Agricultural Association is formed. In 1853, the organization changes its name to the Illinois State Agricultural Society.

1820 The state legislature moves the capital from Kaskaskia to more centrally located Vandalia. The new capital is a stop on the National Road (now US 40), connecting Illinois by road from the East Coast.

1829 Abraham Lincoln travels with his family from Indiana to Illinois.

1831–1837 Lincoln settles in the village of New Salem, on the Sangamon River, ten miles west of Decatur.

1832 The Black Hawk War. The conflict forces the last Organized American Indian tribes to leave Illinois. The American Indians cede their lands in 1833 to the government. Abraham Lincoln is elected captain of his militia unit (from New Salem) but sees no combat.

1833 Chicago, the site of the earlier Fort Dearborn, is incorporated as a village. In 1837, it is incorporated as a city, with a population of just over 4,100.

1834 Abraham Lincoln is elected as a Whig to the Illinois State Legislature, where he serves four terms (1834–41).

1836–1848 The Illinois and Michigan Canal is built. The canal links Illinois with the Great Lakes, allowing the Prairie State to ship products to eastern markets.

1837 Alton abolitionist and newspaper editor Elijah Parish Lovejoy is murdered by a mob because of his antislavery views. His murder helps focus national attention on slavery as a moral issue. Earlier that year, the state legislature passes a resolution condemning abolitionist activity.

1839 The State capital moves from Vandalia to Springfield, to make the government more centrally located. Abraham Lincoln is serving at the time as a Whig state representative. That same year, the Mormons found the city of Nauvoo under a state charter that allows them their own judicial system and militia.

1846 Nauvoo's Mormons, disliked by their neighbors because of customs such as polygamy, head westward for Utah under the leadership of Brigham Young. While serving as a Whig in the US House of Representatives, Abraham Lincoln opposes the Mexican War.

1847Cyrus McCormick, an agricultural innovator, establishes a store in Chicago to produce reaping machines for wheat harvesting. The McCormick horse-drawn reaper, which can cut fifteen acres per day, represents a three-fold advance of the labor-intensive scythe-and-cradle method.

1848 The Illinois and Michigan Canal is finished.

1851 The state charters the Illinois Central Railroad. This is the first US railroad to receive public land. The main route, running north–south, is completed in 1856. That same year, the State Legislature charters Northwestern University to be built in Chicago.

1853 The state charters the Illinois State Agricultural Society. That year, the first State Fair takes place in Springfield. The General Assembly passes a series of so-called "black laws" to limit the civil rights of African Americans. The laws are not repealed until 1865, at the end of the Civil War.

1855 The State Legislature approves Illinois' first system of public education.

1858John Deere opens a factory in Moline to produce his self-scouring steel plow. This device, invented by Deere in 1837, makes it easier to farm on the Illinois prairie. That same year, Abraham Lincoln runs unsuccessfully against incumbent US Senator Stephen A. Douglas. The candidates travel around the state to conduct a series of debates (later known as the "Lincoln-Douglas debates") in which they debate the issue of state's rights in connection with slavery. Lincoln argues against allowing slavery into the free states and territories, while Douglas argues that each state has the right to make its own decision about slavery. Even though he loses the election, Lincoln becomes a national figure and a prospective Republican presidential candidate for 1860.

1860 The new Republican Party holds its national convention in Chicago in May and nominates Abraham Lincoln as its presidential candidate. In November, Lincoln is elected sixteenth president of the United States. His friends in Springfield give him a grand send-off as he departs for Washington, DC.

1861–1865 The Civil War. Factories in Chicago and other Illinois cities turn out war materials for the Union cause. Over 256,000 Illinois men serve in the military, including General Ulysses S. Grant of Galena, who ends the war as commander of the Union armies and later becomes president. At war's end, Illinois becomes the first state to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolishes slavery.

1867 Railroad entrepreneur George Pullman establishes the Pullman Railway Car Company in South Chicago. The industrialist makes a fortune by building sleeping cars, a new concept in railway travel. He eventually founds a company town near his factory, naming it Pullman, after himself. He runs the town with paternalistic care until the depression of 1893, when he cuts wages and lays off workers but does not reduce rents. That same year, the University of Illinois is founded.

1869 Northwestern University admits its first female student.

1871 The Great Chicago Fire sweeps through the city, killing over 300 people and leaving many thousands homeless. According to legend, the culprit is a cow that kicked over a lantern. The cow's owners, the O'Learys, dispute this story. The fire destroys many downtown homes, stores, and public buildings, which are built of wood. Despite this destruction, much of the city is untouched by the blaze, and Chicagoans are able to rebuild quickly. New buildings, including early steel skyscrapers, are built to replace the wooden structures.

1872 Chicago retailer Montgomery Ward issues his first mail-order catalog. The mail-order concept becomes immensely popular throughout the United States.

1873 The Chicago Public Library, the first public library in the city, is established by action of the City Council and the Illinois General Assembly.

1877 The Board of Health is organized as a permanent part of the state government. The Board's first president is Dr. John H. Rauch, the sanitary superintendent for the Chicago Board of Health. During the Civil War, Rauch was the chief medical officer on General Ulysses S. Grant's staff in the Army of the Tennessee.

1881 The Board of Health requires smallpox vaccinations for all public-school students.

1886 The Haymarket Riot, related to labor protests, convulses Chicago. The riot begins when police try to break up a demonstration of anarchists in Chicago's Haymarket Square. A bomb is thrown into the crowd of about 1,500 people, killing eleven people and wounding over 100 others. The state hangs several of the anarchist leaders, despite lack of evidence connecting them to the bomb. (Governor John Altgeld eventually pardons several of the convicted men, in 1893.) The incident leads to restrictions on organized labor throughout the country, including groups such as the Knights of Labor.

1889 Social reformer Jane Addams opens Hull House, a "settlement house," in Chicago's West Slide slums. The project's goal is to improve the conditions of Chicago's large immigrant population.

1890s Chicago has become the nation's second largest city (New York City is the largest). This brings the Midwestern metropolis a new nickname: "The Second City."

1893–94Workers at the Pullman Railway Car Company strike, in response to owner George Pullman's economy measures. In order to cut costs in the midst of the 1893 depression, the industrialist had cut wages and laid off workers but refused to lower rents in his company town. The strike becomes worse in 1894, when the American Railway Union shows support by boycotting Pullman cars. Despite the objections of Governor Altgeld, President Grover Cleveland sends in federal troops to end the strike, which has paralyzed Illinois' economy.

1893 Chicago sponsors the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This "world's fair" features attractions such as the 250-foot-high Ferris wheel, a new invention.

1905 The African American newspaper the Chicago Defender is established.

1906 "Muckracking" author Upton Sinclair publishes his novel The Jungle, which portrays gruesome and unsanitary working conditions in Chicago's meat-packing plants. As a result of the book, Congress passes the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act.

1913 Illinois gives women the right to vote in presidential elections, seven years before the Twentieth Amendment to the US Constitution provides this right at the national level.

1917–1918 World War I. Illinois factories and stockyards provide much of the war materiel required by the American Expeditionary Force sent to fight in Europe. The state also provides over 350,000 men to the Armed Forces, many of them members of the Thirty-Third National Guard Division, also known as the "Prairie Division."

1919 Illinois ratifies the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, a measure that prohibits the production, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages. Although intended to prevent drunkenness, Prohibition actually aids the rise of organized crime. Illegal "speakeasies" replace saloons, and gangsters such as Al Capone make huge fortunes by distributing liquor. Many immigrants also oppose Prohibition, because they view it as an attack on their cultures.

Chicago suffers its largest race riot ever. Almost forty people are killed and hundreds more are injured in the violence. The violence begins when a Black boy drowns because he is not allowed to swim ashore to a Whites' only beach.

1921 The General Assembly passes legislation that allows the city of Chicago to build a deepwater port at Lake Calumet. This marks the origins of the modern Port of Chicago.

1929 Gangland violence in Chicago erupts in the "Saint Valentine's Day Massacre." Members of Al Capone's gang kill seven henchmen of rival "Bug" Moran. The murders gain international attention and help fix Chicago's reputation as a home of organized crime.

1930s The Great Depression. Illinois suffers along with the rest of the country, following the stock market crash of 1929. In January 1933, two months before Franklin Roosevelt takes office as president, about 20 percent of the Illinois population is out of work.

1933–1934 Thirty years after the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago hosts the Century of Progress Exposition.

1933 While traveling with newly sworn-in President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Florida, Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak is shot to death by an assassin who was aiming at the president.

1937 Southern Illinois suffers major economic turmoil when the Ohio River floods. Thousands of people are left homeless.

1941–1945 World War II. Illinois plays a major role in the war effort, producing tanks and aircraft engines in its factories. By 1945, over 900,000 Illinoisans are serving in the military. The University of Chicago becomes the site of the top-secret "Manhattan Project," a US government effort to build a nuclear weapon. In 1942, a team led by Italian-born scientist Enrico Fermi conducts the first controlled nuclear chain reaction in a laboratory there.

1941 Television first comes to Chicago in the form of the city's first experimental TV station, W9XBK. The following year, the station becomes WBKB, Channel 4.

1947 The state Department of Public Health begins adding fluoride to the water supply, in order to prevent dental cavities.

1948 Following World War II, Chicago becomes a major pioneer in commercial television broadcasting, with four TV stations. The program TV Forecast is the nation's first weekly program. Adlai E. Stevenson, a Democrat, is elected governor. In 1952 and 1956, he runs as the Democratic candidate for president.

1950 Chicago-based writer Nelson Algren wins the first National Book Award for his 1949 novel The Man with the Golden Arm, which is set in Chicago.

1951 The state creates the Chicago Regional Port District, a precursor of the modern Port of Chicago.

1955Richard J. Daley, a Democrat, is elected to his first term as mayor. He ultimately serves six terms, dying in office in December 1976. During his twenty-one-year tenure, Daley becomes known for political influence not only within Chicago, but throughout the state and in national Democratic Party politics. His son, Richard M. Daley, is elected mayor in 1989.

1956 Illinois begins building interstate highways. Interstate 80 is completed in 1968.

1959 The state opens the St. Lawrence Seaway, connecting the Great Lakes region more closely with the Atlantic seaboard and thus the world. This greatly enhances the Port of Chicago's ability to handle international trade.

1968 The Democratic National Convention in Chicago becomes the site of massive demonstrations against the Vietnam War, involving thousands of protestors. Fighting breaks out between the protestors and law enforcement (Chicago city police and the Illinois National Guard).

1973 Construction is completed on the Sears Tower (later named the Willis Tower), the world's tallest building at the time.

1979 Jane Byrne is elected as Chicago's first woman mayor.

1980s Illinois suffers a major economic downturn, due to dropping farm prices and industrial decline.

1983 Chicago elects Harold Washington as its first African American mayor, following a racially charged campaign.

1987 Chicago Mayor Washington dies of a heart attack at age sixty-five, while serving his second term in office.

1989 Richard M. Daley, son of former Mayor Richard J. Daley, is elected to complete the term of Mayor Harold Washington.

1992 Carol Moseley Braun becomes the first African American woman in the United States Senate.

1998 The Chicago Bulls basketball team win their sixth NBA championship.

2003 Outgoing Governor George Ryan, in one of his last official acts, commutes the sentences of all prisoners on death row. This act causes a nationwide controversy among supporters and opponents of capital punishment. Ryan had earlier declared a moratorium on use of the death penalty, pending investigation into whether it was being applied fairly.

2005 The Chicago White Sox win the World Series for the third time.

2008 Illinois US Senator Barack Obama (Democrat) is elected president of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold that office. He is reelected in 2012.

2009 The Illinois House of Representative votes to impeach Governor Rod Blagojevich for corruption and misconduct. It is the first impeachment of a governor in Illinois history. Pat Quinn replaces Blagojevich as governor.

2010 Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is convicted of lying to investigators in federal court. However, the jury reaches no decision on twenty-three other counts. The following year he is found guilty on seventeen counts, including wire fraud, attempted extortion, and bribery and sentenced to fourteen years in prison.

2016 The Chicago Cubs win the World Series, their first title since 1908 and third overall, to end the longest championship drought in the history of North American professional sports.

2019 Lori Lightfoot is elected mayor of Chicago, making it the largest US city ever headed by a Black woman, and also the largest ever headed by an LGBTQ person.

2021 Illinois becomes the first state in the nation to require that Asian American history be taught in public schools.

2022 In January, Chicago teachers strike for five days over insufficient COVID-19 safety protocols and staffing shortages during the Omicron surge.

FAMOUS PEOPLE

Jane Addams, 1860–1935 (Cedarville) , Social worker; reformer.

Jack Benny, 1894–1974 (Waukegan) , Comedian.

Harry A. Blackmun, 1908–99 (Nashville) , US Supreme Court justice.

William E. Borah, 1865–1940 (Fairfield) , US senator from Idaho.

Ray Bradbury, 1920–2012 (Waukegan) , Writer.

William Jennings Bryan, 1860–1925 (Salem) , Statesman.

Raymond Chandler, 1888–1959 (Chicago) , Detective-story writer.

Sandra Cisneros, 1954– (Chicago) , Writer.

Jimmy Connors, 1952– (Belleville) , Tennis player.

Richard J. Daley, 1902–76 (Chicago) , Mayor of Chicago, 1955–76.

Richard Michael Daley, 1942– (Chicago) , Mayor of Chicago, 1989–2011; son of Mayor Richard J. Daley.

Miles Davis, 1926–91 (Alton) , Jazz musician.

Walt Disney, 1901–66 (Chicago) , Film animator; film producer.

John Dos Passos, 1896–1970 (Chicago) , Author.

James T. Farrell, 1904–79 (Chicago) , Author.

Harrison Ford, 1942– (Chicago) , Actor.

Benny Goodman, 1909–86 (Chicago) , Swing musician.

Ernest Hemingway, 1899–1961 (Oak Park) , Writer.

Charlton Heston, 1923–2008 (Evanston) , Actor; president of the National Rifle Association.

James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok, 1837–76 (Troy Grove) , Western scout.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee, 1962– (East St. Louis) , Track and field athlete.

Gene Krupa, 1909–73 (Chicago) , Drummer; big-band musician.

David Mamet, 1947– (Chicago) , Playwright.

Bill Murray, 1950– (Wilmette) , Actor; comedian.

Michelle Obama, 1964– (Chicago) , First lady of the United States.

Deval Patrick, 1956– (Chicago) , Governor of Massachusetts.

Ronald Reagan, 1911–2004 (Tampico) , Actor; governor of California; forty-first president of the United States.

Carl Sandburg, 1878–1967 (Galesburg) , Author.

Gil Scott-Heron, 1949–2011 (Chicago) , Poet; musician; author.

Garry Shandling, 1949–2016 (Chicago, IL): Comedian, actor, directorThe Larry Sanders Show.

Robin Williams, 1952–2014 (Chicago, IL): Comedian; actor, director Dead Poet’s Society.

TRIVIA

• In 1869, Chicago inventor I. W. McGafley received the first American patent for a vacuum cleaner based on the suction principle.
• The Coal Mine exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry is a realistic replica of an actual coal mine. The exhibit opened in 1933.
• Carl Sandburg, early twentieth-century Illinois author, nicknamed Chicago "the City of Broad Shoulders" because it was an industrial powerhouse.
• Illinois is known as the "Land of Lincoln" because of its historic association with the nation's sixteenth President, Abraham Lincoln.
• In 1900 the flow of the Chicago River was artificially reversed, helping to improve the city's water supply and spurring industrial growth.
• Rapper Kanye West tried to run for president in 2020 but failed to get enough signatures to appear on the Illinois ballot.

Bibliography

"About." Illinois Ports Association, 2021, illinoisports.org/about/. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023.

America Counts Staff. "Illinois: 2020 Census." United States Census Bureau, 25 Aug. 2021, www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/illinois-population-change-between-census-decade.html. Accessed 7 Oct. 2021.

"BEARFACTS: Economic Profile for Illinois." Bureau of Economic Analysis, US Department of Commerce, 31 Mar. 2023, apps.bea.gov/regional/bearfacts/. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023.

Economic Impact of Visitors in Illinois 2022. Tourism Economics / Illinois Office of Tourism, June 2023, www.enjoyillinois.com/assets/PDF-Docs/Illinois-Tourism-Economic-Impact-2022.pdf. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023

"Illinois." Quick Facts, US Census Bureau, 1 July 2022, www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/IL/PST045222. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023.

"Illinois State Profile and Energy Estimates: Profile Overview." US Energy Information Administration, 17 Aug. 2023, www.eia.gov/state/?sid=IL. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023.

Malo, Sebastien. "In Midwest First, Illinois Bans Fossil Fuel Electricity Sources." Reuters, 15 Sept. 2021, www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/midwest-first-illinois-bans-fossil-fuel-electricity-sources-2021-09-15/. Accessed 7 Oct. 2021.

"2022 State Agriculture Overview." National Agricultural Statistics Service, US Department of Agriculture, 2023, www.nass.usda.gov/Quick‗Stats/Ag‗Overview/stateOverview.php?state=ILLINOIS. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023.

Eric Badertscher