Header image from National Park Service,Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail, Illinois.
Illinois was admitted as the 21st state on December 3, 1818.
Bird: Cardinal
Unlike many other songbirds in North America, both the male and female cardinals can sing. Usually, only a male songbird is capable of singing. When a female cardinal sings from the nest, it usually means she’s telling the male she needs more food. Cardinals mate for life. A group of cardinals has many collective nouns, including a “college”, “conclave”, “deck”, “radiance”, and “Vatican” of cardinals.
The cardinal is the mascot of prominent sports teams and schools, including the St. Louis Cardinals (baseball) and Arizona Cardinals (football); it is the state bird of seven states, more than any other bird: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia
Flower: Violet
Violets typically have heart-shaped leaves. Their surface is either smooth or covered with fine hairs, depending on the species. Violet flowers symbolize delicate love, affection, modesty, faith, nobility, intuition and dignity. The meaning of the violet changes depending on the color of the flower and the person the flower is sent to. Blue violet flowers symbolizes love and faithfulness, white violets represent purity and chastity, and yellow violets symbolize high worth and goodness. One quirk of some Violets is the elusive scent of their flowers; along with terpenes, a major component of the scent is a ketone compound called ionone, which temporarily desensitises the receptors of the nose, thus preventing any further scent being detected from the flower until the nerves recover.
Tree: White Oak
White oak has tyloses that give the wood a closed cellular structure, making it water- and rot-resistant. Because of this characteristic, white oak is used by coopers to make wine and whiskey barrels as the wood resists leaking. Also, by federal regulation, bourbon whiskey must be aged in charred new oak (generally understood to mean specifically American white oak)
It has also been used in construction, shipbuilding, agricultural implements, and in the interior finishing of houses. USS Constitution is made of white oak and southern live oak, conferring additional resistance to cannon fire. State tree of Connecticut, Maryland, and Illinois
State Quarter
From theus50.com
The Illinois quarter design depicts a young Abraham Lincoln within the outline of the state. A farm scene and the Chicago skyline appear on the left and to the right of the state’s outline. Twenty-one stars border the coin, signifying Illinois as the 21st state to be admitted into the Union on December 3, 1818.
“The Prairie State,” also commonly known as the “Land of Lincoln,” pays tribute to our nation’s 16th president. The young Lincoln lived and practiced law in Springfield before becoming one of our nation’s greatest leaders. President Lincoln’s historic home, burial site and new presidential library are all located in the Springfield area.
Capital: Springfield
Nickname: Land of Lincoln/Prairie State
Motto: State sovereignty, national union
Illinois Facts and Trivia
Illinois has 57,915 square miles; it is 210 miles wide E-W, and 390 miles long N-S. It ranks 25th in area.
The state of Illinois was named for the Illinois River. The river was named by French explorer Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle in 1679. He found a group of Algonquin Indians living along the banks of the river who described themselves as “”ILLINIWEK” meaning men or warriors.
The first birth on record in Chicago was of Eulalia Pointe du Sable, daughter of Jean-Baptiste Pointe du Sable and his Potawatomi Indian wife in 1796.
Illinois was admitted as the 21st state on December 3, 1818.
The first Mormon Temple in Illinois was constructed in Nauvoo in 1841. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Was first established in New York state by Joseph Smith. The church moved to Ohio in the 1830’s. Then to Missouri in 1838. When the Mormons were driven from Missouri a year later, they moved to Illinois and established the town of Nauvoo. Joseph Smith was murdered in 1844 and most of the Mormons followed Brigham Young to Salt Lake City.
The famous Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 stirred interest all over the country on the slavery issue. Lincoln was the Republican candidate and Douglas the Democratic candidate for the U. S. Senate from Illinois. There were seven debates held in seven towns of Illinois – Ottawa, Freeport, Jonesboro, Charleston, Galesburg, Quincy and Alton. The widespread press coverage of the debates turned Lincoln into a national figure. The format was that one candidate spoke for 60 minutes, then the other candidate spoke for 90 minutes, and then the first candidate was allowed a 30-minute rejoinder. The candidates alternated speaking first.
Illinois was the first state to ratify the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery. 1865.
The worst prison camps during the Civil War in terms of percentages of death were at Rock Island, Illinois (17%) and Andersonville, Georgia (27%).
1871 Chicago fire started by Mrs. O’Leary’s cow devastated 18,000 buildings, left close to 100,000 people homeless, and killed 200-300 people. Only two buildings survived – the Chicago Water Tower and the Pumping Station. Months without rain had parched the city, and a major fire the previous night had exhausted firefighters and damaged equipment.
The world’s first Skyscraper was built in Chicago, 1885. It was the Home Insurance Building at 138 feet tall, ten stories high.
New York Sun editor Charles Dana, tired of hearing Chicagoans boast of the world’s 1893 Columbian Exposition, dubbed Chicago the “Windy City.”
“Twinkies” were invented in 1930 in River Forest, Illinois
Carol Moseley Braun was the first African American woman elected as a U. S. Senator (1993-1999)
Morton is the “pumpkin capital of the world”.
Illinois is the only state where white and black squirrels both reside. To see the white ones, head over to Olney in southwestern Illinois, and to see black squirrels, take a trip to the Quad Cities area. (The Quad Cities is a region of five cities in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline in northwestern Illinois.)
Only In Your State.com has pictures of historic or unusual spots in Illinois including Pyramid House, Hippie Memorial, “The Eternal Indian, Hull House, and Popeye’s Museum.
Before Abraham Lincoln was elected president he served in the Illinois legislature and practiced law in Springfield. Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln are buried just outside Springfield at Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site.
Ronald Wilson Reagan from Tampico, Ill. became the 40th president of the United States in 1980.
Illinois has more units of government than any other state (i.e., city, county, township, etc.). Over six thousand. One contributing reason may be the township governments, which are generally six miles square.
Illinois is also considered to be one of the most politically corrupt states in the U.S. Six governors of the state have been charged with crimes and four of these were sent to prison.
Illinois is a Democratic stronghold. Historically, it was a political swing state, with near-parity existing between the Republican and the Democratic parties. However, in recent elections, the Democratic Party has gained ground, and Illinois has come to be seen as a solid “blue” state in presidential campaigns. Votes from Chicago and most of Cook County have long been strongly Democratic. However, the “collar counties” (the suburbs surrounding Chicago’s Cook County, Illinois), can be seen as moderate voting districts. College towns like Carbondale, Champaign, and Normal also lean Democratic.
Republicans continue to prevail in the rural areas of northern and central Illinois, as well as southern Illinois outside of East St. Louis. From 1920 until 1972, Illinois was carried by the victor of each of these 14 presidential elections. In fact, the state was long seen as a national bellwether, supporting the winner in every election in the 20th century, except for 1916 and 1976. By contrast, Illinois has trended more toward the Democratic party, and has voted for their presidential candidates in the last six elections; in 2000, George W. Bush became the first Republican to win the presidency without carrying either Illinois or Vermont. Local politician and Chicago resident Barack Obama easily won the state’s 21 electoral votes in 2008, with 61.9% of the vote. In 2012, President Obama easily carried Illinois again, with 58% to Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s 41%. In 2016, Hillary Clinton carried Illinois with 55% of the vote. George W. Bush and Donald Trump are the only Republican presidential candidates to win without carrying either Illinois or Vermont.
Crazy Laws in Illinois
Don’t give whiskey to a dog.
Don’t fish while sitting on a giraffe’s neck.
Don’t take your French poodle to the opera.
In Mount Pulaski, Illinois, it is illegal for boys (and only boys) to hurl snowballs at trees. Girls are allowed to do that however.
People:
- Show Business
- Gillian Anderson, actress
- Mary Astor, actress
Jack Benny, comedian- Jennie Garth, actress
- Gower Champion, choreographer
- John Chancellor, TV commentator
- Miles Davis, musician
Walt Disney, film animator, producer- Harrison Ford, actor
- Benny Goodman, musician
Charlton Heston, actor- William Holden, actor
Rock Hudson, actor- Burl Ives, singer
- Bill Murray, actor
- Bob Newhart, actor, comedian
- Richard Pryor, comedian, actor
- McLean Stevenson, actor
- Gloria Swanson, actress
Raquel Welch, actress- Florenz Ziegfield, theatrical producer
- Other
- Franklin Pierce Adams, author, newspaper columnist
- Jane Addams, social worker
- Harry A. Blackmun, jurist
- Ray Bradbury, author
William Jennings Bryan, orator, politician- Edgar Rice Burroughs, author
- Raymond Chandler, writer
- Jimmy Connors, tennis champion
- Cindy Crawford, model
- Richard J. Daley, mayor
- John Dos Passos, author
- Betty Friedan, feminist
- John Gunther, author
Dorothy Hamill, ice skater- Ernest Hemingway, author
- Wild Bill Hickok, scout
- James Jones, author
- Quincy Jones, composer
- Drew Pearson, columnist
Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. president, actor- Carl Sandburg, poet
- Elzie Crisller Segar, creator of Popeye the Sailorman cartoon
- Irving Wallace, author
Music:
The song “Chicago” as recorded by Frank Sinatra:
Lake Shore Drive by Aliotta, Haynes, and Jeremiah
Sweet home Chicago by Eric Clapton
Illinois by Dan Fogelberg
Illinois by the Everly Brothers
Cairo, Illinois by Pokey LaFarge
Come On! Feel the Illinoise by Sufjan Stevens
Johnsburg, Illinois by Tom Waits
Credits:
See 50 states.com for more facts about Illinois
See Facts.co
See Wikipedia
See Only in your state, a terrific website if you are planning a trip to Illinois.
See The Fact File.org
See Britannica.com