Illinois Trivia & Tidbits - Page 15

Looking for Illinois trivia? Try our list Illinois little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Rosiclare (pop. 1,213) has the world’s largest and deepest fluorite mine, which produces about 75 percent of the nation’s fluorite, a mineral used in processing iron and steel.

first appeared: 10/21/2001

In 2000, the National Association of Home Builders rated Rockford—with a median home price of $90,000—as the most affordable city to live in.

first appeared: 10/14/2001

One of the popular 19th-century songs among Irish immigrants—I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen—was written in Chicago in 1875 by Thomas Westendorf, who told his wife that he would take her to her former home in Germany.

first appeared: 10/7/2001

Actor Buddy Ebsen, who played Jed Clampett on the popular television show The Beverly Hillbillies, was born April 2, 1908, in Belleville.

first appeared: 9/30/2001

James Brady, press secretary for former President Ronald Reagan, was born Aug. 29, 1940, in Centralia (pop. 14,136), not Grand Rapids, Mich. Thanks to Bud Connaway of Moberly, Mo., for catching our mistake.

first appeared: 9/23/2001

Matt Parker of Morton (pop. 15,198) headed a team that built a hurling device, which set a world’s record in 1998 for launching an 8- to 10-pound pumpkin 4,026 feet. The device, about the size of a cement truck, uses compressed air to fire pumpkins through an 80-foot boom.

first appeared: 9/16/2001

Born in Chester (pop. 5,185) on Dec. 8, 1894, Elzie Segar created the cartoon character Popeye the Sailor Man based on a local man he knew, Frank “Rocky” Fiegel. A monument of Popeye stands near the Chester Bridge.

first appeared: 9/9/2001

Famous for his debates with Abraham Lincoln, Sen. Stephen Douglas, who lived in Jacksonville (pop. 18,940), ran for U.S. president in 1852, 1856, and 1860.

first appeared: 9/2/2001

In early 1804, when explorers Lewis and Clark prepared for their journey to the Pacific Coast, they camped near the present-day town of Wood River (pop. 11,296).

first appeared: 8/26/2001

When it began its annual Milk Days in the spring of 1942, Harvard (pop. 7,996) was known as the Milk Center of the World because of the large number of dairy farms in the area.

first appeared: 8/19/2001

Actress Calista Flockhart was born in Freeport (pop. 26,031) Nov. 11, 1964. Named after her great-grandmother, the star of Ally McBeal received a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a television comedy series in 1998.

first appeared: 8/12/2001

In 1816, the first bank in the Illinois Territory was built in Shawneetown (pop. 1,410). Banking was so successful that the town once was known as the state’s financial capital.

first appeared: 8/5/2001

The longest boxing match to end with a knockout occurred north of Granite City (pop. 31,301), Feb. 2, 1892, when Harry Sharpe KO’d Frank Crosby in the 77th round.

first appeared: 7/29/2001

Lender’s Bagel Bakery made the world’s largest bagel on July 23, 1998, when it created a 718-pound blueberry bagel during Bagelfest, an annual celebration in Mattoon (pop. 18,214).

first appeared: 7/22/2001

Dedicated Aug. 14, 1914, the Stinson Memorial Library in Anna (pop. 5,289) was designed by Walter Burley Griffin, one of the leading architects of the day. Built at a cost of $25,000, the library is on the National Register of Historic Places.

first appeared: 7/15/2001

The Chicago Bears originally were known as the Staleys when the football team was formed in Decatur in 1920. At the time, each player earned $1,900 for the season.

first appeared: 7/8/2001

The world’s largest recorded sandcastle made with buckets and spades was built at the Du Quoin State Fairground in Du Quoin (pop. 7,019) in 1998. It stood 24 feet tall.

first appeared: 7/1/2001

Lakeview Museum in Peoria has created a model solar system at a scale of 42 feet to 1 million miles. An 11-foot-wide sun at the museum serves as the center, while golf-ball-sized Pluto is in Kewanee (pop. 12,686), 40 miles distant.

first appeared: 6/24/2001

Illinois is one of only two states abutting another state—Indiana—which immediately follows it in the alphabetical listing of states. The other is Florida, which borders Georgia.

first appeared: 6/17/2001

Former President Ronald Reagan is credited with saving 77 lives at Lowell Park in Dixon (pop. 15,550), where he worked as a lifeguard from 1926 to 1932.

first appeared: 6/10/2001

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