Illinois Trivia & Tidbits - Page 6

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

In 1900, William Sullivan of Roodhouse (pop. 2,214) invented a portable Ferris wheel, which he called the Big Eli, and operated it in Central Park in Jacksonville (pop. 18,940). He founded Eli Bridge Co. in 1906 to manufacture his invention.

first appeared: 9/25/2005

Five months before appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show, British rocker George Harrison visited his sister, Louise Harrison Caldwell, in Benton (pop. 6,880). Today, the home where one of the Fab Four stayed in September 1963 is the Hard Days Nite Bed and Breakfast and Beatles Mini-Museum.

first appeared: 9/18/2005

Completed in 1870, the opulent Macoupin County Courthouse in Carlinville (pop. 5,685) cost a staggering $1.3 million and at the time was among the nation’s largest county courthouses. The courthouse still is a showplace.

first appeared: 9/11/2005

In 1962, bird housing in Griggsville (pop. 1,258) sprang up for purple martins to help curb the town’s mosquito population. The town is known as the "Purple Martin Capital of the Nation," and aluminum bird apartments are manufactured there.

first appeared: 8/28/2005

One of the world’s first service clubs, Rotary Club of Chicago, was formed 100 years ago by attorney Paul P. Harris, who longed to recapture the friendly spirit of the small towns of his youth in a professional club. The name Rotary derived from the practice of rotating the location of meetings at the offices of members.

first appeared: 8/14/2005

A red wagon big enough to haul 75 children was built by Radio Flyer Inc. of Chicago in 1997 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the company’s founding. The world’s largest wagon is 27 feet long and 13 feet wide and weighs 15,000 pounds.

first appeared: 7/31/2005

Described by poet Carl Sandburg as "the mightiest ballad singer born in any century," Burl Ives popularized old folk songs, including Lavender Blue, Foggy Foggy Dew and Big Rock Candy Mountain. He was born in 1909 near Hunt City in Jasper County and died in 1995 in Anacortes, Wash.

first appeared: 7/17/2005

"Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener . . ." was written for a contest in 1963 by Richard Trentlage of Fox River Grove (pop. 4,862). He still pockets royalty checks for the jingle.

first appeared: 6/19/2005

Since 1867, guests have soaked in mineral spring water in Okawville (pop. 1,355), first at a small bathhouse, then at the Mineral Wells Hotel, and later at the Original Springs Hotel and Bath House, which continues to operate as a mineral springs resort in northwestern Washington County.

first appeared: 6/5/2005

Built in 1812 on the bluffs of the Ohio River, the Rose Hotel in Elizabethtown (pop. 348) is among the state’s oldest hotels. Refurbished in 1998 by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, the inn continues to operate with six guest rooms available for weddings and special events.

first appeared: 5/22/2005

In 1873, Fred Hatch built the nation’s first upright silo on his father’s farm near Spring Grove (pop. 3,880). He dug an 8-foot-deep hole, lined it with rock and mortar, and extended the wooden tower 16 feet above ground to store corn silage.

first appeared: 5/8/2005

One of Abraham Lincoln’s handwritten copies of the Gettysburg Address is among treasures at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. The library opened in October, and the museum’s opening this month coincides with the 140th anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination.

first appeared: 4/24/2005

In 1938, J.F. McCullough and his son, Alex, tested their soft-serve ice cream with an "all-you-can-eat-for-a-dime" special and sold 1,600 servings in two hours. They opened their first store to sell the "queen among dairy products"—Dairy Queen—in 1940 in Joliet.

first appeared: 4/10/2005

In 1913, Fred W. Wolf Jr. of Chicago began manufacturing the Domelre, or the DOMestic ELectric REfrigerator, the first electric refrigerator designed for use in the home. While his model was a flop, one of his innovations—the ice cube tray—caught on and was included in his competitors’ models.

first appeared: 3/27/2005

When Bill Shea retired from pumping gas at his 1940s station in Springfield, he filled ’er up with motoring memorabilia, creating Shea’s Gas Station Museum.

first appeared: 3/13/2005

The oldest known John Deere tractor is a 1918 All-Wheel-Drive at Moline’s (pop. 43,768) John Deere Collectors Center.

first appeared: 2/27/2005

Charles R. Walgreen, born near Galesburg (pop. 33,706) in 1873, bought the Chicago drugstore where he worked as a pharmacist in 1901 and launched the Walgreens chain. As a young man, he started his career at Horton’s Drugstore in Dixon (pop. 15,941) where he worked for $4 a week.

first appeared: 1/30/2005

Franklin Grove (pop. 1,052) is home to the national headquarters of the Lincoln Highway Association, created in 1913 to promote construction of the nation’s first paved transcontinental highway linking New York City to San Francisco.

first appeared: 1/16/2005

A statue of comedian Bob Newhart of Oak Park (pop. 52,524) was dedicated in July 2004 in front of the Chicago office building, at 430 North Michigan, featured in the 1970s sitcom The Bob Newhart Show.

first appeared: 1/2/2005

Built in 1869, the limestone Chicago Water Tower is one of the few buildings that survived the Great Chicago Fire in 1871.

first appeared: 12/19/2004

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