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The Illinois Portal  Illinois (/ˌɪlɪˈnɔɪ/ ⓘIL-ih-NOY) is astate in theMidwestern region of theUnited States. It bordersLake Michigan to its northeast, theMississippi River to its west, and theWabash andOhio rivers to its south. Of the fifty U.S. states, Illinois has thefifth-largest gross domestic product (GDP), thesixth-largest population, and the25th-most land area. Its capital city isSpringfield in the center of the state, and the state's largest city isChicago in the northeast. Present-day Illinois was inhabited byIndigenous cultures for thousands of years. The French were the first Europeans to arrive, settling near the Mississippi andIllinois rivers in the 17th centuryIllinois Country, as part of their sprawling colony ofNew France. A century later, the revolutionary warIllinois campaign prefigured American involvement in the region. FollowingU.S. independence in 1783, which made the Mississippi River the national boundary, American settlers began arriving fromKentucky via the Ohio River. Illinois was soon part of the United States' oldest territory, theNorthwest Territory, and in 1818 it achievedstatehood. TheErie Canal brought increased commercial activity in the Great Lakes, and the invention of the self-scouringsteel plow by IllinoisanJohn Deere turned the state's richprairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmland, attractingimmigrant farmers fromGermany,Sweden and elsewhere. In the mid-19th century, theIllinois and Michigan Canal and a sprawling railroad network facilitated trade, commerce, and settlement, making the state a transportation hub for the nation, especially in the city ofChicago, which became the world's fastest growing city by the late 19th century. By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities andcoal mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants fromEastern andSouthern Europe. Illinois became one of America's most industrialized states and remains a major manufacturing center. TheGreat Migration from the South established a large Black community, particularly inChicago, which became a leading cultural, economic, and population center; itsmetropolitan area, informally referred to asChicagoland, holds about 65% of the state's 12.8 million residents. TwoWorld Heritage Sites are in Illinois, the ancientCahokia Mounds, and part of theWright architecture site. A wide variety ofprotected areas seek to conserve Illinois' natural and cultural resources. Major centers of learning include theUniversity of Chicago,University of Illinois, andNorthwestern University. ThreeU.S. presidents have been elected while residents of Illinois:Abraham Lincoln,Ulysses S. Grant, andBarack Obama; additionally,Ronald Reagan was born and raised in the state, though he served forCalifornia. Illinois honors Lincoln with its official state sloganLand of Lincoln. The state is the site of theAbraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield and the future home of theBarack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Selected article ThePioneer Zephyr is adiesel-poweredrailroad train formed ofrailroad cars permanently articulated together withJacobs bogies, built by theBudd Company in 1934 for theChicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q), commonly known as the Burlington. The train featured extensive use ofstainless steel, was originally named theZephyr, and was meant as a promotional tool to advertise passenger rail service in theUnited States. The construction included innovations such asshotwelding (a specialized type ofspot welding) to join the stainless steel, and articulation to reduce its weight. On May 26, 1934 it set aspeed record for travel betweenDenver, Colorado, andChicago, Illinois, when it made a 1,015-mile (1,633 km) non-stop "Dawn-to-Dusk" dash in 13 hours 5 minutes at an average speed of 77 mph (124 km/h). For one section of the run it reached a speed of 112.5 mph (181 km/h), just short of the then US land speed record of 115 mph (185 km/h). The historic dash inspired two films and the train's nickname, "Silver Streak". (Read more...) Selected biography Black Hawk, or Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak in theSauk language, (1767 – October 3, 1838) was a war leader of theSaukAmerican Indian tribe in what is now the Midwest of theUnited States. He earned his status as a war chief or captain by leading raiding and war parties as a young man, and a band of Sauk warriors during theBlack Hawk War of 1832. Black Hawk was born in 1767 in the village ofSaukenuk on theRock River (present-dayRock Island,Illinois). During theWar of 1812, Black Hawk had fought on the side of theBritish against the U.S., hoping to push white American settlers away from Sauk territory. Later he led a band of Sauk and Fox warriors, known as theBritish Band, against European-American settlers inIllinois and present-dayWisconsin in the 1832 Black Hawk War. After the war, he was captured by U.S. forces and taken to the eastern United States. Shortly before being released from custody, Black Hawk told his story to an interpreter; aided also by a newspaper reporter, he publishedAutobiography of Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak, or Black Hawk, Embracing the Traditions of his Nation.... Black Hawk died in 1838 in what is now southeasternIowa. He has been honored by an enduring legacy: his book, many eponyms, and other tributes. (Read more...) Did you know...
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