Illinois has a really interesting and quite long history. Since the state has been around for so long it would be a really really long post to share all that interesting history. I thought it would be fun to take you through it in a quick timeline! So here is a quick and dirty Illinois history in 20 quick points.
1673 - French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet explored the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.
1699 - Cahokia, IL founded, is the oldest town in Illinois
1803 - Fort Dearborn was established
1809 - Creation of the Illinois Territory
1818 - Illinois became the 21st U.S. state
1853 - First Illinois State Fair is held
1871 - Fire consumes much of Chicago
1893 - Chicago World's Fair
1908 - Springfield race riot leads to formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909
1940 - John Balaban establishes WBKB, the first television station in Illinois
1952 - Governor Adlai Stevenson is the Democratic nominee for president
1954 - Raymond A. Kroc opens the first in a chain of McDonald's fast-food restaurants in Des Plaines
1958 - Our Lady of Angels elementary school fire claims the lives of ninety-two children and three nuns.
1972 - Abraham Lincoln Home in Springfield designated the first national historic site in Illinois.
1986 - Chicago Bears win Super Bowl XX
1991- Chicago Bulls win the first of three consecutive NBA championships
1992 - Carol Moseley-Braun becomes the first African-American women elected to the U.S. Senate
2008 - Barack Obama elected President of the United States
2009 - Governor Rod Blagojevich impeached
2016 - Chicago Cubs win World Series first time in 108 years
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