These days, Thanksgiving traditions include football, family, turkey and pumpkin pie, but it started as a holiday simply to remind Americans to give thanks for one another.

In 1863—in the middle of the Civil War—Illinois’ very own Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving would be celebrated nationally on the final Thursday in November. Sarah Josepha Hale, who wrote the nursery rhyme “Mary Had A Little Lamb,” is said to be the one who convinced President Lincoln to make Thanksgiving a national holiday, after writing letters to him for 17 years.

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The Dark Knight is a critically acclaimed superhero movie. It drew audiences from all over the world, making $1 billion at the box office. What you may not know is that large parts of the movie were filmed in Chicago. There are a few scenes worth highlighting.

The opening bank robbing scene, where Heath Ledger’s Joker is introduced , was filmed at the old Chicago Post Office on 404 West Harrison. However, there is an exterior shot during the scene that was filmed on West Van Buren Street and Canal Street. There was an extension of the set built onto an adjacent vacant lot. At the end of the scene, there is a convoy of school buses that the Joker escapes in, and they head down West Van Buren Street.

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The people of Bloomington are in for a treat, courtesy of the confectionery company Ferrero North America. The company announced plans to spend $75 million in order to expand their factory in Bloomington by 70,000 square feet.

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The Kaskaskia Regional Port District in Red Bud was recently featured on an episode of “World’s Greatest TV Show,” a national television show that spotlights interesting people, places and companies. Ranking as the tenth largest inland port in the country with annual tonnage exceeding 1.5 million tons on the Kaskaskia River, the port district has been a fixture of Red Bud for more than half a century.

The port district features five terminals, with each terminal location having unique capabilities such as river, road and rail access. The port district is home to multiple tenants with operations related to agriculture, steel, scrubber stone and more.

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