Did you know 114 years ago the Famous American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh was born in Streator, Ill. on Feb. 4th 1906?

Tombaugh was the first astronomer to discover what was identified as the Kuiper Belt, but more specifically he was the man accredited to the discovery of the dwarf planet Pluto. The son of a farmer, Tombaugh’s plans for attending college were stifled by a hailstorm ruining his family farm at a young age. He started to build his own telescopes with lenses and mirrors, drawing images of Jupiter and Mars to the Lowell Observatory which offered him a job.

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Donna Zarbin-Byrne is our February artist of the month, representing both Evanston and Chicago. Since childhood Donna has wanted to be an artist. Today, her work can be found not only in Illinois but Honolulu, Hawaii, too.

What does being able to live and work in Illinois mean to you?

Living and working in Evanston and Chicago has afforded access to a multitude of art venues throughout my life. Additionally, the many cultural experiences also inspire and encourage my practice in the arts.

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Just 25 miles north of St. Louis, Alton is small city with more than its fair share of vibrant history. Founded in 1837, Alton was the site of the final debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in 1858. It was the home town of Robert Wadlow, the world's tallest man, and it is where legendary jazz musician Miles Davis was born, just to name a few facts. But what the city of Alton is famous (or perhaps infamous) for is that it’s considered to be one of the most haunted towns in the United States.

There are many locations around the city associated with reports of paranormal activity, such as a school, local cemeteries, and a prison. First opened in 1833, the Alton Prison was the first Illinois State Penitentiary. It was closed in 1860 and reopened two years later as a military prison during the Civil War. The majority of the prison’s population were Confederate prisoners and it is estimated that over 11,000 of them were brought to the jail in just three years.

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Can you imagine life without a dishwasher? Fudge brownies? Your cell phone? Neither can we—that’s why we’re taking a moment this National Inventors’ Day to recognize a few Illinois inventors and their contributions to history.

In 1885, Josephine Cochrane developed the dishwasher in Shelbyville. As the story goes, Cochrane—a wealthy socialite who frequently hosted dinner parties—hated washing dishes so much that she invented and patented the world’s first mechanical dishwasher. She founded the Garis-Cochran Manufacturing Company in 1886, which became part of KitchenAid after her death in 1913.

Sweet-toothed Illinoisans, rejoice: Chefs at Chicago’s Palmer House Hotel invented the brownie in 1893. According to legend, the hotel owner’s wife requested a dessert that would hold up in boxed lunches for attendees of the World Colombian Exposition. The result? A nutty, apricot-glazed predecessor to the fudgy treats we know today.

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