You can leisurely change channels while comfortably sitting on the couch thanks to an Illinois inventor. Eugene Polley, an engineer at Chicago-based Zenith Electronics, created the first wireless TV remote control in 1955.

Polley was a Chicago native who attended the City Colleges of Chicago and the Armour Institute of Technology—now the Illinois Institute of Technology.

In 1935, he we went to work for Zenith as a stock boy earning 40 cents an hour. He worked his way up through the company and in 1955 designed the Flash-Matic wireless remote.

The Flash-Matic used a beam of visible light to turn a TV on and off and to change channels. Later styles of remotes used sound and eventually infrared light.

He received a $1,000 bonus for his invention, and in 1997, Polley and a team of engineers received an Emmy for their pioneering work.

Learn more:
New York Times on Eugene Polley

The term broadband refers to high-speed Internet access that is always on and faster than traditional dial-up access. High-speed Internet can improve economic development, public safety, health care and education.

Illinois has the third highest concentration of optic-fiber in the nation, with 7.96 terabytes of capacity. In 2013, Illinois was listed by the White House as one of the states with most broadband access and is a hub for the manufacturing and technology industries.

Learn more:
FCC - Types of Broadband Connections
Broadband Deployment Council
IL DCEO - Digital Infrastructure

That’s right. The younger half of the vocal duo The Everly Brothers was born in Chicago in 1939 to musical parents. After moving around the country with their family, the brothers set up shop in Nashville, Tennessee, where they began a very successful recording career. For three years, starting with “Bye Bye Love” in 1957, The Everly Brothers racked up a string of hits.

After enlisting in the Marine Corps in 1960, the brothers’ popularity began to wane, and they split up as a duo acrimoniously in 1973. They would not speak to each other or play together for ten years. After their reunion, The Everly Brothers enjoyed modest success singing and playing with musicians they influenced. His musical legacy will live on for generations.

Learn more:
The Official Everly Brothers Family Fan Site
The Everly Brothers on last.fm
Rolling Stone’s tribute to Phil Everly

In his 1966 speech, Dr. King spoke of race relations in terms of the perspective each of us view American progress. He focused his words on the utility of realism in our day-to-day battle for racial equality in America, an idea which can be applied today to the current status of race relations in America and the world at large.

“The realist in race relations trying to answer the question of progress would seek to combine the trues of two opposites [pessimism and optimism], while avoiding the extremes of both," said Dr. King. "And so the realist would agree with the optimist that we have come a long, long way, but he would seek to balance that by agreeing with the pessimist in that we have a long, long way to go. And it is this realistic position that I would like to take as a basis for our thinking together … as we deal with the question of progress in race relations.”

In between his visits to Illinois Wesleyan, Dr. King won Time Magazine’s Man of the Year in 1963 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

Learn more:
Listen to Dr. King’s 1966 speech in its entirety

First Lady Michelle Obama was born to Fraser and Marian Robinson and raised on the South Side of Chicago.

Obama began her career by attending Chicago Public Schools and excelling in academics. She attended gifted classes in grade school and graduated high school as class salutatorian prior to attending Princeton University. In 1985, Obama graduated cum laude with a B.A. in sociology. She went on to earn a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Instead of rushing to Washington, Obama returned to Chicago where she worked as a lawyer and city administrator. With her husband, then-State Senator Barack Obama, she helped organize the community as a community outreach worker.

In 2009, the Obamas made history by becoming the first African-American U.S. president and first lady.

As first lady, Michelle Obama worked to help military families and working women and to improve the country’s health. In 2010, she launched the Let’s Move! campaign to address the challenge of childhood obesity by promoting activity and health eating.

In 2011, Obama joined Dr. Jill Biden to create Joining Forces, a nationwide initiative to create employment opportunities for returning veterans. This year, Mrs. Obama began the Reach Higher initiative to help young Americans attend college.

Learn more:
The first lady’s official biography
Want to keep up with Michelle? Check out her Twitter page for updates from the White House.