This month in 2014, Illinois had a record breaking snow storm. A winter storm in early January produced as much as 14 inches of snow in some parts of the state, stranding travelers and extending holiday breaks for many Illinois students.

On Jan. 4 and 5, a winter storm system swept the central and eastern U.S., covering over half the country with snow. Illinois felt the chill—snow, sleet and brutal winds closed schools, damaged power lines, cancelled flights and endangered drivers across the state.

Although Central and Southeast Illinois experienced the heaviest snowfall, the storm brought Chicago nearly 9 inches of snow on Jan. 5, setting a new calendar day record for the city. O’Hare Airport saw 11.7 inches of snow during the same period, the largest snowfall there since 2011.

 
This week in 1868, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign opened.

Originally called Illinois Industrial College, it was the state’s first government-funded facility for higher learning. The college was one of 37 public land-grant institutions established after the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on July 2, 1862.

This week in 1986, the Chicago Bears beat the New England Patriots to win Super Bowl XX.

Led by Hall of Fame coach Mike Ditka, who was a tight end for the Bears in the team’s last Super Bowl championship win, Chicago only lost one game to reach the championship match-up with the Patriots.

On this week in 1847, Dorothea Dix, a crusader for the rights of America’s mentally ill, submitted a proposal to the Illinois General Assembly to build the state’s first mental hospital.

Dix arrived in Illinois as a radical reformer who wanted to overhaul the way in which America treated its mentally ill citizens.

At the time, people with mental disorders were treated more like prisoners than patients, considered incurable and fit only to be locked away.