Did you know? Illinois has a new state snake!

Hiss hiss, we got a new state snake here in Illinois! The Eastern Milksnake is our new state snake effective Jan. 1 thanks to a very dedicated seventh grader, Gentry Heiple, a student at Carterville Junior High School. The seventh grader researched the snake to promote his passion of snakes and highlight their importance.

The legislation that made it official was HB 4821, which was sponsored by State Senators Mike Simmons and Patrick Joyce last year.

The Eastern Milksnake is prominent throughout the state, mainly living in fields, hills, rivers and woodlands. Though it looks similar to the copperhead snake, it actually is not poisonous and can even be kept as a pet. Typically the snake can be found in more northern regions in Illinois, whilst the red milksnakes are found in the southern regions. Their name came from the rumor that the snake could milk cows, which was started by farmers to evade the low volume of milk produced by their dairy cows.

Heiple grew interest in snakes due to the Shawnee National Forest being located near his hometown. For the last 50 years, a 2.5-mile segment of Forest Service Road No. 345, also known as Snake Road, is the only known place in the world to have an annual snake-related road closure for spring snake and amphibian migration in mid-March to mid-May for the spring snake migration and in September and October in the fall.

Did you know? Female inventor of the dishwasher presented the first model in Illinois!

Josephine Garis Cochran was the first person to design a practical dishwasher in the year 1886. She designed the first model in a shed behind her house in Shelbyville. Cochran desired to help relieve tired housewives and mothers of their duty of doing dishes after cooking meals. She reportedly went around saying, "If nobody else is going to invent a dish washing machine, I'll do it myself."

Cochran received the first U.S. patent for her commercially successful dishwasher on Dec. 28, 1886. She later unveiled her invention at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. She expected the invention to take to homes immediately. However, at first only restaurants and hotels were interested by her idea, and it was not until the 1950s when dishwashers became popular accessories for American homes.  

Her invention had dishes fit in compartments in a wheel that turned inside a copper boiler. It was no surprise Cochran was able to come up with a brilliant idea, as she was born into a family of inventors. Her grandfather was awarded the patent for the steamboat. She built her prototype for the machine alongside mechanic George Butters. Eventually, her invention led to the creation of the company that would later be known as KitchenAid. For her invention, Josephine Cochran was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006.

Cochran built her prototype in Shelbyville and unveiled it at the Chicago World’s Fair. She succeeded in her goal of helping the American housewife, even if it took a few decades for the idea to take off in American households. A common household appliance and its inventor can trace their origins back to Illinois.  

Notable Birthdays: Distinguished Illinois figures born in December

December is winding down, and January and the New Year are fast approaching. However, before you take a break for the holiday season, let’s take a moment to celebrate the month of December and Illinois. Many birthdays of note from those born in Illinois occurred in December. History starts the moment we are born. The famous, historic, or otherwise distinguished figures who can track their birthplaces back to Illinois in December are as follows:

• John Malkovich: American Actor, producer and director best known for his role in the movie Red, born on Dec. 9, 1953 in Christopher
• Seth Myers: Comedian best known for his time on SNL’s Weekend Update, born on Dec. 28, 1973 in Evanston
• Rickey Henderson: American baseball player for the Dodgers and Red Sox, born on Dec. 25, 1958 in Chicago
• Daryl Hannah: Actress, screenwriter, and environmental activist best known for her role as Elle Driver in Kill Bill, born on Dec. 3, 1960 in Chicago

Did you know? Peoria has the Longest Running Santa Parade!

Ho ho ho! Santa’s appearance at parades is always a site to see, especially to all the children excited to catch a glimpse of him. Did you know that Peoria has the longest running Santa parade in North America? For a record 135 years, the parade kicks off the day after Thanksgiving to officially start the winter holiday season. Starting in 1887, the original parade was in celebration of a new bridge opening, thus was actually in the river. The year after is what began the on-land parade and it has been going strong since.

There is roughly 85 or more contestants in the parade that compete for the best novelty unit, best overall unit, best new entry, best commercial float entry, best non-profit float entry, and best religious float entry – this year’s theme being “Winter Wonderland.” A common tradition that the parade has followed is being right after Thanksgiving to kick off the upcoming winter holiday season with an average of 50,000 parade watchers attending.

The first parade in 1887 originally had boats and derricks sailing down the river as a celebration of the beginning of the new Upper Free bridge construction. However, the year after, the city decided to hold a parade through town, celebrating the completion of the bridge. The following year, Frederick Block of the Schipper and Block Department Store (later renamed Block & Kuhl's) sponsored a parade that followed the same route and featured Santa Claus. The parade was then first televised in 1958.This concept created the department-store sponsored parades that are currently popular at every Thanksgiving and Christmas in America. Talk about iconic! In addition to the parade attractions, there was also fireworks, occasionally a circus performance as well as the adored live reindeer exhibit.

During the first 72 years of the parade, its sponsorship by the Schipper and Block Department Store of Peoria had grown the event to 3,000 parade participants and included a 43-pipe calliope, fireworks and floats constructed by store employees and volunteers. The parade during this time ended with Santa climbing a fire escape ladder and disappearing through a window into the store’s toy department. Downtown Peoria truly is a site to see around the holidays, and having the longest-ran Santa parade makes it the perfect spot to visit to get into the festive spirit.