Illinois would begin going back to the future in 1952, when Robert Zemeckis was born in Chicago. He has since become known as a very prolific film writer and director. Collectively, his movies have made over $4 billion at the global box office.
From 2020 to 2021, Eastern Illinois University saw a 13 percent increase in its spring enrollment. This enrollment increase is even larger than the 2018 to 2020 increase of nine percent.
The most famous road in America, traveled on by generations, is a symbol of unlimited mobility and freedom of the road. Route 66 is iconic for America’s highway culture – and it starts right here in Illinois.
It was created in 1926 as part of the numbered highway network and became the preferred road west. It quickly gained fame as the shortest route between the Midwest and the west coast as it passed through the American Southwest.
Chicago is known for its location right on Lake Michigan, but have you ever wondered how its lakeshore became such an important aspect of the city? Architect Daniel Burnham is to thank for that.
Burnham was born in Henderson, New York in 1846 and moved to Chicago when he was 8 years old. While he was never good at school, he always had a knack for drawing. At age 18, he moved back east for his studies but failed to pass admissions exams for Harvard and Yale, pushing him to move back to Chicago at age 21. It was there where he started his career as an architect at the Loring & Jenney architectural firm.