As January comes to an end, let’s celebrate those who were born in Illinois in the month of January! Many birthdays of note from people born in Illinois occurred in January. From actors and actresses to the famous, historic, or otherwise distinguished figures who can track their birthplaces back to Illinois in January are as follows:

- Betty White: American actress and comedian, born on Jan. 17, 1922 in Oak Park

- Michelle Obama: Former First Lady of the United States (2009-2017), lawyer, and writer born on Jan. 17, 1964 in Chicago

- John Belushi: Comedian best known for his role on Saturday Night Live, actor and musician born on Jan. 24, 1949 in Chicago

- Michael Peña: American actor known for his roles in Ant-Man and Crash, born on Jan. 12, 1976 in Chicago

- Carl Rogers: Psychologist whom is one of the founders of humanistic psychology and pioneered the field of clinical psychological research, born on Jan. 8, 1902 in Oak Park

Chicagoan Dr. Carla Knorowski was an avid Paris traveler and fell in love with the city as a young woman. She has traveled to nearly every city named Paris to connect her love for the city around the world, amounting to nearly 89,000 miles of flying over the years. In her efforts, she has been hailed as a nonprofit leader and scholar and advocate for culture, education and the arts. However, five years ago marked an absolute shock to her and everyone across the globe.

In April 2019 when the Notre Dame Cathedral had endured fifteen hours under flames, Knorowski was in completely devastated. Being a prolific fundraiser, she put together an event to raise awareness and restoration funds for the iconic cathedral to expedite the construction and ensure that it would keep its classic French Gothic architecture in place. With the success of the event she raised a total of $500,000.

The event she created was a global virtual fundraising event whose participants included cellist Yo-Yo Ma, actress Glenn Close, and Notre-Dame Cathedral’s titular organist Olivier Latry as well as others. Her efforts toward its reconstruction promoted her to the rank of Officer in its National Order of Merit (L’Ordre National Du Mérite) by the Republic of France, which was officially signed by President Emmanuel Macron. It is the second national Order of France, the first being the Legion of Honor. The Order recognizes distinguished civil or military service. Annually it is awarded to approximately 3,000 French citizens and 300 citizens of foreign nations.

The construction and restoration of Notre Dame was in the process of being renovated as it was nearing 850 years old. Luckily, many sculptures had been placed in an alternate location before the fire had begun and a lot of the stained glass was saved with the firefighters help. Thanks to Knorowski and her love for Paris and French culture, Notre Dame is closer to its 2024 reopening date in time for the next Olympics.

“Progress is made by trial and failure; the failures are generally a hundred times more numerous than the successes, yet they are usually left unchronicled,” said scientist William Ramsay. However, when it comes to the science and art of surgery, the trial and error is an important part of its history. It is amazing how doctors and surgeons can easily save lives today, especially for procedures that would have been life threatening a century ago. However, someone had to first learn about the human body and how to fix what they could not see. The International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago is the only museum in all of North America to show the history of how modern surgery came to be, with both failures and accomplishments.

The Mission of the Museum is to enrich people’s lives by enhancing their appreciation and understanding of the history, development, and advances in surgery and related subjects in health and medicine. Dr. Max Thorek founded the International College of Surgeons in 1935, and in 1950 his efforts led to the museum’s collection growing. The Museum opened to the public on September 9, 1954. Today the museum’s four floors hold many marvels from the art of healing.

Some people think of surgeons as miracle workers. Illinois has the only museum in all of North America that chronicles how those miracles came to be. To plan your visit to the museum visit here.  

This Saturday marks another Squirrel Appreciation Day! In the town of Olney lies a truly unique colony of albino squirrels. Every year volunteers gather to scavenge the town to get an official tally of how many albino squirrels are left.

Roughly 100 years ago there was an estimate of 800, however with the territorial grey squirrels coming into the parks over the years, the numbers have decreased significantly. The 2022 count noted 886 gray squirrels counted and 64 albino white squirrels. Based on the numbers, the gray to albino ratio in 2021 was 12.46 to 1 compared to the gray to albino ratio in 2022 of 14.38 to 1.

The white squirrels are extremely important to the residents in Olney, and are even protected by law and have the right of way on all streets – which is signified by squirrel crossing signs posted around town. The city encourages residents to set up feeding boxes, and even offers free corn to refill those boxes annually.

Since the 1980s, this volunteer-based squirrel count is held each fall. Both white and gray squirrels are counted as well as stray cats, a natural enemy of the squirrels. Making sure to get all their acorns in a row, the Olney community has made it known that they are working on reviving the albino squirrel colonies in town and ask every resident to pitch in to ensure the continuation of their furry friends.