Did you know? The horseshoe sandwich was invented in Springfield Illinois by Joe Schweska in the 1920’s.

Joe came up with the idea for the horseshoe with the help of his wife Elizabeth Schweska. It was first served at the Leland Hotel (now the Illinois Commerce Commission). The Leland Hotel was the leading hotel of Springfield for its time, hosting travelers, party-goers, celebrities and politicians.

Did You Know? Julia Clifford Lathrop, an American social welfare worker, was the first woman to ever head a United States federal bureau.

Lathrop was born on June 29, 1858 in Rockford, Illinois. Her father was a lawyer and friend of former president Abraham Lincoln. He served in the state legislature (1856–57) and Congress (1877–79). Her mother was active in women's rights activities in Rockford and was a graduate of the first class of Rockford Female Seminary, where Julia would later attend.

Did you know? Former Governor Jim Edgar passed a resolution making Illinois the “Chilli Capital of the civilized world.”

In 1993, Illinois State Senator Karen Hasara introduced a resolution that names Illinois the Chilli Capital of the Civilized World and recognizes the spelling as C-H-I-L-L-I. Two Illinois cities – Springfield and Taylorville – have sparred over the years over which town is truly the chili center of the state.

The Old Chicago Main Post Office is a nine-story building designed in the Art-Deco architectural style. It was designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White and built in 1921, but it was expanded greatly to its current size in 1932.

The expansion entailed adding a total of nine floors for more than 60 acres, or 2.5 million square feet, of floor space.

Its expansion and capacity were necessary to serve the city’s large volume of postal business, driven by the mail-order businesses of Chicago-based companies Montgomery Ward and Sears.

Gloria Swanson was best known for her role as Norma Desmond in the critically acclaimed 1950 film Sunset Boulevard , but she also worked in silent films, television and theater.

Swanson did not initially set out to become an actress. In 1915, at the age of 18, she decided to go to a Chicago movie studio with an aunt to see how motion pictures were made and was  plucked off the set of The Fable of Elvira and Farina and the Meal Ticket because of her beauty and given a small role in the production.  She moved to California in 1916 to appear in a series of comedies with silent film star Bobby Vernon.