Did you know? May 18^th is National Museum Day. Our State Museum is located in Springfield.

This Friday, several museums across the state are participating in National Museum Day by offering free admission and special event s. This is a great opportunity to explore the educational and cultural opportunities of our state.

To celebrate, we’ve highlighted our State museum, located in Springfield. It was founded in 1877 as a natural history museum, and was first housed in the State Capitol building.

Frederic W. Goudy (1865-1947) was an American printer and typographer from Bloomington who designed more than 100 typefaces.

Goudy was a bookkeeper and a self-taught printer and typographer. He designed numerous fonts inspired by blackletter medieval manuscripts, illuminated manuscripts, and Roman square capitals carved into stone. His taste matched the trends of the time period, and his mechanical, geometric fonts proved to have long-lasting appeal, becoming especially popular for use in the body text of books.

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.