With more than 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space, 173 meeting rooms and assembly seating for 18,000, the McCormick Place Convention Center is the largest in North America.

McCormick Place opened in 1960 and is named after Col. Robert R. McCormick, an editor and publisher at the Chicago Tribune who advocated for the building of a world-class convention center. Since opening 55 years ago, the convention center has undergone numerous additions and renovations, including the construction of the North Building in 1986, the South Building in 1997 and the West Building in 2007. When opened, the West Building was the largest new-construction facility in the country to be LEED certified, a prestigious environmental award given to buildings that are environmentally friendly.

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Read more about the history of McCormick Place and the large number of conventions visiting the Windy City

Recording artist Lou Rawls, whose career spanned decades and included three Grammy wins, 60-plus released albums and a Star on the Hollywood Hall of Fame, was born on this day in 1933 in Chicago.

Rawls’ first interest in music began at a young age when he joined his church choir at just seven years old. In high school, he formed the group The Teenage Kings of Harmony with now-legendary recording artist Sam Cooke. Rawls moved to California in the 1950s and joined the Army as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division.

After a serious accident while on tour with the gospel group The Pilgrim Travelers, Rawls returned to Los Angeles and performed in small venues throughout the area. His first record, Stormy Monday, was released in 1962. Rawls would go on to release dozens of additional albums throughout his career, spanning genres and cultivating a large following of loyal fans.

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Read more about the life and accomplishments of Lou Rawls

Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, an ardent supporter of workers’ rights and the elimination of child labor, spent a considerable amount of time in Illinois. Born in Ireland in 1837, Jones immigrated to the United States in her teens and moved to Chicago in her early 20s. She worked as a dressmaker before moving to Memphis and starting a family with iron molder George Jones.

After a widespread yellow fever epidemic took the lives of George and the couple’s four children, Mary moved back to Chicago and again made a living as a dressmaker. It was during this time that Jones took an increased interest in the role of unions and advocating on behalf of coal miners and other workers. 

Jones played an integral role in rallying United Mine Workers for better working conditions and wages and would go on to participate in numerous strikes across the nation. She was known as “Mother Jones” by many in organized labor due to her caring nature and maternal attributes toward the thousands of workers she fought on behalf of. 

At a time of great racial strife and inequality, Jones preached unity, bridging the racial divide between African-Americans and whites during coal strikes in rural Alabama and reached out to marginalized Mexican-American and Italian-American workers in the southwest.

Mary Jones passed away on November 30, 1930, and is buried in Union Miners Cemetery in Mount Olive.

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Read more about the life and accomplishments of Mother Jones from the AFL-CIO

Creating the perfect Thanksgiving meal can require spending hours in the kitchen. The dizzying amount of sides, dressings and desserts that some families prepare can force even the best cooks to forget about one of the most important staples of any Thanksgiving plate: the turkey!

But thanks to Eugene Beals, you’ll know exactly when your turkey is ready. Beals played an important role in the invention of the pop-up turkey timer, the red and white piece of plastic usually found in the thickest part of your turkey. 

Beals was born and raised in Quincy, and served in World War II as a medic in San Francisco. After the war, he remained in California and served as manager of the state’s turkey advisory board. The advisory board noted that they received an awful lot of complaints from the public that they were overcooking their turkeys. In response, the board put their heads together and came up with the idea to create an internal ‘timer’ that would alert the cook when the turkey reached the right temperature.

Beals helped test and perfect the technology for the timer, requiring countless hours of baking turkeys. In the end, Beals settled on a design that would go on to be placed in over 2 billion turkeys and counting. 

So when you open the oven door on Thursday and notice the small red button has ‘popped’ on your turkey timer, don’t forget to say a little thank you to Eugene Beals.

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Read more about Eugene Beals here

Walt Disney was born in Chicago’s Hermosa neighborhood in 1901. He attended McKinley High School and the Chicago Art Institute.

As imaginer-in-chief, Disney produced more than 650 short and feature-length films. His animated works and documentaries earned him 22 Academy Awards.

The Walt Disney Company owns the production studios Pixar, Marvel and Lucas films; a media division including The Disney Channel, ABC and ESPN; 11 theme parks and 44 resorts; and a consumer products division.

Disney’s name is synonymous with entertainment and enchantment, and his legacy is generation after generation of adoring fans.

Learn more:
Click here to see IMDB’s list of movies, shorts and TV shows produced by Walt Disney. Be forewarned – it’s more than 600 items long.