If you have never been to Murphysboro, Illinois, the honor that was recently bestowed upon it might cause you to take notice. Murphysboro, a quaint town located in southern Illinois, has solidified itself as a powerhouse for barbecue in the state of Illinois.

Earlier this month, the Illinois House of Representatives designated Murphysboro the “Barbecue Capital of Illinois.” Just to put it into perspective, two of the eighteen members of the Barbecue Hall of Fame live in Murphysboro. Those two men, Mike Mills and Pat Burke, are the minds behind 17th Street Barbecue and Pat’s BBQ. 

Every year, the town hosts a barbecue cook-off that draws aficionados from all over the Midwest to its rural location. This year they will be celebrating their 28th annual cook-off and are expecting over 60 different teams to participate in the competition.

Learn more:
Murphysboro cited among nation’s top BBQ spots – The Southern Illinoisan
Visit the “17th Street BBQ Cook Off” website

Born in Chicago on May 25, 1968, Kendall Gill began his basketball career early and strong. At Rich Central High School in Olympia Fields, Gill led the Olympians to a second-place finish in the IHSA class AA state boys basketball tournament. After high school, Gill joined the Fighting Illini at the University of Illinois, leading the team to the Final Four in 1989 and was the Big Ten’s leading scorer a year later.

Gill began his NBA career with the Charlotte Hornets in 1990 and was soon named First Team All-Rookie. Gill’s professional basketball career spanned 15 years, playing for the Hornets for three years and eventually playing for the Seattle SuperSonics, the New Jersey Nets, the Miami Heat, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Chicago Bulls and the Milwaukee Bucks.  Throughout his career Gill scored a total of 12,914 points in 966 regular games.

In addition to playing professional basketball, Gill also took up boxing as a way to maintain conditioning. Gill also was an analyst during pregame and postgame shows on Comcast SportsNet Chicago for the Chicago Bulls. 

Learn more:
Kendall Gill – Basketball stats

Built along beautiful Lake Michigan, the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette is the oldest surviving Bahá’í House of Worship in the world and the only one located in the United States.

Construction of the structure began in the early 1920s, although the exterior would not be fully completed until 1943. The domed structure contains elaborate lace-style detail covering a large part of the building with extensive fountains and gardens surrounding.

The Bahá’í faith was founded in Persia in the 1800s and focuses on humankind’s spiritual unity. There are an estimated 5 million Bahá’ís living worldwide.

Learn more:
Bahá’ís of the United States
History and Architecture of the Bahá’í House of Worship

Known for his Mohawk, flashy jewelry and the long list of fools he pities, Mr. T was born Laurence Tureaud in 1952 in Chicago and grew up in that city’s Robert Taylor Homes. He graduated from Dunbar Vocational Career Academy, where he was on the football and wrestling teams.

His strength eventually led him to become a doorman and bouncer at several Chicago clubs, where he began accumulating the gold jewelry that patrons left behind. As his notoriety grew, Mr. T began a new career as a celebrity bodyguard, charging as much as $10,000 per night to protect such luminaries as Muhammad Ali and Diana Ross.

His toughness and celebrity connections soon landed him on television for a “World’s Toughest Bouncer” competition in 1980. It was here where Sylvester Stallone spotted Mr. T and cast him as Clubber Lang in “Rocky III.”

Mr. T then parlayed his film debut into a long-lasting acting career, beginning with what is arguably his most famous role: B.A. Baracus in “The A-Team.” He also starred in “D.C. Cab” and appeared in episodes of TV shows such as “Silver Spoons” and “Blossom.” He made several appearances in World Wrestling Federation events.

More recently, Mr. T has provided voice work on “The Simpsons” and “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.” And later this year, the DIY Network will air “I Pity the Tool” where Mr. T will help down-on-their-luck families renovate their homes.

Learn more:
Mr. T page on IMDb
Mr. T’s Biography

Washington National’s left fielder Jayson Werth was born in Springfield on May 20, 1979. His father was a former professional baseball player and his mother competed in the U.S. Olympic trials in the long jump.

Werth’s successful youth career began with winning three consecutive state championships and placing third in the nation in the 1993 Sandy Koufax World Series. He followed this with an astounding career at Glenwood High School where he posted a .652 batting average and 15 home runs in his senior year.

Instead of playing collegiately, Werth was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the first round of the 1997 Major League Baseball draft. He remained in the minor leagues for 5 years and was eventually traded to the Toronto Blue Jays where he made his Major League debut in 2002. The following year he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers where he played another season, and then traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2007.

Ultimately flourishing with the Phillies, Werth won a World Series with the team in 2008 and was voted the “Unsung Star of the Year” in 2009. His tenure with the Phillies ended when he signed with the Washington Nationals in 2010 for $126 million. Though he has yet to win a world series with the Nationals, Werth is still putting up numbers worthy of his contract. Werth holds a career .274 batting average, 186 home runs and over 1,200 hits.

Learn more:
View Werth’s Washington Nationals bio