Actor Gary Sinise was born 60 years ago this week in Blue Island.

When Sinise was just 18, he co-founded Chicago’s praised Steppenwolf Theater Company. The company continues to host outstanding plays and events to this day.

In 1992, Sinise directed, produced and starred in a remake of “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck. Two years later his career hit full throttle when he played Lieutenant Dan in the film “Forest Gump.”  In 1995 he starred in the movie “Apollo 13” and also starred in the television biopic “Truman,” for which he won a Golden Globe.

After acting on the big screen for a number of years, Sinise decided to return to the small screen, and in 2004 he starred in the crime series “CSI: New York.” Sinise is currently married and has 3 children.

Learn more:
Gary Sinise’s IMDb profile

Born in Texas in 1924, Willie T. Barrow exhibited her activist spirit at a very young age. At just 12 years old, she stood up to the unequal treatment she and other African-American students received. They were unable to ride the school bus with fellow white students.

Barrow found her true calling after moving to Chicago with her husband Clyde. She helped found Operation Breadbasket, an idea civil rights leaders in the South were using at the time to boycott discriminatory white-owned businesses and draw attention to the economic power held by African-Americans. She traveled with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to demonstrate in Selma, Alabama and is credited with helping bring Dr. King to Chicago. 

Barrow would go on to become the Executive Director of Operation PUSH, an organization dedicated to serving the poor and most vulnerable in Chicago.

Barrow was a trailblazer who not only led the fight for civil rights for African-Americans but also was an outspoken advocate for women’s rights and gay rights. She brought attention to the AIDS crisis at a time most public figures tried to shy away from the topic.

Known as the “Little Warrior” for her short stature but effective and outspoken tactics, Barrow is remembered by many for spending her life fighting for justice for all.

Learn more:  
President Obama on the passing of Reverend Willie T. Barrow
Willie T. Barrow – National Visionary Leadership Project
Chicago Tribune on Rev. Willie T. Barrow

Nobody celebrates St. Patrick’s Day like Chicago, hosting one of the largest celebrations in the nation. Chicago hosts numerous events all over the city both on St. Patrick’s Day and on the weekend before the official holiday.

One of the most well-known St. Patrick’s Day traditions in Chicago is the annual dyeing of the Chicago River. Since 1962, the city has used an environmentally friendly powder to make the river “Irish green.” The Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade follows soon after, drawing thousands of spectators downtown.

On Sunday before the holiday, the festivities move to the South Side, with the Irish Parade held on Western Avenue near traditionally Irish neighborhoods. Mount Greenwood, a South Side Chicago neighborhood, was recently listed as one of America’s top Irish neighborhoods, with over 40 percent of residents claiming Irish ancestry.

Warm weather brought an estimated 200,000 people to the South Side on Sunday this year to watch over 100 floats, bands, school groups and organizations taking part in the parade. 

Learn more:
Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Chicago aims to be world’s greenest city on St. Patrick’s weekend (Chicago Tribune)

Dairy Queen is offering free vanilla ice cream cones today, March 16, 2015, in celebration of its 75th anniversary.

The first Dairy Queen opened in June 1940 in downtown Joliet at 501 North Chicago Street. While the structure no longer houses a Dairy Queen, the building made headlines in 2010 when it received landmark status for being home to the first official Dairy Queen.

Illinois also played a role in developing Dairy Queen’s trademark soft-serve ice cream. John Fremont and Bradley McCullough, Kankakee natives, developed the formula in 1938 and franchised it until the first location opened in 1940. 

Dairy Queen has expanded to include more than 5,600 stores worldwide, 85 percent of them located in the United States. 

Learn more:
Dairy Queen History
World’s First Dairy Queen Gets Landmark Status (CBS Chicago)
Dairy Queen Celebrating 75th Anniversary With Free Ice Cream

Sculptor Marshall Fredericks, known as one of the most creative sculptors of the twentieth century, was born in Rock Island in 1908. He attended college at the Cleveland School of Art and traveled extensively in Europe after graduating. He joined the armed forces in 1942 during World War II.

After the war, Fredericks won a competition to create the Levi L. Barbour Memorial Fountain in Detroit. The sculpture replicates a gazelle wheeling, an act the animal performs when running in one direction and rapidly turning in a different direction. The monument was a success for Fredericks and became the first of many public displays he would create.

Fredericks was elected to the National Academy of Design as an Associate member in 1957, becoming a full-time member in 1961. Throughout his career, he was the recipient of many awards for his artistic talent as well as his humanitarian achievements.

Fredericks most well-known works include the Cleveland War Memorial: Fountain of Eternal Life, The Spirit of Detroit, and The Expanding Universe Fountain in Washington D.C.

Learn more:
Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum