It’s time to meet some of the most exotic animals in the world, because today is National Zoo Lovers Day! Illinois is home to many zoos that provide residents and tourists the opportunity to witness some extraordinary and loveable animals.

Prepare your stomachs: Today is deep-dish Pizza Day! Invented in the 1940s, Chicago-style pizza is one of the most renowned forms of deep-dish pizza, distinguished by its tall, flaky crust holding thick layers of mozzarella cheese, chunky tomato sauce and fennel sausage patties as an optional topping.

Charles Mound is the highest natural point in Illinois, at 1,235 feet above sea level. It’s located on rolling farmland, 11 miles north of the Mississippi River town of Galena and less than half a mile from the Wisconsin border.

The northwest area of Illinois is part of a unique geological region called the “Driftless Area.” The land was not covered by glaciers during the last Ice Age, which created a tall plateau cut by deep river valleys, most notably around the Mississippi River.

Sophia Byrd, a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been nominated for two Grammy Awards.

Byrd had the opportunity to sing in a professional oratorio as a college freshman and is now studying lyric theatre. She was one of six vocalists who performed in “Place,” a 2018 work that explores the effects of gentrification in a Brooklyn neighborhood. “Place” is nominated for best chamber music/small ensemble performance and best contemporary classical composition.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is offering virtual tours of the Dana Thomas House historic site in Springfield. Designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the house is thought to have one of the most intact interiors designed by Wright in the United States. Take a fun and informative journey through a piece of American history.