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History of Illinois

Try to answer these questions about the history of the state of Illinois.
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Quizmaster
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Last updated: October 17, 2017
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First submittedMay 26, 2017
Times taken11,059
Average score70.0%
Rating4.29
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Question
Answer
What President was born in a Kentucky log cabin, but built his political career in Illinois?
Abraham Lincoln
What city did that President live in?
Springfield
What disaster was falsely blamed on an Irishwoman's cow kicking over a lantern?
Great Chicago Fire
What Illinois resident became President of the U.S. in 2008?
Barack Obama
What Civil War general lived in Galena, Illinois?
Ulysses S. Grant
What was the world's tallest building from 1973–1998?
Sears Tower
What Chicago talk show host was the richest African-American
person of the 20th century?
Oprah Winfrey
Who was the Chicago area's most notorious gangster during Prohibition?
Al Capone
And what "untouchable" federal agent brought him down?
Elliot Ness
What team was accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series?
Black Sox
What "shoeless" player was the best player on that team?
Shoeless Joe Jackson
What industry was centered around Chicago's Union Stock Yards?
Meatpacking
What Illinois socialist ran for President five times, winning 6% of the vote in 1912?
Eugene V. Debs
What event, also known as the Columbian Exposition, was held in Chicago in 1893?
World's Fair
What Italian physicist built the world's first nuclear reactor at the University of Chicago?
Enrico Fermi
Illinois celebrates Casimir Pulaski Day on the first Monday of March.
What country was Casimir Pulaski born in?
Poland
What Mormon prophet was killed by an angry mob in Carthage, Illinois?
Joseph Smith
What historic highway starts in Chicago and ends in Santa Monica, California?
Route 66
What genre of music was played by Howlin' Wolf and Buddy Guy?
Blues
What notable novelist was born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1899 before traveling to
Missouri, Italy, France, Spain, Cuba, and Africa?
Ernest Hemingway
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35 Comments
xyzzy
+8
Level 72
May 27, 2017
Should be renamed History of Chicago.
pkerr116
+3
Level 71
May 29, 2017
Not much really happens in Danville, or Rockford, or Effingham. There's Chicago, the suburbs, and 'downstate.' In that order of impact and historical note.
buck1017
+6
Level 78
May 30, 2017
Yeah...and as someone who lives "Downstate" we friggin' hate that. There is a certain disdain that we have for Chicago down here. It's the Chicago representatives that are constantly holding up the budget from passing (we are 2 years and counting removed from an actual budget) among other big problems that they cause for the rest of the state.
GrandMo
+8
Level 69
May 30, 2017
A fair enough complaint, but then again the Chicago metro area contains 74% of the population of Illinois, so they're always going to be the ones that determine the direction the state goes.
kalbahamut
+14
Level 80
Oct 14, 2017
yeah if only Illinois were not so burdened with a large wealthy urban center it could be more like Arkansas, Alabama, or Mississippi.
jmellor13
+5
Level 68
Oct 14, 2017
Yeah, I live in Illinois, and I'm trying to think of stuff happening downstate that would be fair game for trivia. Ronald Reagan is the only president born in Illinois. He attended Eureka College in Peoria...and that's pretty much all I can think of. I believe L. Frank Baum, the author of the WIzard of Oz books, lived here too, but I think that was in a suburb of Chicago. And, per kalbahamut's point, the vast majority of the state's population, economy, and academic horse power is in Chicago, so...yeah. It' heavy on Chicago questions. I don't know what question about Rock Island anybody could answer.
kenpo17
+3
Level 65
Oct 14, 2017
As a lifelong suburbanite who has recently moved to the far western edge of the state, there's plenty of fertile ground for trivia outside of Chicagoland. How about the governor that went to jail for trying to sell a Senate seat? Yes, I know he was from Chicagoland eventually, but his tenure as governor took place downstate. How about the former governor who went to jail because his office was selling illegal driver's licenses when he was Secretary of State? How about something to do with Illini sports? The Lincoln-Douglas debates?
Tigerstar144
+4
Level 51
Oct 14, 2017
I know that comment by kalbahamut was supposed to be sarcastic, but I generally agree with it on a serious note. Chicago is a scary place to be, and I can see it heading down the path of Detroit and Cleveland (East Cleveland=sketchy level over 9000)
IsleAuHaulte
+4
Level 92
Aug 2, 2018
Caterpillar is a major global company, John Deere invented a revolutionary tool, the deadliest tornado in U.S. history wiped out a grammar school, the U.S. arsenal at Rock Island, the historic but nearly vacant major Mississippi / Ohio River junction port city of Cairo, Little Egypt towns, Shawnee National Park, Giant City State Park, Starved Rock, Steak 'n Shake, various famous natives like Richard Pryor, Sam Kinison, Burl Ives, Betty Friedan, John Malkovich, Gene Hackman, Wyatt Earp, James Earl Ray, George Ferris (Wheel), Buddy Ebsen, Jimmy Connors, Alison Krauss, Carl Sandburg, what else do you want from downstate?
jmellor13
+5
Level 68
Feb 21, 2021
Stuff that people outside downstate Illinois might actually know. Caterpillar is a good option. Random famous people that were born downstate is not a great category. Yes, people know Sam Kinison and John Malkovich, but they're not so consequential that "Sam Kinison was born here" is notable. The rest of what you wrote is stuff that only local people would know.
bburroughs
+1
Level 60
Mar 7, 2022
Well you have Reagan born west of Chicago in Tampico not far from Dixon. Sandburg was born in Galesburg. Not really southern Illinois but not in the Chicagoland. Lincoln-Douglas debates were held nowhere near Chicago. Or Gen. Clark's fight with the British during the Revolutionary War where he captured southern Illinois territory from the British and it became part of Virginia and helped convince the French to join the US in getting Independence. That is where the name Illinois came from since the Virginians settled on Illinois territory of Virginia. The Lewis and Clark Expedition actually started at Camp Dubois in Illinois. Galena was once the world hub for lead mining. John Deere started his plowing and farm machine empire just outside Dixon, Illinois and moved it to Moline, Illinois. The first bridge over the Mississippi river was done in nearby Rock Island Illinois to Davenport, Iowa which was defended by Lincoln later on. One of the most important arsenals in located there also.
Lemondance
+1
Level 68
Mar 7, 2022
Out of all the suggestions from the last few replies, the ones I (someone not from Illinois) would vouch for being added would be the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Caterpillar, John Deere, deadliest tornado, Richard Pryor, and Ronald Reagan. Alison Krauss, while not a very famous name, has the second-most Grammy awards out of any women (Beyonce took the #1 spot in 2021), which is a fact that kind of jumps off the page at you, so I'd vouch for her too. Also maybe Wyatt Earp, Ferris, and the Rock Island Arsenal. It may be enough for a second quiz.
markthoma
+2
Level 72
Apr 9, 2018
I thought he at least mixed in some other areas of the state a bit.

I grew up in Illinois and I got 100%, I think the hardest clue was EV Debs.

SpencerGT
+1
Level 68
Mar 7, 2022
By my count, 14 questions are related to Chicago specifically, and 3 each are related to downstate specifically and IL as a whole.

Chicago represents about 70% of the state of IL (metro, by population), so yeah, it should be more like 12, 5, 3, imo.

tylerdavid
+6
Level 76
Oct 14, 2017
Isn't the baseball team called the White Sox? I thought the scandal and the movie was called the Black Sox.
jmellor13
+8
Level 68
Oct 14, 2017
Yes, that is correct. "Black Sox" is the term pejoratively applied to that particular team to connote their cheating. The team itself was (and is still) called the White Sox.
Tigerstar144
+3
Level 51
Oct 14, 2017
Even though I hate baseball I still know that Black Sox is a scandal and not a team.
loganite
+3
Level 93
Oct 15, 2017
Joseph Smith was killed in Carthage, not Nauvoo.
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Oct 17, 2017
Fixed
Qikiq
+3
Level 89
Oct 17, 2017
Read it as "Muslim Prophet" - d'oh!
JackintheBox
+5
Level 82
Feb 24, 2021
Could you accept just 'Sears' for Sears Tower?
MLR824
+3
Level 83
Mar 8, 2022
Please
RuthlessCosmo
+1
Level 77
Mar 7, 2022
Debs may have died in Illinois, but he lived most of his life in Terre Haute, with brief stints in prison for his union and anti-war activities. Take him out and put Richard Pryor in.
Nerd0921
+1
Level 75
Mar 7, 2022
Should accept "expo" for 'world's fair' since that's been the widely accepted abbreviation used today for the same event.
BlackLab
+1
Level 67
Mar 7, 2022
No comment
AlmostAGenius
+1
Level 88
Mar 7, 2022
Can’t believe I got 15 and only got 2 points. Is everyone here from Illinois?
AlmostAGenius
+1
Level 88
Mar 7, 2022
Also can meat or beef be accepted for the meatpacking industry?
pinkysbrain
+1
Level 87
Mar 7, 2022
Every time Ness is an answer in a quiz my brain always thinks of the Simpsons parody character Rex Banner.
bamaky
+2
Level 51
Mar 7, 2022
Cairo, Illinois, should be included. Fascinating spot, most southern point in the state at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio. Lots of history but almost a ghost town now compares to its prime.
dreqx
+1
Level 62
Mar 10, 2022
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the clue but didn't Obama become President in January 2009?
1bullsfan
+1
Level 47
Jan 4, 2023
That is when he was elected as the President of the United States.
DictatorTal
+1
Level 93
Jul 5, 2023
Great quiz! Just one note: Elliot Ness's name is spelled with one L, not two.
Koopa
+2
Level 87
May 9, 2024
The team wasn't the Black Sox. They were the White Sox. The scandal used the term Black Sox, but that wasn't the name of the team.
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 78
Dec 2, 2024
That's what I thought
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 78
Dec 2, 2024
Got Joseph Smith but actually didn't know that until now
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