By Holly Kee Of the Southern Illinois Local Media Group In 1956, a little-known freshman congressman from Franklin County in southern Illinois gave his first major speech on the floor […]

By Phil Luciano Of the Peoria Journal Star Illinois boasts a hair-raising history rife with spine-tingling stories — and that’s just with politics. Otherwise, the state’s heritage brims with tall […]

Illinois, our home, turns 200 on Monday. We have much to commemorate about the state, which has had a great impact on the world, from industry and statesmanship to education […]

By Tom Kacich Of the (Champaign) News-Gazette Champaign-Urbana owes its prominence to the University of Illinois, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign owes its existence to Clark Robinson Griggs. […]

By Dann Gire Daily Herald Film Critic Maybe Illinois has produced so many cool movies because it offers such a vastly diverse spectrum of locations to tell highly visual stories. […]

By Chris Kaergard Of the Journal Star A decade ago, he claimed victory in the presidential campaign from Grant Park in Chicago. He announced his run — and later his […]

By Tony Reid Of the Herald & Review Artie Bennett, a Marine from Clinton, was cut down by a hail of bullets 100 years ago in a far-flung foreign field, […]

By Barbara Vitello Of the Daily Herald When it came to organized crime in Illinois, Chicago-based Prohibition-era gangsters loomed large during the 1920s and 1930s. Al Capone, Frank Nitti, Lester […]

By Roger Ruthhart Saukenuk was well-known as one of the largest native American villages in North America, but one of its residents, the warrior Black Hawk, was even better known. […]

By Julia Evelsizer Of the (Bloomington) Pantagraph Grand manors make up the skylines of many Illinois communities, but the history encapsulated at the David Davis Mansion in Bloomington holds it […]