Enjoy these interesting facts about Illinois.

- The state motto is: State Sovereignty, National Union

- The world's first Skyscraper was built in Chicago, 1885.

- Abraham Lincoln's first public office was as postmaster of New Salem, Illinois.

- Illinois was the first state to ratify the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery. 1865

- On December 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi and a small band of scientists and engineers demonstrated that a simple construction of graphite bricks and uranium lumps could produce controlled heat. The space chosen for the first nuclear fission reactor was a squash court under the football stadium at the University of Chicago.

- Metropolis the home of Superman really exists in Southern Illinois.

- Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site--most sophisticated prehistoric native civilization north of Mexico

- Illinois had two capital cities, Kaskaskia, and Vandalia before Springfield.

- Illinois ranks third in the nation in the number of interstate highway miles.

- Illinois was the home of President Ulysses S. Grant, whose home is preserved in Galena.

- Dixon is the boyhood home of President Ronald Reagan.

- Springfield is the state capital and the home of the National Historic Site of the home of President and Mrs. Abraham Lincoln.

- Chicago is home to the Chicago Water Tower and Pumping Station, the only buildings to survive the Great Chicago Fire.

- Pinball was invented in 1930 by In and Outdoor Games Company in Chicago.- Inventors John Deere and Cyrus McCormick made their fortunes in Illinois by improving farm machinery.

- The name "Illinois" comes from a Native American word meaning "tribe of superior men."

- The NFL's Chicago Bears were first known as the "Staley Bears". They were organized in 1920, in Decatur.

- Home to the Chicago Bears Football Team, Chicago Blackhawks hockey team, Chicago Bulls basketball team, Chicago Cubs and Chicago Whitesox baseball teams, Chicago Fire soccer team.

- The first Mormon Temple in Illinois was constructed in Nauvoo.

- When Illinois became a state in 1818, it had a population of 34,620 people. Illinois is now the sixth most populous state in the country with almost 11.5 million people.

- The first nuclear chain reaction took place in Illinois at the University of Chicago in 1942.

- The state slogan, "Land of Lincoln," was adopted by the General Assembly in 1955. The State of Illinois has a copyright for the exclusive use of the slogan- Chicago is the nation's third largest city. - Carlyle is the home of the largest man-made lake in Illinois.

- Illinois has 102 counties.

- Des Plaines is home to the first McDonald's.

- Before Abraham Lincoln was elected president he served in the Illinois legislature and practiced law in Springfield. Abraham Lincoln is buried just outside Springfield at Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site.

- Ronald Wilson Regan from Tampico became the 40th president of the United States in 1980.

- The highest point in Illinois is Charles Mound at 1235 feet above sea level.

Illinois