This Week in Illinois History
This Week in Illinois History provides a 90-second snapshot of an event significant to Illinois history. Join Host Clint Cargile as he covers big events while also exposing little-known pieces of Illinois history.
Latest Episodes
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Sooooouuuuuuullllllllll Train! Before it became one of the longest-running syndicated shows in television history, before it propelled up-and-coming Black artists to worldwide fame, "Soul Train" debuted as a small, local dance show in Chicago.
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Nazi spy or hapless traveler? Chicago’s Herbert Hans Haupt and his conspirators set off a national sensation when they were rounded up as part of a Nazi spy ring.
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While he's not a household name like Edison or Bell, Highland Park's Elisha Gray cranked out some of the 19th Century's most creative inventions, including the first electronic synthesizer and—some argue—the first telephone.
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A 2004 speech at the Democratic National Convention propels Illinois State Senator Barack Obama into the national spotlight.
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He was Illinois’ first governor, ushered the frontier territory into statehood, and enacted reforms considered radically progressive for the time. He also owned and sold slaves and led campaigns to expel Native Americans from the state.
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On an overcast afternoon in 1927, three violent explosions shook the sky over southern Illinois. What some residents feared to be an air invasion turned out to be the state's first recorded meteor strike.
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The Liberty Bell of the West – older than the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia – rang for George Rogers Clark and his army when they liberated Kaskaskia from British control on July 4, 1778.
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In July, 1917, East St. Louis prepared for a 4th of July celebration featuring long parades, a Civil War reenactment and the dedication of a new Civil War monument. Local newspapers joked about which poor horse would carry the city’s 300-pound mayor. But festivities were about to be interrupted by one of the country’s deadliest race riots...
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Sherb Noble opens the world's first Dairy Queen in Joliet, Illinois, on June 22, 1940.
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On June 16, 1979, Rich Koz made his TV debut on WFLD Chicago as horror host “Son of Svengoolie.”Each week, Svengoolie, with his thick, ghoulish makeup,…