Classic Toyota is Celebrating National Illinois Day!

Dec 7, 2022

National Illinois day is celebrated annually to commemorate the Land of Abraham Lincoln, and commemorates the same week that it was officially declared the 21st state (December 3rd, 1818.) In celebration of this exciting day, here’s some fun facts about our state that you may not know about!

Illinois has 102 counties and most of them are named in honor of early US leaders.
Illinois was the first state to ratify the 13th Amendment to the constitution, which abolished slavery on February 1st in 1865.
The first modern day skyscraper, The Home Insurance Building, was built in Chicago in 1885
Walt Disney was born in Chicago on December 5th in 1901
Illinois is the third largest producer of popcorn, with 330+ farms and more than 45,000 acres dedicated to the crop
Iconic fast food franchises of McDonalds and Dairy Queen both opened their first stores in Illinois
Illinois is known as “The Land of Presidents” since it’s the birthplace of eight different US presidents
Route 66 was first opened to traffic in Springfield, and has been considered one of the most iconic American Road Trips. The roadway used to run from Chicago to Los Angeles, and is now considered a scenic byway, with about 432 miles of this roadway still running through Illinois!
Metropolis, Illinois has been dubbed the official hometown of DC Superhero Superman as of 1972, and is home to the Super Museum full of Superman Memorabilia, a statue of Superman along the banks of the Ohio River, and is the filming location for the fictional Metropolis in the 1978 film!
The Sears Tower in Chicago is the tallest building in America, reaching 1,729 feet all the way up to the tippy top
Illinois is home to the world’s largest bottle of ketchup in Collinsville
Illinois is the 25th largest state in the US by area
Illinois is the top generator of nuclear power than any other US State
The Chicago Public Library is the 5th largest library in the US, has 5,949,251 volumes in their collection, and has 81 different locations for library and technology services for native Chicagoans
Chicago Deep Dish Pizza was invented in the 1940s by Ike Sewell, founder of Pizzeria Uno
Chicago is the third largest city in the US with more than 2.5 million residents
You can see four different states from the top of the Willis Tower
The Chicago River used to flow in the other direction, but from 1862-1922 it was reversed thanks to a series of highly skilled engineers designing special canals.