20 Fascinating, Unknown Facts About the State of Illinois

Whenever I meet someone that has recently moved to Illinois, or more importantly Rockford, I always tell them something like; "don't let the negative things you hear about this city and state get to you. There are plenty of things to love in Rockford and Illinois if you set your mind to loving it".

I have lived in Illinois my entire life, and I still learn something new about the state nearly every day. Some of the most recent things I learned about our fine state are;

• The World's tallest man was born in Alton, Illinois
• Illinois' official state dance is square dancing
• Illinois is home to the World's largest bottle of catsup

Upon learning those three things recently, of course I needed to find out what else I don't know about Illinois. I went on a search for widely unknown facts about Illinois, and I came across 50 fascinating ones on movoto.com. Some of the 50 things they listed I already knew about, but here are 20 that I have never heard before. How many of these things did you already know about the fine state of Illinois?