1. In 1908, William Howard Taft won the presidential election in Illinois. He carried the state with 344,204 votes, while his opponent William Jennings Bryan received 280,599 votes.

2. On November 3, 1911, the infamous Chicago Triangle Fire occurred. The fire, which broke out at the factory of the Illinois-based company, killed 146 garment workers, most of whom were young immigrant women.

3. In 1954, the first nuclear reactor in Illinois was dedicated at Argonne National Laboratory. The experimental reactor, called Argonne Low Power Reactor, was designed to test the safety and feasibility of nuclear energy.

4. On November 3, 1959, the Chicago White Sox announced the hiring of Al Lopez as their new manager. Lopez would go on to lead the team to their first American League pennant in 40 years in 1959.

5. In 2015, Illinois became the 21st state to abolish the death penalty. Governor Pat Quinn signed a bill abolishing capital punishment in the state, although the law was not retroactive, meaning inmates who were already on death row remained there.