1. On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus made his first landfall in the New World, landing on an island in the present-day Bahamas. While this event did not take place in Illinois, it marked the beginning of a new era of exploration and colonization that would eventually bring Europeans to the shores of Illinois as well.

2. On October 12, 1823, the Illinois and Michigan Canal Company was incorporated. The canal would eventually be built and connect the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, making it easier for goods to be transported between the eastern and western parts of the country.

3. On October 12, 1892, the University of Chicago football team played its first game. The team, which was made up mostly of students from the university's graduate and professional schools, defeated Indiana University with a score of 14-0.

4. On October 12, 1950, the Chicago Bears played their first game at Soldier Field. The Bears defeated the San Francisco 49ers with a score of 31-0 in front of a crowd of over 55,000 people.

5. On October 12, 1983, astronaut Sally Ride visited the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to give a lecture on her experiences as the first American woman in space. Ride's visit was part of a week-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, which marked the beginning of the Space Age.