1. On September 2, 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas engaged in the first of their famous seven debates during their Illinois senatorial campaign. The debates, which centered on the issue of slavery, helped propel Lincoln to national prominence and ultimately led to his election as president two years later.

2. In 1946, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign became the site of the first electronic computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC), which was designed and built by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert. The machine, which filled a room and weighed 30 tons, was used for scientific calculations and military simulations.

3. On September 2, 1865, William Le Baron Jenney, an architect from Illinois, designed the first skyscraper in the United States. The Home Insurance Building in Chicago was 10 stories tall and featured a steel frame, which allowed for the construction of taller and larger buildings.

4. In 1945, a train carrying 350 German prisoners of war derailed near Arrowsmith, Illinois, killing 29 of the prisoners and injuring dozens more. The incident, which was the deadliest POW transport accident in U.S. history, sparked controversy and debate over the safety and treatment of prisoners during wartime.

5. On September 2, 1924, the first section of the Lincoln Highway was dedicated in Illinois. The highway, which spanned from New York to San Francisco, was the first transcontinental road in the United States and helped boost travel and commerce across the country.