1. In 1835, the first issue of the Chicago Democrat, the first newspaper in Chicago, was published. It later became the Chicago Daily News.

2. In 1864, the first African American regiment from Illinois, the 29th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment, was organized in Springfield.

3. In 1908, the first airplane flight in Illinois took place in Springfield when pilot Phil Parmalee piloted a Wright Flyer from the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

4. In 1960, the first televised presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon took place at the studios of WBBM-TV in Chicago.

5. In 1985, the United States Senate confirmed Illinois native William Rehnquist as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Rehnquist served as Chief Justice until his death in 2005.