Aurora became the nation’s first city to utilize electric streetlights to publicly light the city in 1881. At the time, the city was a growing industrial powerhouse thanks to its location on the Fox River and the extension of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. Throughout the early 20th century, Aurora attracted immigrants from all over the world, who were drawn to plentiful jobs in the manufacturing sector.

Today, Aurora is a rapidly growing city connected to the Chicago metropolitan area by mass transit and a highly-efficient network of interstate highways.

Learn more:
Aurora History – A Rapidly Growing City
Looking for something to do in Aurora? Visit the Aurora Area Convention & Visitors Bureau

On June 29, 1889, voters in four incorporated townships surrounding Chicago went to the polls and decided to become part of the City of Chicago, eliminating their local unit of government and boosting the city’s population by 225,000 people. The expansion made Chicago the nation’s second largest city by population, surpassing Philadelphia.

The addition of Hyde Park Township and Lake Township on the South Side and Lake View Township and Jefferson Township on the North Side added 125 square miles to Chicago’s size, making the city the nation’s largest by physical size at that time.

Learn more:
Annexations and Additions to the City of Chicago – Encyclopedia of Chicago
Gulp! How Chicago gobbled its neighbors – WBEZ

John Paul Cusack was born on June 28, 1966 in Evanston. He comes from a family of actors and by the age of 12, had already compiled an impressive resume of film and stage roles. Cusack graduated from Evanston Township High School in 1984 and spent one year at New York University before dropping out.  Acting alongside Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy, he made his feature film debut in the 1983 movie Class. This role opened the door for numerous other roles in teen films, such as Better Off Dead, The Sure Thing, One Crazy Summer and Sixteen Candles. One of his more notable roles came as Lloyd Dobler, the hopeless adolescent in Say Anything.

Following this role, he directed and produced shows for a theater group in Chicago and co-wrote and starred in the film Grosse Pointe Blank. Breaking from his typical role selection, Cusack starred as a federal agent alongside Nicholas Cage and John Malkovich in the 1997 film Con Air.

As a way of further broadening his roles, he starred as the quirky puppeteer in Being John Malkovich and as a lonesome record store dealer in High Fidelity. Since 2000, Cusack has starred in a variety of movies including The Raven, Hot Tub Time Machine, 2012 and The Butler.

Learn more:
View his IMDb profile
John Cusack’s Biography

Figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics last week place Illinois number two among states where businesses are being created the fastest. The study found the number of business startups in Illinois increased nearly 5 percent in the fourth quarter, beat only by Massachusetts who saw a 5.6 percent increase.

According to researchers, high-quality research universities, a large concentration of college-educated workers, existing tech-based companies and access to venture capital are keys to fostering the kind of climate needed to nurture business innovation and growth.

Oregon, Delaware and Georgia trailed Illinois to round out the top five states nationwide in creating businesses.

Learn more:
Illinois among top states in creating businesses – Crain’s Chicago
Make room for another tech firm in River North – Crain’s Chicago

Garfield Park Conservatory, located on Chicago’s West Side, is one of the largest greenhouse conservatories in the country. Construction began in 1906 after three smaller greenhouses in Humboldt, Douglas and Garfield parks were demolished to create “the largest publicly owned conservatory under one roof in the world.”

The 14-acre conservatory, which is owned and operated by the Chicago Park District, attracts more than 100,000 visitors every year and includes nearly 10,000 different species of plants, including 600 cacti and succulent species as well as 150 species of ferns.

Learn more:
Garfield Park Conservatory
Garfield Park Conservatory to reopen in full on earth Day - Chicago Tribune