History And Events
'Wooden' lung ingenious contraption for Polio
BLOOMINGTON — In the summer of 1949, at a time when Central Illinois communities were hit particularly hard by the deadly disease polio, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Eureka Williams Corp. decided to fight back.
Nov 21, 2009 | 4:30 pm | Loading…
Funk tried to break political glass ceiling
BLOOMINGTON — In 1924 Florence Fifer Bohrer of Bloomington became the first woman elected to the Illinois Senate. Today, she is rightfully remembered as a pioneer in women’s rights in Illinois.
Nov 14, 2009 | 6:40 pm | Loading…
First World War claimed lives of local aviators
Far from being the hoped-for "War to End All Wars," World War I presaged the coming mechanized horrors of the 20th century. Most significantly, it was the first major conflict in which the skies became a battleground. Aircraft were used for photo reconnaissance, artillery spotting, bombin…
Nov 07, 2009 | 6:25 pm | Loading…
Patent medicine makers claimed to cure all
What if one single miracle medicine could cure a fantastical range of ailments, including rheumatism, back pain, sprains, bruises, burns, frostbite, chilblains, ear and toothaches, cholera, cramps, congestive chills and even tumors? Such was the promise of Instant Relief, a concocted cure…
Oct 31, 2009 | 4:30 pm | Loading…
Groves once covered large areas of McLean County
In the early 1800s, the first settlers to Central Illinois encountered not only a "sea" of tallgrass prairie but also "islands" of timber. These extensive groves offered a welcome sight to pioneers often lost in the oppressive expanses of waving grass.
Oct 24, 2009 | 6:00 pm | Loading…
Depression-era mayor besieged by jobseekers
BLOOMINGTON -- With the national unemployment rate approaching 10 percent, today's job market can be charitably described as brutal. Yet as grim as the economy has been since the Wall Street collapse a year ago, our current predicament pales in comparison to the Great Depression, when the…
Oct 17, 2009 | 6:00 pm | Loading…
Man-made giants, grain elevators, towered over the Midwest prairie
For more than a century and a half, grain elevators have played a critical role in the fall harvest.
Oct 10, 2009 | 5:00 pm | Loading…
Swank Tilden-Hall Hotel razed in 1961
With the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in uptown Normal slated to open soon, it's an opportune time to recall that downtown Bloomington was once home to a thriving hotel trade.
Oct 03, 2009 | 4:30 pm | Loading…
Jesse Fell key in Lincoln’s 'autobiography'
In late 1859 Abraham Lincoln, prodded by Jesse W. Fell of Normal, penned a brief autobiographical sketch that helped get him elected president the following year.
Sep 26, 2009 | 7:15 pm | Loading…
At 75 years, League of Women Voters looks back on its influential founder
BLOOMINGTON -- At her first McLean County League of Women Voters meeting, Gwen Pruyne quickly learned the influence of the local founder.
Sep 21, 2009 | 3:55 pm | Loading…
Redbird-Titan football rivalry came to an end in 1969
Sunday is the 40th anniversary of the last football game between gridiron rivals Illinois State and Illinois Wesleyan universities. On Sept. 20, 1969, the Redbirds defeated the visiting Titans 27-6 before a Hancock Stadium crowd of 15,000, bringing an end to an often-bitter series that be…
Sep 19, 2009 | 4:10 pm | Loading…
Airship visited Bloomington in 1910
BLOOMINGTON -- For Bloomington, the age of aviation arrived on Sept. 14, 1910, exactly 99 years ago on Monday.
Sep 12, 2009 | 4:30 pm | Loading…
McLean County coal mining was dirty, dangerous business
"Death came to Jacob Osman, vast in fantastic horrors," began a Dec. 11, 1899, story in The Bloomington Bulletin.
Sep 05, 2009 | 11:50 am | Loading…
PFOP: Williams Oil-O-Matic plant beat plowshares into swords
We remember the soldiers, sailors and airmen of World War II, but tend to forget those who worked to make the U.S. the "great arsenal of democracy," such as the toolmakers, mechanical engineers and machine operators of Williams Oil-O-Matic Heating Corp. This Bloomington manufacturer, like…
Aug 29, 2009 | 4:45 pm | Loading…
Mesmerizing bird's-eye views offer a window into the past
Wonderfully detailed "bird's eye" views of towns and cities were all the rage in the latter half of the 19th century. Drawn by itinerant artists and then sold as commercial prints, these aerial views offered hometown residents a unique perspective of their community - an old-school versio…
Aug 22, 2009 | 3:00 pm | Loading…
A Page From Our Past: 1916 Tractor show put future on display
As is often the case, the future arrived in the form of a sales pitch.
Aug 15, 2009 | 8:50 pm | Loading…
Durley Hall once center stage of city's theater scene
BLOOMINGTON - From 1872 until 1891, Durley Hall, located on the northeast corner of Main and Jefferson streets just off the Courthouse Square, was one of Bloomington's leading venues for live theater. In an age before motion pictures, big-city theater companies arrived via railroad to per…
Aug 08, 2009 | 4:25 pm | Loading…
PFOP: Wild West legend Pawnee Bill got start in Bloomington
The life and times of Bloomington-born Gordon William "Pawnee Bill" Lillie show us that where the Wild West is concerned, the mythmaking came fast on the heels of actual events, and it's sometimes hard to separate the two. "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend," was the way it w…
Aug 01, 2009 | 12:00 pm | Loading…
PFOP: Underground Railroad myths obscure history of movement
In the decades before the Civil War an untold number of fugitive slaves journeyed north to freedom on the Underground Railroad, making the story of this movement one of the more dramatic chapters in American history.
Jul 26, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
Morris Ave. soap box derby drew thousands
In this age of video games, the Internet, virtual worlds and MySpace, today's kids don't seem much interested in building things, let alone things out of scrap wood, sheet tin and odds and ends scrounged from garages and neighborhood alleyways. That wasn't a problem 70 years ago, though, …
Jul 19, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
Bloomington's Turner Hall served large German community
BLOOMINGTON - For three decades spanning the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Turner Hall was the cultural hub of Bloomington's large and influential German community.
Jul 11, 2009 | 11:05 am | Loading…
Sawmills indispensable to pioneer communities
Before the coming of the railroads in the 1850s, wooded groves provided most of the lumber needed to build anything and everything from farmhouses to courthouses.
Jul 04, 2009 | 4:20 pm | Loading…
War-weary locals celebrate Independence Day in 1866
For many local residents and recently returned veterans, Bloomington's July 4, 1866, gathering marked the true end of the Civil War. A crowd estimated at 8,000 gathered at Dimmitt's Grove on the city's southeast side for an afternoon of speechmaking and picnicking.
Jun 27, 2009 | 3:40 pm | Loading…
06/21/09: Bloomington park has more than State Farm in its history
BLOOMINGTON - The history of G.J. Mecherle Memorial Park (commonly known as State Farm Park) on Bloomington's south side is at least 75 years older than the insurance giant itself.
Jun 20, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
06/14/09: Cartoonist got start in Bloomington
Although nearly forgotten today, Bloomington-born artist Sid Smith was a towering figure in American popular culture. From 1917 until his untimely death in 1935, Smith's newspaper comic strip "The Gumps" was a cultural touchstone, read by millions each day from coast to coast.
Jun 13, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
06/07/09: Barnes symbol of past amid present sprawl
Towanda Barnes Road, which runs along the eastern fringe of both Bloomington and Normal, is a symbol of the sprawling, seemingly unchecked growth of the Twin Cities. Yet amid the brand new residential and commercial developments sprouting up and down the corridor stands a lonely reminder …
Jun 07, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
05/31/09: Bloomers-Commies 26-inning baseball game one for the record books
Sunday is the 100th anniversary of a record-breaking, 26-inning baseball game between the minor league Bloomington Bloomers and Decatur Commodores.
May 30, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
05/24/09: Park monument dedicated Memorial Day 1913
BLOOMINGTON - Memorial Day is a time to honor fellow citizens who paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the nation. We remember those who died in military service with prayer, graveside visits and parades. We also erect monuments of stone in their name, with one exceptional example fo…
May 23, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
05/17/09: Local gambler 'broke the bank' at Monte Carlo
The Twin Cities has had its share of highrollers, risk-takers, cads and roustabouts, though none more celebrated than Billy Darnbrough, "known to fame as the most daring gambler who ever flipped a chip and called Bloomington his home." If we are to believe the many stories, back in the ea…
May 17, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
05/10/09: Railroad shops center of deadly 1920 typhoid outbreak
BLOOMINGTON - In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Bloomington's precarious water supply threatened to stunt the city's development. Pumped from a string of relatively shallow wells, the water was highly mineralized, making it one of the hardest and most unpalatable municipal supplies in th…
May 09, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
- Oprah Winfrey's Ending Her Talk Show
- Oprah Winfrey's production company says she is ending her talk show in 2011. (Nov. 19)
- Bloomington, IL Weather
- Bloomington, IL Weather forecast video
- Raw Video: Meteor Streaks Across Western Skies
- A streaking fireball briefly illuminated parts of the Utah sky to daylight-level conditions early Wednesday. Surveillance video from an observatory shows a blinding flash of light at 12:07 a.m., followed by clear images of the object. (Nov. 18)
- Police: Teen Killed to See What It 'Felt Like'
- Police say 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante dug holes in the ground to be used as a grave and plotted for a murder. Prosecutors say Bustamante strangled her 9-year-old neighbor, Elizabeth Olten, without provocation, cut her throat and stabbed her. (Nov. 18)
- Bloomington, IL Weather
- Bloomington, IL Weather forecast video
- Raw Video: Obama Visits Great Wall
- President Barack Obama concluded his first-ever trip to China by visiting the Great Wall. Also, during his trip, he met with the Chinese premier. The President is now on his way to South Korea. (Nov. 18)
- Palin, Winfrey Talk About Book and Levi Johnston
- Sarah Palin said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that it's heartbreaking to see the road that Levi Johnston, the father of her grandson, has taken and that the soon-to-be Playgirl model hasn't seen his baby in awhile. (Nov. 16)
- Twin Girls Joined at Head Now Separated
- Doctors in Australia have separated conjoined twins who shared parts of their heads and blood flow. A medical team needed 25 hours to perform the operation on the two-year-old girls from Bangladesh. (Nov 17)
- Autopsy Shows Chicago Leader's Death a Suicide
- Police say they're investigating the apparent suicide of Chicago School Board President Michael Scott by looking for security camera video. Officers found Scott dead on a downtown river embankment after his family reported him missing. (Nov. 16)
- Video: Next home for Guantanamo Bay detainees?
- Federal officials visited a prison in northwest Illinois Monday that the government might buy to house Guantanamo Bay detainees. The AP's Mark Carlson reports from Thomson, Illinois. (Nov. 16)
