Honoring 200 years of Illinois ingenuity
From plow to Pill, voters choose top inventions and innovations in Illinois history

[April 11, 2018] 

SPRINGFIELD

Voters have chosen agricultural breakthroughs, high-tech triumphs and life-saving ideas as the top inventions and innovations in state history as part of the ongoing Illinois Top 200 project.

Winners in the online voting include the steel plow, which opened the prairies to agricultural development, and barbed wire, which transformed farming and ranching nationwide.

Voters also recognized the impact of the birth-control pill, which changed both individual lives and American society, and the blood bank, an idea that has saved countless lives. Contributions to computer science and communications technology were honored, too, with voters putting cell phones and early experiments in computer-assisted education on the list.

But voters turned thumbs-down to the state’s more frivolous contributions. Twinkies, pinball and the television remote control all failed to make the cut.

The Illinois Top 200 project lets Illinoisans vote every two weeks on the most inspiring leaders, greatest books, top businesses and much more. By the state’s 200th birthday on Dec. 3, voters will have chosen 10 favorites in 20 different categories – the Illinois Top 200.

Voting in the next category, top buildings, is underway at www.IllinoisTop200.com. Nominees include Chicago skyscrapers, homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the state’s oldest building and two religious shrines.

Here are the top 10 Illinois inventions and innovations:

1. Steel Plow – Early settlers in prairie states faced a big problem: Their cast-iron plows bogged down in the thick, sticky soil. Then blacksmith John Deere thought of trying steel in 1837. His new design cut through the soil easily.

2. Cell Phone – You can thank “Star Trek” and Motorola for that cell phone you carry. A Motorola engineer was inspired by “Star Trek” communicators to create the first cell phone in 1973. A consumer version debuted 10 years later.

3. Birth Control – Development of the Pill goes back to 1952, when noretynodrel was synthesized at G.D. Searle in Skokie. In 1960 it was approved for use as birth control.

4. Skyscraper – The world’s first skyscraper was erected in Chicago in 1885. Ever since, Chicago architects and developers have pushed skyscrapers to new heights and new artistic significance.

5. Blood Bank – In 1937 Bernard Fantus looked at recent progress in blood science and came up with an idea: a place to store blood until it was needed. He opened the first American blood bank at Cook County Hospital in Chicago.

6. Mail Order – Until 1872, rural shoppers basically had no choice but to shop at the local store and pay its prices. Then came Aaron Montgomery Ward of Chicago, who introduced the idea of shopping from catalogs.

7. Barbed Wire – Inventors had been tinkering with the idea of barbed wire for years before Joseph Glidden of DeKalb came up with a practical version in 1874. His invention made it possible to control livestock and protect crops.

8. Silo – They’re so common today that it’s easy to assume silos have always been part of farming, but they’re actually less than 150 years old. Until Fred Hatch built the first tower silo in 1873 near Spring Grove, grain was usually stored in pits.

9. Meatpacking – The modern meatpacking industry began in Chicago, whose position as a railway center made it ideal for bringing in livestock, butchering it, then sending it around the country. It changed the way America ate.

10. Computer-Assisted Education – The first general computer-assisted learning system originated at the University of Illinois in 1960. By the late 1970s, PLATO (for Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations) was offering courses on terminals around the world.

The Illinois Top 200 is a joint initiative of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, The (Springfield) State Journal-Register and the Illinois Bicentennial Commission.

Future categories include authors, musicians, actors, leaders, buildings and unforgettable moments. Everyone is invited to suggest possible nominees in each category by using the hashtag #ILtop200 on social media.

ABOUT ABRAHAM LINCOLN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

The presidential library and museum uses a combination of rigorous scholarship and high-tech showmanship to immerse visitors in Lincoln’s life and times. Visitors can see ghosts come to life on stage, watch TV coverage of the 1860 Presidential election, roam through the Lincoln White House, experience booming cannons in a Civil War battle and come face to face with priceless original Lincoln artifacts.

The library holds an unparalleled collection of Lincoln books, documents, photographs, artifacts and art, as well as some 12 million items pertaining to all aspects of Illinois history.

For more information, visit www.PresidentLincoln.illinois.gov. 

ABOUT ILLINOIS BICENTENNIAL
On Dec. 3, 1818, Illinois became the 21st state in the union. The Illinois Bicentennial is a yearlong celebration of what has been BORN, BUILT & GROWN in the state and a reminder of why we are #IllinoisProud. Citizens are encouraged to participate in the celebration by visiting www.illinois200. com  and using the hashtag #IllinoisProud. Partners and event and project managers planning activities between Dec. 3, 2017, and Dec. 3, 2018, can apply for endorsement to become an official part of Illinois Bicentennial by visiting the PARTICIPATE page at www.illinois200.com. 

[Christopher Wills]