Are you ready to test how well you know the U.S. State of Illinois? or Do you want to have fun learning some interesting and uncommon facts about Illinois? We got you, as these fact-filled trivia questions will expose you to many fascinating facts about Illinois like the tallest building in Chicago.
Be ready for fun, as we have lined up easy and difficult Illinois Trivia questions that will expose you to the culture, geography, politics, and history of the beautiful state of Illinois, some you will know others you will be happy to find out.
1. In what year did Illinois become a US State?
Answer- In 1818.
2. Which U.S. President was the only one born and raised in Illinois?
Answer- Ronald Reagan
3. What phrase has been displayed on Illinois’s automobile license plates since 1954?
Answer- Land of Lincoln
4. Where are the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum located in Illinois?
Answer- Springfield.
5. What was the largest city in Illinois?
Answer- Chicago
6. Illinois is the most populous state in what region?
Answer- Tornado Alley
7. O’Hare International Airport has been consistently ranked as what?
Answer- The world’s busiest airport
8. In 1942 the University of Chicago conducted the first sustained nuclear what?
Answer- A chain reaction.
9. Monks Mound, in the center of an excavation site, is the largest pre-Columbian structure north of where?
Answer- Valley of Mexico.
10. How many cities in Illinois does the U.S. Census Bureau currently list with populations of over 100,000?
Answer- 7
11. Vandalia became the capital of Illinois in what year?
Answer- In 1819.
12. How much of Chicago burned in downtown Chicago during the Great Chicago Fire?
Answer- 4 square miles.
13. General Grant had his headquarters in what Illinois city for several months?
Answer- Cairo
14. During what year did Illinois host the “Century of Progress World’s Fair” in Chicago?
Answer- 1993
15. Illinois generates more electricity than any other state from what?
Answer- Nuclear Power
16. Where was the first Farm Aid concert held to help out American farmers, in 1985?
Answer- Champaign Illinois.
17. How many NFL Championships has the Chicago Bears football team won?
Answer- 9
18. Can you name one out of the three presidents that have been elected to office while residing in Illinois?
Answer- Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barack Obama
19. Most of the Illinois western border with Missouri and Iowa consists of what river?
Answer- The Mississippi River
20. The Chicago Bulls is one of the most recognized basketball teams in the world, due in a large part to whom?
Answer- Michael Jordan
21. Where Joseph Smith, the Mormon leader was murdered?
Answer- In the Carthage Jail
22. What took place from Sunday, October 8, 1871, until Tuesday, October 10, 1871, in Chicago?
Answer- The Great Chicago Fire
23. What is the average number of tornadoes that occur yearly in Illinois?
Answer- 35
24. What are the two Major League Baseball teams based in the state of Illinois?
Answer- The Chicago Cubs and The Chicago White Sox
25. What was the all-time low temperature ever recorded for the state of Illinois?
Answer- −36 °F on January 5, 1999
26. What county is the state capital of Illinois in?
Answer- Sangamon
27. What is the second largest city in Illinois?
Answer- Aurora
28. What Illinois city is the furthest south?
Answer- CAIRO
29. Where is Snakeden Hollow State Fish and Wildlife Area?
Answer- Knox County
30. Northern Illinois University is in what city?
Answer- DeKalb
31. What river passes through Peoria?
Answer- Illinois River
32. Where is the highest point in Illinois?
Answer- Charles Mound
33. San Jose, Atlanta, and Charlotte are cities in Illinois.
Answer- True
34. If you are in Quincy, which state can you see across the river?
Answer- Missouri
35. What popular fabled structure survived the Great Fire?
Answer- The Chicago Water Tower
36. Where do “Da Bears play?
Answer- Soldiers Field.
37. What is a resident of IIIions called?
Answer- Illinoians
38. In Chicago, Which words are a common command to tell your horse to trot?
Answer- Hup
39. Which twin buildings are known to residents of Chicago as the Corn Cobs?
Answer- Marina City
40. What was Riverview?
Answer- Amusement park
41. Which Chicago classic has a stone Schlitz globe on its roof?
Answer- Bamboo Lounge
42. Which line heads up through Evanston to serve Northwestern University?
Answer- Purple
43. What movie studio produced films starring Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, and Wallace Beery?
Answer- Essanay Studios
44. Eccentric Lar Daly unsuccessfully ran for mayor several times in Chicago. What was his nickname?
Answer- America First
45. What was the original name of the Willis Tower?
Answer- Sears Tower
46. Chicago’s “Pillar of Fire” monument was erected to remember the victims of what well-known disaster?
Answer- Great Chicago Fire
47. It is the tallest building in Chicago.
Answer- The Willis Tower
48. How many Western Avenue stations are there in Illoins
Answer- 5
49. Which train line serves the United Center, home of the Bulls and Blackhawks?
Answer- Blue
50. Which Chicago landmark is one of the world’s only free zoos?
Answer- Lincoln Park Zoo
51. What type of animal skeleton will you encounter at the entrance of the Field Museum of Natural History?
Answer- Dinosaurs
Hope you enjoyed these Illinois Trivia Questions. Please leave a comment below and share if you like the content. Check out 101 General Knowledge Trivia Questions and Answers – Part 1 here. Check out 51 Interesting United States (US) Trivia Questions and Answers
Leave a Reply