Illinois Trivia

Here’s a pretty good way to tell what people outside of Springfield know about our little town:

Questions about Springfield, Illinois have come up 25 times on Jeopardy! since 1984.  Of those 25, 6 didn’t mention Abraham Lincoln.  Of those 6, only two asked about something other than the fact that Springfield is the capital of Illinois.  Those two questions are actually pretty good.

• The founding of this organization in 1909 was spurred by a Springfield, Ill. race riot the previous year  (The NAACP)
• This politician died on June 3, 1861, 39 days after giving a speech in Springfield, Illinois supporting the Union (Stephen Douglas)

Seven Springfieldians have made it onto Jeopardy!, including Jason Sass, who was a teammate of mine on the Riverton Scholastic Bowl team.  The others are Greg Sanders, Bruce Monroe, Ronda Barker, Farah Zolghadr, Kate Pedersen, and Michael Muller.