3rd December: Illinois Admission Day

On this date in 1818, Illinois became the 21st state of the Union.

1. Illinois gets its name from the Native American Illiniwek people. The name translates to "ordinary speaker."
2. The capital is Springfield. Kaskaskia and Vandalia were both state capitals before this. None of these places is the largest city, though - that is Chicago.
3. The world's first Skyscraper was built in Chicago in 1885. Today, the city is home to The Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower), the second tallest building in the USA, with Lifts that travel at 1,600 ft. per minute. From the top of Willis Tower, you can see four states.
4. The first nuclear fission reactor was created in Illinois in 1942 by Enrico Fermi and his associates. They built it on a squash court under the football stadium at the University of Chicago.
5. Other things Illinois was first to do include opening an aquarium, building the world's first farming Tower Silo, open a McDonalds, and ratify the the 13th amendment to abolish slavery.
6. There is an actual city called Metropolis in Illinois, which naturally cashes in on the Superman connection. It has a Superman museum and hosts an annual Superman Celebration. The local newspaper is the Metropolis Planet - but it is published weekly rather than daily.
7. Famous people from Illinois include Robert Pershing Wadlow, the world's tallest man, who was 8’11” tall, Elzie Crisler Segar, the creator of Popeye the Sailorman, and President Ronald Reagan.
8. The state symbols are as follows. Animal: white-tailed deer; bird: the cardinal; flower: the violet; fish: the bluegill; tree is the white oak; dance is square dancing; fruit: the Goldrush apple; reptile: the painted turtle; mineral: fluorite; insect: the monarch butterfly; amphibian: the eastern tiger salamander; snack food: popcorn; fossil,Tullimonstrum gregarium, or Tully Monster. Illinois also has a state prairie grass, big bluestem, and a state soil, the Drummer soil series, a silty clay loam that covers over 1.5 million acres of the state.
9. More people have personalised number plates in Illinois than in any other state.
10. Some wacky laws which exist in parts of Illinois include: girls can legally throw snowballs at trees, but it is against the law for boys to do so; drivers are legally obliged to notify the police before entering a city in a motor vehicle; you may not sit on the curb and drink Beer out of a bucket; it's illegal to make a face at a dog, or to give it Whiskey or a lighted cigar; roosters must not crow within 300 feet of a house; you mustn't put cake in a cookie jar, fish while sitting on a Giraffe's neck, speak English or drive repetitively (whatever that means!).

What happens when superheroes get together for Christmas! My latest novel. Perfect if you want to lose yourself in a book after Christmas lunch!

A Very Variant Christmas

Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.

The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.

Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.

Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.

Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.

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