Peoria, Illinois

Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County{{GR|6}}, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 112,936.

Famous connections to Peoria

People born or raised Peorian

• Bill Ballance, radio host
• Jack Brickhouse, announcer: voice of the Chicago Cubs
• John Daker, local vocalist whos internet clip shows him humiliating himself singing a few classic songs
• Philip Jose Farmer, science fiction and fantasy author
• Dan Fogelberg, musician
• Betty Friedan, feminist author
• Robert G. Ingersoll, politician and orator
• Jim Jordan and Marian Jordan, stars of Fibber McGee and Molly on radio
• Camryn Manheim, actress, lived in Peoria until age 12
• Ralph Lawler, announcer: legendary voice of the Los Angeles Clippers
• Shaun Livingston, basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers
• Richard Pryor, comedian and actor
• Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, host of The Catholic Hour on radio and Life is Worth Living on television
• Dan Simmons, author of the Hyperion Cantos and other novels
• David Ogden Stiers, actor: Major Charles Emerson Winchester III on M*A*S*H
• Jim Thome, first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies
• Amy Weber, actress and former WWE diva

Well-known organizations

• Caterpillar Inc., bulldozer and engine manufacturer
• Maui Jim, polarized sunglass maker
• National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, USDA facility where mass production of penicillin was invented
• LR Nelson, manufacturer of water sprinkler systems
• RLI, specialty insurance company

Other famous Peorians

• Harry Harrison, "Morning Mayor of Peoria" on WPEO, disc jockey on several New York City radio stations
• Sam Kinison, comedian and former preacher. Though associated with Peoria, Kinison probably actually grew up in East Peoria.
• Mudvayne, nu metal music band
• General John M. Shalikashvili, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
• Spirit of Peoria, paddle wheel riverboat

Famous events

• 1854-10-16 - Abraham Lincoln first publicized his stand that United States should move towards restricting and eventually eliminating slavery, a position directly against historic compromises such as the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The speech, which was possibly similar to one given in Springfield, Illinois 12 days earlier, followed the speech of Stephen A. Douglas, who Lincoln would later debate regularly in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858.
• 1967-04-03 - The trial of mass murderer Richard Speck begins at the Peoria County courthouse, after a change of venue from Chicago to insure a fair trial.
• Theodore Roosevelt named Grand View Drive, a street on the bluffs overlooking the Illinois River "The world's most beautiful drive." A Peoria radio station and CBS television affilitate took its call letters -- WMBD -- from his favorable opinion.