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This November, when Illinoisans enter the voting booth, it may feel eerily similar to 2022, with Democratic incumbent JB Pritzker and Republican challenger Darren Bailey vying for Illinois governor. But has a third-party candidate ever had a chance to win the governor's race? Let’s look to the past to help us understand the future, in this episode of our series McHistory. Support the show: https://donate.nprstations.org/wglt/wglt-choose-donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the dawn of electronic library databases to AI in only 50 years and Milner Library's 50th anniversary. Support the show: https://donate.nprstations.org/wglt/wglt-choose-donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Movie theaters and railroads were early adopters of air conditioning in the 1920s and 30s. Support the show: https://donate.nprstations.org/wglt/wglt-choose-donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz as part of the U.S. war with Iran has sent energy prices way up. In this episode of McHistory, you'll go back to 1973 when something similar happened in McLean County during the OPEC oil Embargo. Support the show: https://donate.nprstations.org/wglt/wglt-choose-donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

McLean County and central Illinois are gearing up for America 250 with a bunch of events, everything from a community drone show on July 2nd to readings of the Declaration of Independence. It's not the first national anniversary involving a big celebration. In this episode of WGLT's series McHistory, lets go back 50 years to hear what they did for the nation's bicentennial Support the show: https://donate.nprstations.org/wglt/wglt-choose-donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz as part of the U.S. war with Iran has sent energy prices way up. In this episode of McHistory, you'll go back to 1973 when something similar happened in McLean County during the OPEC oil Embargo. Support the show: https://donate.nprstations.org/wglt/wglt-choose-donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the first 100 years of Bloomington history, water was scarce. In 1929, the formation of Lake Bloomington began after periods of drought, contamination and scarcity of safe drinking water.   Support the show: https://donate.nprstations.org/wglt/wglt-choose-donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Four airlines now fly in and out of the Central Illinois Regional Airport [CIRA]. They carried about 325,000 passengers last year. It wasn’t always like this. There was a time when the airport that served the Twin Cities had sod and gravel runways.   Support the show: https://donate.nprstations.org/wglt/wglt-choose-donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To reduce water use in an ongoing severe drought, the City of Bloomington has asked residents to conserve water by a goal of 10%. Water shortages are not unheard of for the city. Even at its start, water was scarce in Bloomington. Support the show: https://donate.nprstations.org/wglt/wglt-choose-donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During the Great Depression, the federal government tried to stimulate the economy by funding a variety of buildings and programs. Among them was the post office in the Town of Normal put up through the Works Progress Administration [WPA]. Inside that post office is another salute to the community, to human achievement, and to the importance of beauty in public spaces. It's an oil on canvas artwork. Support the show: https://donate.nprstations.org/wglt/wglt-choose-donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It has been many decades since Downtown Bloomington was the premier destination for shoppers in the community. There was a time, though, when there were four large department stores downtown. One of them was My Store. Support the show: https://donate.nprstations.org/wglt/wglt-choose-donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a declaration of emergency over the number of unhoused people in Bloomington right now, and efforts to provide new housing and expanded space in shelters. The issue is not new, though the response today is perhaps more humane than it was in other eras. Support the show: https://donate.nprstations.org/wglt/wglt-choose-donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a declaration of emergency over the number of unhoused people in Bloomington right now and efforts to provide new housing and expanded space in shelters. The issue is not new. In this episode of WGLT's series McHistory, we find out the response today is perhaps a great deal more humane than it was in other eras.McHistory is a co-production of WGLT and the McLean County Museum of History. Charlie Schlenker produced this episode. Support the show: https://donate.nprstations.org/wglt/wglt-choose-donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

McLean County has one Nobel prize winner — but oh what a one! Modern electronics rests upon Clinton Davisson’s physics experiments bombarding a block of crystalized nickel with electrons. Davisson and his colleague at Bell labs, L.H. Germer, measured the angle at which the electrons were scattered by the nickel. Support the show: https://donate.nprstations.org/wglt/wglt-choose-donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite the reputation of Bloomington-Normal as a staid and quiet community with nicknames such as Borington Insuranceville, the Twin Cities has a long history of protests. And unlike today's peaceful observances, it was not always so. In today's episode of McHistory, we learn about the violent streetcar strike of 1917 which involved machine guns and the state militia. Support the show: https://donate.nprstations.org/wglt/wglt-choose-donation See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.