December 5 Illinois History Minute

It’s December Fifth, the day that Thomas Ford was born in 1800 in Pennsylvania. He served as Illinois’ eighth governor in the 1840s. And it’s the day that Edward Coles was inaugurated as Illinois’ second governor in 1822. Both Ford and Coles had Illinois counties named after them.

Philip K. Wrigley, also known as P.K. Wrigley, was born on this day in Chicago in 1894. He took over Wrigley’s gum and the Chicago Cubs baseball team from his father, William Wrigley Junior.

Animated movie pioneer Walt Disney was born in Chicago on this day in 1901. As a boy, Disney drew for his high school newspaper and took night classes at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. But after opening his own animated cartoon studio, he decided to leave the actual drawing to others.