June 8 Illinois History Minute

It’s June 8, the day that architect Frank Lloyd Wright was born in 1867. While he grew up in Wisconsin, Wright’s career as an architect began in Illinois. As an apprentice in Chicago, he was mentored by Louis Sullivan, who inspired Wright and others who would constitute the Prairie School of architecture, a style meant to fit in with the flat prairies of the Midwest. Illinois is home to dozens of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, mostly homes. Some are open for public tours.

Rapper Kanye West was born on this day in 1977. The man behind “Gold Digger” and many other hit records dropped out of Chicago State University after a year to pursue a musical career, first as a producer of other people’s rap records, and then as a hugely successful rap artist himself.