November 1 Illinois History Minute

It’s November First. And on this day in 1820, the Illinois General Assembly declared the south-central Illinois town of Vandalia to be the new state capital, replacing the old territorial capital of Kaskaskia. State lawmakers met in three different capital buildings in Vandalia, before moving to Springfield in 1839.

John H. Johnson published the first issue of Ebony Magazine in Chicago on this day in 1945. The magazine promised to cover the positive achievements of African-Americans, without ignoring the problem of race in America.

One of the first websites went online this month in 1992 from the University of Illinois. The U of I’s National Center for Supercomputing Applications website hosted Mosaic, one of the first web browsers, and a “What’s New” list which served as an early web directory.