November 16 Illinois History Minute

It’s November 16th, and on this day in 1928, students at Eureka College in central Illinois held a midnight chapel meeting. There, a freshman named Ronald “Dutch” Reagan spoke passionately in favor of a five-day strike to protest academic budget cuts. The future president later said the reaction from fellow students made him realize for the first time his power to persuade others with his speech.

Actor Jim Jordan, who played “Fibber” Magee on radio, was born in Peoria on this day in 1896. 

And Software engineer David Patterson was born in the Chicago suburb of Evergreen Park on this day in 1947. He pioneered Reduced Instruction Set Computer design. Patterson coined the initials R-I-S-C for the widely used design, which simplifies the individual instructions a computer needs to accomplish tasks.