While some states like California, New York and Florida seem to have an endless supply of famous people and some who may even have changed the world as we know it, Illinois homes are often not considered breeding grounds for the super famous.

However, Illinois has produced or been home to many world famous luminaries including the likes of Hugh Hefner, Nancy Reagan, David Hasselhoff and Harrison Ford. But Illinois has also been home to some people who have changed the world we live in, but have never received the fame of those mentioned above.

Although you may not know them by heart, you probably should.

Archibald McLeish

Archibald McLeish was a World War I veteran who also served under President Franklin D. Roosevelt as Librarian of Congress. Despite protests over his appointment by the American Library Association due to Archibald’s lack of library experience, he became a key figure in helping to modernize the Library.

However, it was for his writing that Archibald is best known. Archibald is the winner of not one, not two, but three Pulitzer Prizes. two of poetry in 1933 and 1953, and a third of theater in 1956 for his work entitled “JB”

mae jemison

Growing up in Morgan Park, Mae was so smart that she aced every math class available at her high school. Her thirst for knowledge led her to report to school before she started to study calculus with a tutor because calculus classes were not available.

Mae was a huge fan of Star Trek. One day, while she was watching Star Trek with her best friend, she revealed that one day she “…she would do that.” Although her friend thought she was talking about becoming an actress, Mae’s sights were a little higher.

Mae fulfilled her dream of becoming an astronaut in 1992 when she became the first African-American woman to fly in space.

Stanley Mazor

You are probably reading this from a computer. You can thank Stanley Mazor for making the home computer possible.

In the late 1960s, Stanley began work on a single-chip computer that would do the same tasks that, until then, even simple computers such as calculators required the use of multiple processors to perform. In 1971, Stanley delivered the world’s first working microprocessor while working as an engineer for Intel.

That single processor contained the same computing power as the ENIAC that filled an entire room. Due to Stanley’s invention, computers would eventually become an integrated part of everyday society with a personal computer in virtually every home.

Illinois homes continue to produce some of the best and brightest in the world to this day.