Illinois (I skipped Idaho)

Illinois is "The Land of Lincolin," and the memory of "Homest Abe" is so deeply revered there that as recently as 1983 he was elected lieutenent governor. Illinois is also the nation's largest soybean-producing state, although nobody knows what happens to soybeans after they're grown. You never see them for sale. We think the farmers just harvest them and throw them away. The largest city in Illinois is, of course, Chicago, which proudly refers to itself as "The City with a Great Big Butt." This dynamic metropolis began as a tiny trading post in the 1600s, when trappers would paddle canoes filled with animal pelts down the Chicago River, then throw them into Lake Michigan, because by then they smelled awful. During World War II scientists started the first controlled nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago. At least it has been under control so far. Some days it gets a little frisky, which is why a lot of smart Illinois residents also maintain residences in Guam. Today Chicago boasts the Sears Tower, which is so tall that occupants on the top floor sometimes have to phone the street level to find out what the weather's like "down there"! These occupants have had a lot to drink

Today's Latin: flamma (fire)