Springfield, USA

Springfield, Illinois is known for a lot of things, Abraham Lincoln probably being the most popular. However, I'll bet you didn't know that Springfield, Illinois is home to other non-Abe related trivia as well. We definitely have bragging rights.

• The very first "Drive Thru" in the U.S. is still operating at Maid Rite restaurant
• The NAACP was founded here
• The man who invented the universal symbol for "handicapped" was from here
• Bobby McFerrin's wife is from Springfield. Bobby even attended the university here for a short while.
• Andy Richter has grandparents that live in a nursing home here
• All of the scenes in the movie "Legally Blonde 2" where Reese Witherspoon is addressing congress, were filmed at the Illinois State Capitol building because it was most similar to the Capitol Building in DC
• Local band, NIL8, has its sticker hanging in the window of John Cusack's record store in the movie "High Fidelity"
• Roy Gulley, one of the 2 youngest pilots to fly in WWII, lives here. The other pilot was George Bush, Sr.

There is still one braggin' right that we're still fightin' for...I was once talking to a man who was from Liverpool. I, of course, mentioned The Beatles. He laughed and said that when he told his friends that he was coming to Springfield, they automatically mentioned The Simpsons. Could it be possible that we are the official "Springfield, USA", home of The Simpsons? Was the Springfield in Illinois the place that Matt Groening was thinking about when he created the series?

Check out this "indirect evidence" and come to your own conclusion...

Oh, and as promised, here is your Saturday drinking game and cocktail...Enjoy!