100 years ago, in Dayton, Tennessee on July 12th, William Jennings Bryan faced off against Clarence Darrow for the “Scopes Monkey Trial”. Bryan was from Salem Illinois and was a lawyer who was a three time Democratic nominee for president. He also served as Secretary of State for President Woodrow Wilson. But one of the more memorable events in his life is when he took part in the Scopes Monkey Trial in Dayton, Tennessee.

This weekend our country will celebrate the 4th of July. Preparations are being made nationally and at the state level to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the declaration of the independence. The Illinois America 250 commission was created to develop commemorations of the nation's founding.Gabrielle Lyon is the chair of the commission and is the Executive Director of the Illinois Humanities. I talked with her during the latest episode of Capitol View on WSIU TV.

March 18th marks the 100-year anniversary of the Tri-state Tornado. The storm swept across Southeast Missouri through southern Illinois and ended up in southern Indiana. The Jackson County Historical Society is commemorating the event with a series of presentations.

If the current political atmosphere has you wanting a distraction, commentator Pete Peterson may have just the thing.

Pete Peterson tells us the story of how became the owner of a special glove.

The list calls attention to culturally and architecturally significant sites across the state that are desperately in need of preservation resources.

Pete Peterson, thanks to Mark Twain, finds a connection between baseball and eclipses.

WSIU contributor Pete Peterson brings us his annual piece in honor of Black History Month.