Here’s The Most Important Historical Event In Illinois

America is relatively young compared to other nations at 242 years old, but that doesn’t mean it’s short on historical contributions. And just as the U.S. has played a key role in shaping the world, Illinois has helped shape America into what it is today.

While Massachusetts and Pennsylvania receive much — or most — of the recognition for their contributions to America’s founding, that doesn’t mean Illinois has been sitting idle. Several U.S. presidents — including Ronald Reagan, who was born here, along with Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama — got their start in the Prairie State, and some of the world's biggest companies like McDonald's, Walgreens, Boeing and United Airlines are based in Illinois. But according to a new report, neither was the most significant thing to happen in Illinois.

The website 24/7 Wall St., a Delaware-based company that covers financial news and offers opinions, looked over state historical information, research sources and media reports of major events throughout U.S. history to come up with what it calls the “most important” event for each state, including disasters — due to Mother Nature or people —important legislation and scientific breakthroughs. See if you agree.

In Illinois, the site says the Chicago Fire of 1871 was the the single most significant event in the history of the Prairie State. These days, a hit TV show and a soccer team take their names from the event, but the tragedy left its mark on the city and helped shape it into what it is today. And while Mrs. O'Leary and her cow wrongly took the blame, prolonged dry weather and high winds plus the wooden structures of 1800s Chicago were the real culprits behind the fire, which raged from Oct. 8 to 10, 1871.

Per 24/7 Wall St., "The blaze killed 300 people, destroyed thousands of buildings, and damaged an estimated $200 million worth of property. Luckily for the city, its transportation infrastructure was left intact. In the wake of the conflagration, Chicago implemented stricter building and fire codes. From the ruins emerged the nation’s first skyscrapers and a teeming metropolis."

Tell Us: What local and state events were significant in the history of Illinois? Tell us what you think in the comments.

Other major events you may recognize from around the country include the opening of Grand Canyon National Park in 1919 in Arizona, the desegregation of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City.

“Many of the events on our list are tragic, including the forced removal of Native Americans from their lands — the Trail of Tears in the South — as well as attacks from domestic and foreign terrorists,” the site says.

“In the case of several states, fighting between white settlers and Native Americans ranked as the most important historical event. The treatment of indigenous people shaped America in many ways, and often occurred in frontier states.”

Some events technically happened before the area was formally established as a state, but those events were still considered due to the prominence of that event, such as the founding of the Jamestown settlement in present-day Virginia. Also of note, the site ignored events that simply happened in a state that could’ve happened anywhere else and had the same impact, such as an international treaty signing.

To see the full list of events that shaped the nation, with pictures, to boot, click here.

Patch reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Photo: AP Photo/Seth Perlman File