Barbed wire named as one of top 10 Illinois innovations and inventions

DeKALB – Barbed wire, one of the biggest claims to fame of the city of DeKalb, has been recognized as one of the top 10 Illinois inventions and innovations in the Illinois Top 200 project.

To celebrate the state's bicentennial, the Illinois Top 200 project lets citizens vote every two weeks on the greatest leaders, books, businesses and more. By the state's 200th birthday, Dec. 30, voters will have selected a top 10 list in 20 different categories to create the Illinois Top 200.

Other inventions that made the cut include the steel plow, cellphone, birth control, skyscraper, blood bank, mail order, silo, meatpacking and computer-assisted education.

Voting in the next category, top buildings, is underway on the project's website.

The Illinois Top 200 is a joint initiative of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, the Springfield State Journal-Register and the Illinois Bicentennial Commission.