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The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Cairo, Illinois. For a similar list organized alphabetically by last name, see the category page People from Cairo, Illinois.
| Name | Image | Birth | Death | Known for | Association | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mary J. Safford |  | Dec 31, 1834 | Dec 8, 1891 | Union army nurse in the US Civil War; professor of Women's Diseases at the Boston University; later became a doctor | [1] | |
| Hudson Strode | Oct 31, 1892 | Sep 22, 1976 | Author and professor of creative writing at the University of Alabama | Born in Cairo | ||
| Name | Image | Birth | Death | Known for | Association | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William P. Halliday |  | Jul 21, 1827 | Sep 22, 1899 | Banker, steamboat captain, owner of the Riverlore mansion, and businessman | Lived in and started several businesses in Cairo | |
| Charles T. Hinde |  | Jul 12, 1832 | Mar 10, 1915 | Riverboat captain, railroad executive, founder of the Hotel del Coronado | Started his own shipping business in Cairo | |
| Name | Image | Birth | Death | Known for | Association | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rex Ingram |  | Oct 20, 1895 | Sep 19, 1969 | Stage, film, and television actor; first African-American actor to be hired for a contract role on a soap opera ( The Brighter Day , The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Sahara) | Born in Cairo | |
| Christopher Jackson |  | Sep 30, 1975 | An award-winning actor, singer, musician, and composer. Known for his Tony Award nominated Broadway performance as George Washington in Hamilton. | Graduated from Cairo High School in 1993. | [2] | |
| Name | Image | Birth | Death | Known for | Association | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelly Taggart |  | Dec 17, 1932 | May 7, 2014 | Rear admiral in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps); second Director of the NOAA Corps | Born in Cairo | |
| Winifred Warder |  | May 22, 1885 | Oct 8, 1918 | Member of Gas Motor Unit No. 1, Women's Overseas Hospitals; died at American military hospital in Bordeaux, France, during World War I | Born in Cairo | |
| Name | Image | Birth | Death | Known for | Association | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Butts |  | Sep 22, 1919 | Apr 20, 2003 | inventor of the EchoSonic, a guitar amplifier with a built-in tape echo, and the Filter'Tron pickup, the first humbucker guitar pickup (used extensively on Gretsch guitars). | ||
| Chris Clavin | Aug 23, 1973 | Owner of Plan-It-X Records; musician in Ghost Mice | [3] | |||
| Ted Joans | Jul 4, 1928 | Apr 25, 2003 | Musician, poet and painter | Born in Cairo | [4] | |
| Kyle Lehning | Record producer and recording executive | Born in Cairo | ||||
| George "Harmonica" Smith |  | Apr 22, 1924 | Oct 2, 1983 | Blues musician (harmonica) | Grew up in Cairo | |
| Henry Townsend |  | Oct 27, 1909 | Sep 24, 2006 | Blues musician | Grew up in Cairo | |
| Estelle Yancey | Jan 1, 1896 | Apr 19, 1986 | Blues vocalist | Born in Cairo | [5] | |
| Name | Image | Birth | Death | Known for | Association | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Hayes |  | Feb 17, 1918 | Apr 8, 1997 | US congressman for Illinois's 1st congressional district (1983–1993) | Born in Cairo | |
| Charles Koen (aka Chuck Koen) | 1945 | Civil rights activist; founded the Black Liberators | [ citation needed ] | |||
| Napoleon B. Thistlewood |  | Mar 30, 1837 | Sep 15, 1915 | US congressman for Illinois's 25th congressional district (1908–1913) | Two term mayor of Cairo; died in Cairo | |
| Richard W. Townshend |  | Apr 30, 1840 | Mar 9, 1889 | US congressman for Illinois's 19th congressional district (1877–1889) | Lived in Cairo | |
| Donne Trotter |  | Jan 30, 1950 | Illinois state senator for Illinois 17th district (1993–2018) | Born in Cairo | ||
| Name | Image | Birth | Death | Known for | Association | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gracia Burnham | Jan 17, 1959 | Protestant missionary to the Philippines; kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf | Born in Cairo | |||
| Name | Image | Birth | Death | Known for | Association | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chet Covington | Nov 6, 1910 | Jun 11, 1976 | Pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies | Born in Cairo | ||
| Vern Curtis | May 24, 1920 | Jun 24, 1992 | Pitcher for the Washington Senators | Born and died in Cairo | ||
| Egyptian Healy |  | Oct 27, 1866 | Mar 16, 1899 | Pitcher for seven Major League Baseball teams | Born in Cairo | |
| Ed Morgan |  | May 22, 1904 | Apr 9, 1980 | Infielder for the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox | Born in Cairo | |
| Tyrone Nesby | Jan 31, 1976 | Small forward for the Los Angeles Clippers and Washington Wizards, as well as four European teams | Born in Cairo | |||
| Caroline Smith | Jul 21, 1906 | Nov 10, 1994 | Diving gold medalist at 1924 Summer Olympics | Born in Cairo | ||
| Ken Trickey | Aug 30, 1933 | Dec 4, 2012 | College basketball coach for Oral Roberts University | Raised in Cairo; graduated from and coached at Cairo High School | [6] | |
Cairo is the capital of Egypt and the city-state Cairo Governorate, and is the country's largest city, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East, the Greater Cairo metropolitan area, which is the 12th-largest in the world by population with a population of over 22.1 million.
The Ohio River is a 981-mile-long (1,579 km) river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illinois. It is the third largest river by discharge volume in the United States and the largest tributary by volume of the north-south flowing Mississippi River, which divides the eastern from western United States. It is also the 6th oldest river on the North American continent. The river flows through or along the border of six states, and its drainage basin includes parts of 14 states. Through its largest tributary, the Tennessee River, the basin includes several states of the southeastern U.S. It is the source of drinking water for five million people.
Alexander County is the southernmost and southwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,240. Its county seat is Cairo and its western boundary is formed by the Mississippi River.
Cairo is the southernmost city in Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County. A river city, Cairo has the lowest elevation of any location in Illinois and is the only Illinois city to be surrounded by levees. It is in the river-crossed area of Southern Illinois known as "Little Egypt", for which the city is named, after Egypt's capital on the Nile. The city is coterminous with Cairo Precinct.
Mound City is a city and the county seat of Pulaski County, Illinois, United States. It is located along the Ohio River just north of its confluence with the Mississippi River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 588.
Harrisburg is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Illinois, United States. It is located about 57 miles southwest of Evansville, Indiana, and 111 mi (179 km) southeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Its 2020 population was 8,219, and the surrounding Harrisburg Township had a population of 10,037, including the city residents. Harrisburg is included in the Illinois–Indiana–Kentucky tri-state area and is the principal city in the Harrisburg micropolitan statistical area with a combined population of 24,913.
Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi is a British actor and director known professionally as Siddig El Fadil and subsequently as Alexander Siddig.
The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointee of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the Constitution of Egypt following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, the president is also the supreme commander of the Armed Forces, and head of the executive branch of the Egyptian government. The current president is Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who has been in office since 8 June 2014.
Atef Muhammad Ebeid was an Egyptian politician who served in various capacities in the governments of Egypt. He was Prime Minister of Egypt from 1999 to 2004.
Southern Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois comprising the southern third of the state, principally south of Interstate 70. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two most voluminous rivers in the United States: the Mississippi below its connection with the Missouri River to the west and the Ohio River to the east and south, with the Wabash as a tributary. Some areas of Southern Illinois are known historically as Little Egypt.
U.S. Route 51 or U.S. Highway 51 is a major south–north United States highway that extends 1,277 miles (2,055 km) from the western suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana, to within 150 feet (46 m) of the Wisconsin–Michigan state line. As most of the United States Numbered Highways ending with "1", it is a cross-country north–south route extending from the Gulf Coast region to the Great Lakes region. Much of the highway in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin runs parallel to or is cosigned with Interstate 39 (I-39) and much of the route in several states also parallels the Illinois Central Railroad. From LaPlace, Louisiana, Mississippi, to Memphis, Tennessee, much of that portion of US 51 runs largely parallel or is concurrent with Interstate 55 (I-55). The highway's northern terminus is between Hurley, Wisconsin, and Ironwood, Michigan, where it ends with a roundabout at US 2. Its southern terminus is in Laplace, Louisiana, ending at US 61. US 51 is routed through the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois is a federal district court covering approximately the southern third of the state of Illinois.
USS Cairo is the lead ship of the City-class casemate ironclads built at the beginning of the American Civil War to serve as river gunboats.
Illinois is a 2005 concept album by American singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens. His fifth studio album, it features songs referencing places, events, and persons related to the U.S. state of Illinois. Illinois is Stevens' second based on a U.S. state—part of a planned series of fifty that began with the 2003 album Michigan and that Stevens has since acknowledged was a joke. It was adapted into a musical, Illinoise, in 2023 and, after playing smaller venues, opened at the St. James Theatre on Broadway in April 2024.
The Cairo Mississippi River Bridge is a steel truss through deck bridge carrying U.S. Route 60 and U.S. Route 62 across the Mississippi River. Located in the tri-state area of Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri, it connects Cairo, Illinois at its northern terminus to Bird's Point, Missouri at its southern terminus. The bridge is currently closed for renovation until October 1, 2024. The bridge measures 5,175.5 feet in length with a main span of 700.9 feet and a width of 20 feet. At its apex, the bridge stands 114 feet above the river with a 675-foot (206-meter) navigation channel and a river depth of 279 feet. In the years since the construction of the bridge, the town of Cairo has experienced an 81% population decline, the most dramatic decrease of any principal city in the United States. The bridges initially played a part in the town's demise as the ferry and railroad industries were severely impacted.
Charles Arthur Hayes was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Illinois's 1st congressional district, from 1983 to 1993.
The Baháʼí Faith in Egypt has existed for over 150 years. The first followers of the Baháʼí Faith arrived in Egypt in 1863. Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the religion, was himself briefly in Egypt in 1868 when on his way to imprisonment in ʻAkká. The first Egyptians were converts by 1896. Despite forming an early Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly and forming a National Assembly, in 1960 following a regime change the Baháʼís lost all rights as an organised religious community by Decree 263 at the decree of then-President Gamal Abdel Nasser. However, in 1963, there were still seven organized communities in Egypt. More recently the roughly 2000 or 7000 by ARDA Baháʼís of Egypt have been embroiled in the Egyptian identification card controversy from 2006 through 2009. There have been homes burned down and families driven out of towns.
From 1967 to 1973, an extended period of racial unrest occurred in the town of Cairo, Illinois. The city had long had racial tensions which boiled over after a black soldier was found hanged in his jail cell. Over the next several years, fire bombings, racially charged boycotts and shootouts were common place in Cairo, with 170 nights of gunfire reported in 1969 alone.
William "Froggie" James, an African-American man, was lynched and his dead body mutilated on November 11, 1909 by a mob in Cairo, Illinois, after he was charged with the rape and murder of 23-year-old shop clerk Anna Pelley.
The 1895 Charleston earthquake, also known as the Halloween earthquake, occurred on October 31, at 05:07 CST near Charleston, Missouri. It had an estimated moment magnitude of 5.8–6.6 and evaluated Modified Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The earthquake caused substantial property damage in the states of Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee. Shaking was widespread, being felt across 23 states and even in Canada. At least two people died and seven were injured.