In what U.S. state was Edwin Hubble born?

Edwin Hubble was born in Missouri, in the city of Marshfield, on November 20, 1889. Although his family later moved to Illinois, his birthplace makes Missouri the correct state.

Hubble grew up to become one of the most influential astronomers of the twentieth century. His observations at the Mount Wilson Observatory showed that many objects once classified as nebulae were actually separate galaxies outside the Milky Way. He also found a relationship between a galaxy's distance and its apparent recessional velocity, supporting the idea of an expanding universe.

Hubble moved with his family to Wheaton, Illinois, in 1900, when he was about 10 years old. That later connection is one reason Illinois can appear as a tempting wrong answer. He attended the University of Chicago and later studied at the University of Oxford before pursuing astronomy professionally.

Missouri continued to honor his connection to the state. His hometown of Marshfield features a model of the Hubble Space Telescope, and a section of Interstate 44 near his birthplace was named Edwin Hubble Highway.