LA SERENA, Chile (AP) — The Latest on the solar eclipse passing over Chile and Argentina (all times local):

3:25 p.m.

A solar eclipse is starting to darken the sun over northern...

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A group of children at a Chilean school for the blind used sound and braille Tuesday to experience conditions that resemble a total solar eclipse.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — It wasn't all doom and gloom in 2017. The year was also filled with awe-inspiring moments that united us and warmed the heart.

CHICAGO (AP) — The Illinois Legislature passed a long-overdue state budget this year and people in southern Illinois got to witness a long-awaited total solar eclipse.

Those were among the state's biggest stories in 2017, a year that also saw disturbing violence, changes for some of Illinois' most notable people and more headlines about the Chicago Police Department.

Here are The Associated Press' Top 10 Illinois stories of 2017:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — It wasn't all doom and gloom in 2017. The year was also filled with awe-inspiring moments that united us and warmed the heart.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Nearly 192,000 people traveled to Wyoming to view last summer's total solar eclipse, boosting the state's economy by an estimated $63.5 million, according to an analysis released Monday by the state Tourism Office.

"That's phenomenal when you have all of this new money being pumped into the economy," Diane Shober, executive director of the Wyoming Office of Tourism, said.

A total solar eclipse will take place Aug. 21, and it will be visible in a 60-mile-wide band across the United States, from Oregon to South Carolina.

In this episode of “Get Outta Here,” hosted by AP Travel Editor Beth Harpaz, Associated Press science writer Marcia Dunn tells us everything we need to know about destinations, events, eye protection and more to experience “totality,” as that darkness-in-daylight phenomenon is called.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Monday's total solar eclipse turned out to be a record-breaking event for Grand Teton National Park as people from around the world jammed into the northwest Wyoming park to get a glimpse of the eclipse against a backdrop of scenic mountain peaks.

The weekend before the eclipse and the day of the eclipse resulted in the "busiest weekend in the history of the park," park spokeswoman Denise Germann said Friday.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — How do you top the celestial event of a lifetime? By getting engaged, totally.

That's what one South Carolina lawmaker did during Monday's total solar eclipse. State Rep. Micah Caskey, 36, told The Associated Press that he started planning two months ago to pop the question to his girlfriend Erin Harris during the eclipse's totality, when the moon moved directly in front of the sun.

The Latest on the total solar eclipse crossing the U.S., from Oregon to South Carolina (all times EDT):

7:45 p.m.

Authorities say two women watching the eclipse while standing on a sidewalk in Kentucky were struck by a car, and one has died.

State Police Trooper Jody Sims says the car crossed the center line and hit a utility pole and the pedestrians Monday in Hyden, about 120 miles (190 kilometers) southeast of Lexington.

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — The giraffes ran in circles. The flamingos huddled together. And the rhinos just looked confused.

At the Nashville Zoo, visitors watched and recorded how the animals behaved when the sky turned dark during Monday's total solar eclipse. And there was plenty to see when the moon slipped in front of the sun.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Baseball fans in more than a half-dozen cities from Oregon to South Carolina crowded into minor league ballparks Monday to watch the solar eclipse at game-day viewing parties.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump squinted and pointed skyward before donning protective glasses to take in the solar eclipse at the White House.

The president was joined by wife Melania, son Barron and top aides Monday afternoon to view the spectacle from the portico overlooking the South Lawn. The White House originally said Trump would watch from the second-floor Truman balcony.

Shortly after walking outside, the president looked up at the sky, squinted and pointed upward.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ronald Dantowitz has been looking forward to Monday's solar eclipse for nearly 40 years.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — While much of the country gawks at the solar eclipse, Bobbieann Baldwin will be inside with her children, shades drawn.

In Navajo culture, the passing of the moon over the sun is an intimate moment in which the sun is reborn and tribal members take time out for themselves. No talking. No eating or drinking. No lying down. No fussing.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — This August, the U.S. will experience its first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in 99 years.

Total solar eclipses occur every year or two or three, often in the middle of nowhere like the South Pacific or Antarctic. What makes this one so special — at least for Americans — is that it will cut diagonally across the entire United States.

MADRAS, Ore. (AP) — Just before sunrise, there's typically nothing atop Round Butte but the whistle of the wind and a panoramic view of Oregon's second-highest peak glowing pink in the faint light.