On Wednesday, Illinois became the 37th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. You probably have questions.

Didn’t the E.R.A. die in the ’80s?

Technically, yes.

Congress, which overwhelmingly approved the Equal Rights Amendment on March 22, 1972, set a seven-year deadline for three-quarters of the states to ratify it. The deadline was later extended to 1982 but that deadline passed with only 35 states on board. They needed 38.

More about that in a moment. But first …