Indiana Trivia & Tidbits
Looking for Indiana trivia? Try our list Indiana little know facts, tidbits and trivia.
—Carroll County (pop. 20,165) is named for Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Delphi (pop. 3,015) is the county seat.
first appeared: 5/4/2008
—Former basketball player Dick Barnett, born in 1936 in Gary, was inducted last year into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1957, Barnett helped Tennessee A&I State (now Tennessee State) University in Nashville win the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championship.
first appeared: 3/9/2008
—Lafayette (pop. 56,397) native Brian Lamb, who helped launch C-SPAN in 1979, received a Presidential Medal of Freedom last year for elevating public debate and making government more accessible.C-SPAN delivers public affairs programming to most of the nation’s cable and satellite customers, Internet and radio listeners.
first appeared: 2/24/2008
—For the sixth year, Cindy Harris, 38, of Indianapolis won the women’s division in a race last November to the top of the nation’s tallest building, the Sears Tower in Chicago. Harris ran up 2,109 steps in 15 minutes, 1 second.
first appeared: 2/10/2008
—Since 1999, Tom Prince has offered a popular self-service slaughterhouse in Hazelwood, specializing in providing goat meat to the region’s international community. His card reads: “You Buy-You Kill-You Dress-You Take Home.”
first appeared: 1/27/2008
—The first female president to lead Purdue University in West Lafayette (pop. 28,778) is France Cordova, who assumed the job last year and previously served as chancellor at the University of California in Riverside.
first appeared: 1/13/2008
—Great Cats of Indiana in Idaville is a sanctuary for big cats, wolves and bears that have been displaced. In August, the sanctuary donated a tiger to Louisiana State University for its mascot, Mike the Tiger.
first appeared: 12/30/2007
—One of the rarest plants in the world, Short’s goldenrod, was discovered in 2001 at Harrison-Crawford State Forest near Corydon (pop. 2,715). The yellow flowering plant is named for Charles Short, who discovered it in 1840 along the Ohio River near Louisville, Ky. The plant is on the federal list of endangered species.
first appeared: 12/2/2007
—Legendary harness racehorse Dan Patch, born in 1896 in Oxford (pop. 1,271), broke the two-minute mile barrier 35 times and set an unofficial time of 1:55 at the Minnesota State Fair in 1906. The town celebrates the celebrity horse during Dan Patch Days.
first appeared: 11/18/2007
—Hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky began his professional career at age 17 playing for the Indianapolis Racers in the World Hockey Association in 1978. During his career, he broke and set records for most goals in a season (92), assists (163) and points (215).
first appeared: 11/4/2007
—Best-known as a longtime broadcaster for NBC’s The Today Show, Jane Pauley was born in 1950 in Indianapolis, where she had her first broadcasting job on WISH-TV in 1972. She is married to Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau.
first appeared: 10/21/2007
—The National Soybean Growers Association was started in 1920 with a meeting of soybean farmers and extension workers at the Cornbelt Soybean Conference in Camden (pop. 582). The group was renamed the American Soybean Association in 1929.
first appeared: 10/7/2007
—The official state beverage is water, so-designated in March.
first appeared: 9/30/2007
—Racecar driver Ray Harroun, who won the first Indy 500 in 1911 in Indianapolis, is credited with inventing the rearview mirror. In his streamlined one-person car, the Marmon Wasp, Harroun didn’t have a mechanic riding with him to warn of overtaking vehicles, so he built a bracket to hold a rearview mirror.
first appeared: 9/9/2007
—Slugger Hank Aaron, who hit 755 home runs during his major league career, signed his first baseball contract in 1952 with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League.
IOWA—Thousands of golfers and spectators take to the sky in Des Moines each February for the Skywalk Open Golf Tournament, which is played on three miles of winding downtown skywalks. The event is billed as the world’s largest indoor miniature golf tournament.
first appeared: 8/26/2007
—When 113-year-old Bertha Fry of Muncie attended the birthday party for Edna Parker, 114, of Shelbyville (pop. 17,951) in April, the women set a Guinness World Record. Their combined age of 227 years is more than that of any other meeting of two people on record.
first appeared: 8/12/2007
—On March 23, 1917, a tornado struck New Albany (pop. 37,603), killing at least 45 people and injuring hundreds, including students and teachers at the Olden Street Colored School, which collapsed.
first appeared: 7/29/2007
—During World War II, Evansville’s riverfront was transformed into a 45-acre shipyard to produce LSTs (Landing Ship, Tanks), which have a flat-bottomed hull for sea-to-land delivery of troops, tanks and other military equipment. Today, the restored LST 325, moored on the Ohio River, can be toured at the USS LST Ship Memorial in Evansville.
first appeared: 7/15/2007
—Nicknamed the “King of Cool,” actor Steve McQueen was famous for fast cars and motorcycles, as well as acting, including two popular 1968 movies: Bullitt and The Thomas Crown Affair. He was born in 1930 in Beech Grove (pop. 14,880) and spent his boyhood in Slater, Mo. (pop. 2,083).
first appeared: 7/1/2007
—Born in 1898 in Evansville, Marilyn Miller, a Ziegfeld Follies starlet who became famous for her performance in Sally and her song “Look for the Silver Lining,” reportedly inspired Norma Jeane Baker to change her name to Marilyn Monroe.
first appeared: 6/17/2007
jump to page:
1
,
2
,
3
,
4
,
5
,
6
,
7
,
8
,
9
,
10
,
11
,
12
,
13
,
14
,
15
,
16
additional links
articles by category
search for articles
American Profile Hometown Cookbooks
our picks
message boards
about us
Contact Us