Indiana Trivia & Tidbits - Page 13

Looking for Indiana trivia? Try our list Indiana little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Swiss settlers led by John James Dufour planted the nation’s first commercial vineyards in 1802 in Vevay (pop. 1,735), named after their native town in Switzerland.

first appeared: 8/4/2002

With only 500 customers, the Geetingsville Telephone Co. in Frankfort (pop. 16,662) is the state’s smallest independent telephone company. The company built its first line in 1901 and housed its first switchboard inside a grocery store.

first appeared: 7/28/2002

Lake Monroe, a man-made reservoir covering 10,750 acres near Bloomington, is the state’s largest lake.

first appeared: 7/21/2002

Founded by the Swiss Colonization Society in 1858, Tell City (pop. 7,845) was named after William Tell, the Swiss folk hero ordered to shoot an apple off his son’s head after refusing allegiance to the ruling Austrians.

first appeared: 7/14/2002

Frank Bellamy, the author of the Pledge of Allegiance, was born Sept. 15, 1875, in Madison (pop. 12,004). Bellamy wrote the patriotic poem for an 1892 contest commemorating the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ landing.

first appeared: 7/7/2002

Settled in 1806 by North Carolina Quakers, Richmond (pop. 39,124) is home to the Earlham School of Religion, the oldest and first accredited seminary for the Society of Friends.

first appeared: 6/30/2002

Limestone from Lawrence County was used to build many famous landmarks, including the Empire State Building in New York City, the Chicago Tribune Tower, and 35 state capitols.

first appeared: 6/23/2002

Actor Elmo Lincoln, who starred as the original Tarzan of the Apes in 1918, was born Feb. 6, 1889, in Rochester (pop. 6,414).

first appeared: 6/16/2002

Actress Florence Henderson, who mothered The Brady Bunch, was born Feb. 14, 1934, in Dale (pop. 1,568).

first appeared: 6/9/2002

Newsman Elmer Davis, born Jan. 13, 1890, in Aurora (3,965), directed the Office of War Information during World War II.

first appeared: 6/2/2002

James B. Eads, the father of the ironclad gunboat, was born May 23, 1820, in Lawrenceburg (pop. 4,685).

first appeared: 5/26/2002

Laid out around 1826, the town of Rob Roy was named after Robert “Roy” MacGregor, a Scottish folk hero whose exploits were immortalized in Sir Walter Scott’s 1818 novel, Rob Roy.

first appeared: 5/19/2002

In 1852, Henry and Clement Studebaker opened a blacksmith shop in South Bend and built horse-drawn wagons, then switched to horseless in 1902.

first appeared: 5/12/2002

The Little 500 at Indiana University in Bloomington is the nation’s largest collegiate bicycling event. Started in 1951, the relay race features four-member student teams pedaling around a quarter-mile cinder track.

first appeared: 5/5/2002

The Limberlost Swamp near Geneva (pop. 1,368) earned its name after Limber Jim Corbus went hunting there, disappeared, and locals cried, “Limber’s lost.”

first appeared: 4/28/2002

Named after an American Indian word whose meaning has been lost, Nappanee (pop. 6,710) may be the only town in the world that uses all of its letters twice.

first appeared: 4/21/2002

In 1800, Congress coined the term “Indiana,” when means land of the Indians.

first appeared: 4/14/2002

When the state motto, “The Crossroads of America,” was adopted in 1937, Indiana was the theoretical transportation center of the United States.

first appeared: 4/7/2002

Of the estimated 353,000 Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis) in America, more than half—about 182,500—of the federally endangered species reside in caves and mine shafts in Indiana.

first appeared: 3/31/2002

Founded in 1801, Vincennes University in Vincennes (pop. 18,701) is the oldest institution of higher education in Indiana.

first appeared: 3/24/2002

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