Indiana Trivia & Tidbits - Page 5

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

Patoka Lake, near Birdseye (pop. 465), supports a healthy population of harmless freshwater jellyfish, each about the size of a quarter. They are an indicator of a pure and clean ecosystem in the 8,800-acre reservoir.

first appeared: 7/16/2006

Two of Hollywood's most beloved musicals, West Side Story and The Sound of Music, were produced and directed by Robert Wise, born in 1914 in Winchester (pop. 5,037). The Oscar winner died in September.

first appeared: 7/2/2006

One of the nation's oldest football "trophies" is the Old Oaken Bucket, awarded since 1925 in the annual game between Purdue University in West Lafayette (pop. 28,778) and Indiana University in Bloomington. The century-old bucket, covered in moss and in need of repair, was found on a southern Indiana farm and designated a suitable trophy for the winner of the in-state rivalry.

first appeared: 6/25/2006

Still standing in Cairo is an Operation Skywatch tower built in 1952 during the Korean War, before a national radar system was in place. Civilians took shifts scanning the sky for enemy aircraft. A monument honors the watchers.

first appeared: 6/4/2006

Designer Bill Blass (1922-2002) was born in Fort Wayne and helped pioneer elegant, yet comfortable clothing styles popular in the late 20th century. Blass expanded his brand with products as diverse as chocolates and sunglasses.

first appeared: 5/21/2006

Renowned architect Michael Graves, who was born in 1934 in Indianapolis, has created diverse designs including whimsical teakettles, the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels in Florida, and scaffolding for the restoration of the Washington Monument.

first appeared: 5/14/2006

The world's tallest woman is Sandy Allen, of Shelbyville (pop. 17,951), who stands 7 feet, 7 and 1/4 inches. Born in 1955, a glandular disorder caused her excessive height and, by age 10, she was 6 feet, 3 inches tall.

first appeared: 4/23/2006

In the late 1800s, J.S. McQuinn founded Hoosier Manufacturing Co. in Albany (pop. 2,368) to build the freestanding kitchen cabinet he invented to include storage and work space. The innovative cabinet style still is called a "Hoosier."

first appeared: 4/9/2006

In 1957, Bob and Joyce Newton began building racing tires by re-treading street tires in a South Bend horse barn. Today, their Hoosier Racing Tire Corp., headquartered in Lakeville (pop. 567), is the world’s largest manufacturer of racing tires.

first appeared: 3/26/2006

Known as the "Castle on the Hill," Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand (pop. 2,277) is home to 126 Benedictine sisters, making it one of the nation’s largest convent communities. The monastery also is known for its architectural magnificence, with 16 stained-glass windows and a dome 87 feet tall and 32.5 feet in diameter.

first appeared: 3/12/2006

In 1898, Clinton Beckett introduced football to Pine Village (pop. 255) High School and kicked off the town’s strong football tradition. The town team, the Villagers, turned pro in 1915 and included legendary Olympic champion Jim Thorpe.

first appeared: 2/26/2006

The state’s oldest intact railroad junction depot, which once served the Monon and Nickel Plate railroads, is in Linden (pop. 700). The 1907 building has been restored and, today, houses the Linden Depot Museum and showcases the railroad era of the 1950s.

first appeared: 2/12/2006

Montgomery Ward began as a Chicago mail-order house in 1872, then opened its first retail store in Plymouth (pop. 9,840) in 1926, selling everything from socks to washing machines. The national chain closed the last of its retail outlets in 2000.

first appeared: 1/29/2006

Several packs of red foxes and gray wolves and a small herd of bison interact on 75 acres at Wolf Park near Battle Ground (pop. 1,323). The nonprofit research and educational park opened in 1972.

first appeared: 1/15/2006

MISS INDIANA 2006—Susan Guilkey is a certified aerobics instructor and three-time mini-marathon competitor. The Noblesville (pop. 28,590) native is a graduate of Huntington University and hopes to obtain her master’s degree in communications.

first appeared: 1/8/2006

Seven women in the Farmland (pop. 1,456) Bridge Club, ages 77 to 94, show "all their cards" in a 2006 Courthouse Girls calendar, a fund-raiser to help save the 1877 Randolph County Courthouse from demolition. The women used small-scale replicas of the courthouse for cover-ups in the photos.

first appeared: 1/1/2006

Actor, producer and director John Malkovich, a member of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, may be best known for starring as a fantasy version of himself in the 1999 movie Being John Malkovich. He was born in 1953 in Christopher (pop. 2,836). —Squire Boone Caverns near Corydon (pop. 2,715) is named after the brother of Daniel Boone. Squire, a prominent explorer and woodsman, discovered the cave in 1790, considered it holy ground and asked to be buried there.

first appeared: 12/18/2005

In 1834, James Howard launched his first steamboat at Jeffersonville (pop. 27,362) on the Ohio River. Today, the Howard Steamboat Museum is housed in the family’s 1894 mansion and tells the story of one of the nation’s largest inland shipyards.

first appeared: 12/4/2005

On June 22, 1918, near Hammond, the engineer of an empty troop train fell asleep and plowed into the back of a circus train, carrying members of the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus. Most of the 86 people killed were buried at Showman’s Rest, an area set aside for circus performers in Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park, Ill. (pop. 15,688).

first appeared: 11/20/2005

Opened in 1929, Brown County State Park, near Nashville (pop. 825), features the 84-room Abe Martin Lodge, named for a character created by satirical cartoonist Kin Hubbard, of Bellefontaine, Ohio (pop. 12,969), and appearing first in the Dec. 17, 1904, issue of the Indianapolis News.

first appeared: 11/6/2005

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