Indiana Trivia & Tidbits - Page 6

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

The Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial, built by Indiana Power and Light Co. (IPL) in Indianapolis, honors the elite group of heroes who, for actions in combat, were singled out for gallantry. The names of more than 3,400 recipients are listed on the memorial’s glass walls, and 96 medal winners attended its opening in 1999.

first appeared: 10/23/2005

When storms destroyed a towering sycamore tree in western Howard County, Kokomo (pop. 46,113) residents decided to preserve its stump and, in 1916, moved it to a display in Highland Park. Billed as the world’s largest stump, it measures 57 feet in circumference and is 12 feet high.

first appeared: 10/9/2005

Located at the confluence of the Tippecanoe and Wabash rivers near Battle Ground (pop. 1,323), Prophetstown State Park was dedicated in August 2004 and includes a 1920s farmstead, an American Indian council house and a prairie that has been repopulated with native plants.

first appeared: 9/25/2005

Sylvanus Bowser of Fort Wayne invented the first gasoline pump in 1885, using marble valves and wooden plungers. Three years later he established a factory in the city to produce his invention.

first appeared: 9/18/2005

One of the first female comic strip artists, Dale Messick created Brenda Starr, Reporter in 1940 about a feisty reporter who wanders the world on the trail of good stories. The strip appeared in 250 newspapers in the 1950s and continues in syndication under a new creative team. Messick was born in South Bend and died in April in California.

first appeared: 9/11/2005

At 123 feet tall, Mount Baldy is among the tallest of the moving sand dunes at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, which encompasses 15,000 acres along the southern shore of Lake Michigan and is bordered by Michigan City (pop. 32,900) and Gary.

first appeared: 8/28/2005

An abundance of fossils of animals that lived 435 million years ago are found in the ancient limestone and shale at Whitewater Gorge Park. Located in Richmond (pop. 39,124), the park includes the Thistlethwaite Falls.

first appeared: 8/14/2005

Indiana University biologists in Bloomington nurture millions of fruit flies from squirming larvae to winged adults. The world’s most comprehensive repository of mutant fruit fly strains ships eggs, larvae and adults to genetics researchers, who claim the flies’ short life spans and giant chromosomes make them perfect research subjects.

first appeared: 7/31/2005

One of the first four women admitted to Indiana Asbury University, now DePauw University in Greencastle (pop. 9,880), Betty Locke (Hamilton) was a principal founder, in 1870, of Kappa Alpha Theta, the first women’s college sorority in the nation.

first appeared: 7/17/2005

Built in 1869, Bell’s Ford Covered Bridge near Seymour (pop. 18,101) is believed to be the only Post-truss covered bridge in the world. The construction, patented in 1863 by Simeon S. Post, combined wood and iron in the framing and bracing.

first appeared: 6/19/2005

Founded in 1852, The DePauw at DePauw University in Greencastle (pop. 9,880) is the state’s oldest college newspaper.

first appeared: 6/5/2005

Visitors to Sugarbush, the state’s largest pure maple syrup producer, in Salem (pop. 6,172) can tap into Indian, pioneer and modern methods of making maple syrup during a Maple Syrup Festival each winter.

first appeared: 5/22/2005

The 1929 Paramount Theatre in Anderson (pop. 59,734) is among the few remaining John Eberson-designed "atmospheric" theaters. Painted to resemble a 16th-century Spanish courtyard, the theater was restored and reopened in 1995.

first appeared: 5/8/2005

Motorists pulled over in Bluffton (pop. 9,536) may pick up some grooming tips from the Bluffton Police Department, which last year won honors as the best-dressed law enforcement department with fewer than 200 officers. A national uniform manufacturing association presents the annual awards.

first appeared: 4/24/2005

At 90 feet, Williamsport Falls at Williamsport (pop. 1,935) is the state’s tallest waterfall.

first appeared: 4/10/2005

A collection of 500 orchid species and 100 hybrids blooms at Ball State University’s Wheeler Orchid Collection and Species Bank in Muncie (pop. 67,430). In 1971, W.O. and Goldie Wheeler of Indianapolis donated the core collection to the university.

first appeared: 3/27/2005

Living in darkness, fish have evolved to a state of blindness in Bluespring Caverns near Bedford (pop. 13,768).

first appeared: 3/13/2005

Batesville (pop. 6,033) Casket Co. offers plus-size caskets under the trade name "Dimensions by Batesville."

first appeared: 2/27/2005

Drivers of Model T cars found parking in the nation’s first multi-level garage built in 1918 at the Hotel LaSalle in Chicago. The future of the garage is uncertain due to its inefficiency in housing today’s large vehicles.—Lew Wallace, born in Brookville (pop. 2,652) in 1827, was New Mexico’s territorial governor from 1878 to 1881. Despite attempts by special interests to wrest political control, he found time to complete his masterpiece Ben Hur: The Tale of Christ in 1880. His book was adapted for the screen in 1907, 1925 and 1959. He died in Crawfordsville (pop. 15,243) in 1905.

first appeared: 2/13/2005

Danner’s Hardware in Vevay (pop. 1,735), the state’s oldest business in its original location, still sells seed in bulk and nails by the pound. Opened in 1838 by Ulysses P. Schenck, the store was purchased by A. V. Danner, the current owner’s grandfather, in 1897.

first appeared: 1/30/2005

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