Indiana History Timeline

• 1800-05-07 Indiana Territory organized
• 1816-12-11 Indiana becomes 19th state of the Union
• 1825-01-03 Scottish factory owner Robert Owen buys 30,000 acres in Indiana as site for New Harmony utopian community

• 1844-01-15 University of Notre Dame receives its charter in Indiana
• 1851-11-09 Kentucky marshals abduct abolitionist minister Calvin Fairbank from Jeffersonville, Indiana, and take him to Kentucky to stand trial for helping a slave escape.
• 1859-08-17 1st air mail (in a balloon) took off from Lafayette, Indiana
• 1862-07-18 Battle of Newburgh, Indiana - captured by Union forces

• 1865-05-13 Battle of Palmito Ranch, near Brownsville, Texas: final engagement of the American Civil War, Private John Jefferson Williams of B Company, 34th Regiment Indiana Infantry is last man killed
• 1868-05-22 Train robbery at Marshfield, Indiana by the Reno Brothers Gang, who make off with $98,000
• 1870-01-27 1st sorority (Kappa Alpha Theta) (DePauw U in Greencastle, Indiana)
• 1873-10-08 First women's prison run by women opens at Indiana Reformatory Institute
• 1874-03-10 Purdue University (Indiana) admits its 1st student
• 1876-07-13 29th US Postmaster General: James N Tyner of Indiana takes office
• 1879-01-23 US National Archery Association forms in Crawfordsville, Indiana
• 1883-06-02 1st night baseball under lights, Fort Wayne Indiana
• 1892-01-11 William D. McCoy of Indiana appointed US minister to Liberia
• 1905-08-06 26.7 cm rainfall at Princeton, Indiana (state record)
• 1905-11-23 Henry Watson Furness, an American physician from Indiana is named US minister to Haiti
• 1907-03-09 1st involuntary sterilization law enacted, Indiana
• 1910-10-23 Blanche Scott becomes the first woman to fly at a public event in the US at Fort Wayne, Indiana
• 1911-05-15 Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Indiana University, incorporates

• 1925-02-10 1st waterless gas storage tank put into service, Michigan City, Indiana
• 1925-03-31 WOWO-AM, Ft Wayne Indiana begins radio transmission (500 watts)
• 1929-07-04 AM radio station WOWO, Indiana's transmitter burns down
• 1929-07-05 WOWO-AM, Indiana returns to air, 1 day after transmitter burns down
• 1930-08-07 A large mob estimated at 2,000, lynch two young black men Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Marion, Indiana
• 1933-06-30 US Assay Offices close in Helena, MT, Boise, ID and Salt Lake City, UT

• 1936-07-14 116°F (47°C), Collegeville, Indiana (state record)
• 1938-12-31 Dr R N Harger's "drunkometer", 1st breath test, introduced in Indiana
• 1945-09-18 1000 whites walk out of Gary, Indiana, schools to protest integration
• 1949-11-11 WTTV TV channel 4 in Bloomington-Indianapol, IN (IND) 1st broadcast
• 1951-02-02 -35°F (-37°C), Greensburg, Indiana (state record until 1994)
• 1954-12-17 1st fully automated railroad freight yard (Gary, Indiana)
• 1963-10-31 Leaking propane gas explodes kills 64 at 'Holiday on Ice' in Indiana
• 1964-02-01 Indiana Governor Mathew Walsh tries to ban "Louie Louie" for obscenity
• 1968-04-06 Gas and gunpowder explosions at sporting goods store, downtown Richmond, Indiana, kills 41 and injures more than 150
• 1968-07-27 Race Riot in Gary Indiana
• 1969-09-09 Allegheny Airlines flight 853 collides with a Piper Cherokee above Indiana, kills all 83 occupants
• 1972-03-10 1st black US political convention opens in Gary, Indiana
• 1974-12-09 Johnson Grigsby freed after 66 years in jail in Indiana
• 1979-03-26 Michigan State Spartans snaps Indiana State's 33-game winning streak

• 1983-08-03 John Sain of South Bend, Indiana, builds 3.91 m house of cards
• 1984-05-23 "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", 2nd in the film series, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Harrison Ford, and produced by George Lucas' Lucosfilms premieres
• 1986-01-21 100 participate in Nude Olympics race in 38°F (3°C), Indiana
• 1988-01-28 Denver Nuggets point guard Michael Adams takes record streak to 79 consecutive games with at least one 3-point field goal in 117-102 loss against Indiana at Market Square Arena; streak ends next game
• 1988-04-22 Women are allowed to compete in Little 500 bicycle race (Indiana)
• 1990-01-24 LAs' Pat Riley becomes the 13th and fastest coach to reach the 500-victory plateau as the Lakers down the Indiana Pacers, 120-111; Riley (500-184) surpasses Don Nelson (500-317) to reach milestone
• 1991-07-21 Sharmell Sullivan (Gary Indiana), 20, crowned 23rd Miss Black America

• 1994-01-19 -36°F (-38°C) in New Whiteland, Indiana (state record)
• 1994-10-31 American Eagle ATR-72 crash down at Gary, Indiana: 68 killed

• 2005-11-06 The Evansville Tornado of November 2005 kills 25 in Northwestern Kentucky and Southwestern Indiana.
• 2012-03-02 Tornadoes kill at least 27 people in the American states of Indiana and Kentucky

• 2019-04-14 South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg officially announces his presidential campaign in Indiana, first openly gay candidate to run for US president

Birthdays 1 - 100 of 297

• 1774-09-26 Johnny Appleseed [John Chapman], American pioneer nurseryman (introduced apple trees to Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois), born in Leominster, Massachusetts (d. 1845)
• 1811-10-18 Hugh Thompson Reid, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Union City, Indiana (d. 1874)
• 1814-06-22 James Henry Lane, US General during Civil War (Union) and Senator (Kansas), born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana (d. 1866)
• 1814-11-15 Pleasant Adam Hackleman, American lawyer, politician and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Franklin County, Indiana (d. 1862)
• 1815-07-30 Thomas Jackson Rodman, American Brevet Brigadier General (Union Army), inventor of the rodman gun and perforated-cake gunpowder, born in Salem, Indiana (d. 1871)
• 1816-06-11 Robert Huston Milroy, American Major General (Union Army), born in Salem, Indiana (d. 1890)
• 1817-05-05 George Washington Julian, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana, born in Centerville, Indiana (d. 1899)
• 1819-12-19 James Clifford Veatch, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Elizabeth, Indiana (d. 1895)
• 1820-05-23 James Buchanan Eads, American engineer and inventor (Eads Bridge-St Louis), born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana (d. 1887)
• 1821-09-26 Alvin Peterson Hovey, American judge, 21st Governor of Indiana (1889-1891), andBrevet Major General (Union Army), born in Mount Vernon, Indiana (d. 1891)
• 1823-08-04 Oliver Hazard Perry Throck Morton, American politician (Governor of Indiana), born in Salisbury, Indiana (d. 1877)
• 1823-11-22 Nathan Kimball, American physician, politician, postmaster, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Fredericksburg, Indiana (d. 1898)

• 1824-10-23 Thomas Gamble Pitcher, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Rockport, Indiana (d. 1895)
• 1826-01-12 Charles Cruft, American teacher, lawyer, railroad executive, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Terre Haute, Indiana (d. 1883)
• 1826-09-09 Thomas John Lucas, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Dearborn County, Indiana (d. 1908)
• 1827-04-10 Lewis "Lew" Wallace, American author (Ben-Hur) and Major General (Union Army), born in Brookville, Indiana (d. 1905)
• 1828-03-02 Jefferson Columbus Davis, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Clark County, Indiana (d. 1879)
• 1830-02-06 Marcellus Monroe Crocker, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Franklin, Indiana (d. 1865)
• 1830-10-01 Jeremiah Cutler Sullivan, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Madison, Indiana (d. 1890)
• 1831-11-21 John Franklin Miller, American lawyer, businessman, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in South Bend, Indiana (d. 1886)
• 1832-03-17 Walter Quintin Gresham, American statesman, jurist, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Lanesville, Indiana (d. 1895)
• 1834-01-27 Robert Sanford Foster, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Vernon, Indiana (d. 1903)
• 1838-04-12 John Shaw Billings, American librarian and surgeon, born in Allensville, Switzerland County, Indiana (d. 1913)
• 1838-10-08 John Hay, American politician and statesman who was a private secretary to Abraham Lincoln and US Secretary of State (1898-1905), born in Salem, Indiana (d. 1905)
• 1846-05-22 Oliver Perry Hay, American paleontologist, born in Saluda, Indiana (d. 1930)
• 1850-07-18 Rose Hartwick Thorpe, American poet (Curfew Must Not Ring) and writer, born in Mishawaka, Indiana, Kansas (d. 1939)
• 1851-07-21 Sam Bass, American Old West train robber and outlaw, born in Mitchell, Indiana (d. 1878)
• 1854-03-14 Thomas Riley Marshall, 28th Vice President of U.S. (1913-21), born in North Manchester, Indiana (d. 1925)
• 1855-11-05 Eugene V. Debs, American labor leader and Socialist presidential candidate, born in Terre Haute, Indiana (d. 1926)
• 1857-10-14 Elwood Haynes, American automotive pioneer (built one of 1st US autos), born in Portland, Indiana (d. 1925)
• 1859-05-03 Andy Adams, American writer (Log of a Cowboy), born in Indiana (d. 1935)
• 1859-09-18 Lincoln Loy McCandless, American cattle rancher and politician, born in Indiana, Pennsylvania (d. 1940)
• 1861-06-17 Omar Bundy, U.S. Army general (Spanish–American War in Cuba), born in New Castle, Indiana (d. 1940)

• 1870-05-06 John T. McCutcheon, American cartoonist (Pulitzer Prize-1931), born in South Raub, Tippecanoe County, Indiana (d. 1949)
• 1870-09-18 Clark Wissler, American anthropologist (American Indian), born in Hagerstown, Indiana (d. 1947)

• 1873-01-30 Rose Melville, American stage actress (A Baby Grand, Her Great Invention), born in Terre Haute, Indiana (d. 1946)
• 1873-05-07 Clarence Dickinson, American composer, born in Lafayette, Indiana (d. 1969)
• 1873-10-14 Ray Ewry, American track and field athlete (8 Olympic golds 1900, 04, 08), born in Lafayette, Indiana (d. 1937)
• 1875-11-11 Vesto Slipher, American astronomer who provided the first evidence to support the expanding-universe theory, born in Mulberry, Indiana (d. 1969)
• 1877-08-27 Lloyd C. Douglas, American novelist (The Big Fisherman), born in Columbia City, Indiana (d. 1951)
• 1878-10-05 Louise Dresser [Kerlin], American actress (Maid of Salem), born in Evansville, Indiana (d. 1965)
• 1881-09-27 Ernest Williams, American composer, born in Wayne County, Indiana (d. 1947)
• 1882-02-14 George Jean Nathan, American editor, author and critic (American Mercury), born in Fort Wayne, Indiana (d. 1958)
• 1884-08-23 Will Cuppy, American humorist (The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody), born in Auburn, Indiana (d. 1949)
• 1886-12-01 Rex Stout, American mystery writer (Nero Wolf novels), born in Noblesville, Indiana (d. 1975)
• 1887-09-09 Raymond Walburn, American actor (Christmas in July), born in Plymouth, Indiana (d. 1969)
• 1887-12-21 Cy Williams, American baseball outfielder (4 x NL HR leader; Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies), born in Wadena, Indiana (d. 1974)
• 1889-03-08 Oscar Ewing, US government official (Everybody's Business), born in Greensburg, Indiana (d. 1980)
• 1889-04-13 Herbert Yardley, American cryptologist, born in Worthington, Indiana (d. 1958)
• 1889-10-08 Collett E. Woolman, American airline founder (Delta Air Service), born in Bloomington, Indiana (d. 1966)
• 1890-01-11 Max Carey, American Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder (World Series 1925; 10 × NL stolen base leader; Pittsburgh Pirates, Brooklyn Robins) and manager (Brooklyn Dodgers), born in Terre Haute, Indiana (d. 1976)

• 1891-02-12 Max Terhune, American actor (Arizona Stagecoach, Hit the Saddle, Range Justice), born in Franklin, Indiana (d. 1973)

• 1891-12-12 Buck Jones [Charles F Gebhart], American Western actor (Just Pals, Forbidden Trails, War Horse), born in Vincennes, Indiana (d. 1942)
• 1893-04-20 Edna Parker, American supercentenarian, the oldest person in the world following the death of Yone Minagawa of Japan on August 13, 2007, born in Morgan County, Indiana (d. 2008)
• 1893-04-29 Harold Urey, American physical chemist (Deuterium, Nobel 1934), born in Walkerton, Indiana (d. 1981)
• 1895-07-21 Ken Maynard, American stuntman and actor (Phantom Rancher, $50,000 Reward), born in Vevay, Indiana (d. 1973)
• 1895-12-05 Elbert Frank Cox, African-American mathematician (first African-American to receive PhD in Mathematics), born in Evansville, Indiana (d. 1969)
• 1896-01-20 Isabel Withers, American actress (Possessed, Lady of Burlesque), born in Frankton, Indiana (d. 1968)
• 1896-05-30 Howard Hawks, American director and producer (Rio Bravo, Scarface), born in Goshen, Indiana (d. 1977)
• 1896-07-26 Charles Butterworth, American actor (Mad Genius), born in South Bend, Indiana (d. 1946)
• 1897-08-24 Fred Rose, American songwriter and music publishing executive (Nashville's Acuff-Rose Music), born in Evansville, Indiana (d. 1954)
• 1897-09-20 Kermit Maynard, American cowboy actor (Valley of Terror, Saturday Roundup), born in Vevay, Indiana (d. 1971)
• 1898-02-10 Robert Keith [Rolland Keith Richey], American character actor (Guys and Dolls; The Wild One; Battle Circus; Branded), born in Fowler, Indiana (d. 1966)
• 1898-09-01 Marilyn Miller [Renolds], American actress (Sunny) and wife of Jack Pickford, born in Evansville, Indiana (d. 1936)
• 1899-07-01 Henry "Indiana" Jones Jr., American fictional film character (Indiana Jones films)
• 1899-07-25 Ralph Dumke, American actor (Movieland Quiz), born in South Bend, Indiana (d. 1964)
• 1899-11-05 Forrest Lewis, American actor (All That Heaven Allows, Monster of Piedras Blancas), born in Knightstown, Indiana (d. 1977)

• 1900-08-03 Ernie Pyle, American journalist and war correspondent during WW II (Pulitzer Prize, 1944), born in Dana, Indiana (d. 1945)
• 1900-12-13 Norman Foster, American actor (Skyscraper Souls), born in Richmond, Indiana (d. 1976)
• 1901-03-21 Carmelita Geraghty, American actress (My Best Girl, Texas Ranger), born in Rushville, Indiana (d. 1966)
• 1901-05-07 Lowell T. Coggeshall, American medical scientist and US Secretary of HEW (1956-58), born in Saratoga, Indiana (d. 1987)
• 1901-06-24 Chuck Taylor, American Basketball Hall of Fame promoter (Converse All Star shoes), born in Azalia, Indiana (d. 1969)
• 1901-09-04 Paul Osborn, American playwright (Mornings at 7), born in Evansville, Indiana (d. 1988)
• 1902-03-09 Will Geer [William Aughe Ghere], American actor (Salt of the Earth, The Waltons), born in Frankfort, Indiana (d. 1978)
• 1902-06-07 Herman B. Wells, president and chancellor of Indiana University, born in Jamestown, Indiana (d. 2000)
• 1903-01-20 Leon Ames, American actor (Mister Ed, Father of the Bride), born in Portland, Indiana (d. 1993)
• 1904-03-09 Paul Klipsch, American engineer, noted for his loudspeaker designs, born in Elkhart, Indiana (d. 2002)
• 1904-06-24 (Wonga) Phil Harris, American singer, actor (The Jungle Book; The Aristocrats; Robin Hood), comedian, and orchestra leader (The Jack Benny Program; The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show), born in Linton, Indiana (d. 1995)
• 1904-08-16 Wendell Stanley, American biochemist, first to crystallize a virus (Nobel 1946), born in Ridgeville, Indiana (d. 1971)
• 1904-11-16 Eddie Condon, American jazz guitarist (Eddie Condon's Floor Show), born in Goodland, Indiana (d. 1973)
• 1905-12-22 Kenneth Rexroth, American poet and translator & critical essayist (Birds in the Bush), born in South Bend, Indiana (d. 1982)
• 1906-04-11 Dalia "Dale" Messick, American cartoonist (Brenda Starr, Reporter), born in South Bend, Indiana (d. 2005)
• 1906-05-08 David Van Vactor, American classical composer (Chaconne), born in Plymouth, Indiana (d. 1994)
• 1906-08-29 Lurene Tuttle, American actress (Father of Bride, Julia), born in Pleasant Lake, Indiana (d. 1986)
• 1908-02-08 Myron McCormick, American actor (Hustler, Jolson Sings Again), born in Albany, Indiana (d. 1962)

• 1908-10-06 Carole Lombard [Jane Alice Peters], American actress (My Man Godfrey, In Name Only), born in Fort Wayne, Indiana (d. 1942)
• 1909-07-03 Earl Butz, 18th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1971-76), born in Albion, Indiana (d. 2008)
• 1909-07-07 Billy Herman, American Baseball HOF second baseman (10 x MLB All Star; Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs), born in New Albany, Indiana (d. 1992)
• 1909-09-22 Allan "Rocky" Lane, American western cowboy actor (voice of Mr Ed, Red Ryder), born in Mishawaka, Indiana (d. 1973)
• 1910-05-23 (Benjamin) "Scatman" Crothers, American singer, musician ("I'd Rather Be a Hummingbird"), and actor (Chico and the Man - "Louie", The Shining), born in Terre Haute, Indiana (d. 1986)
• 1910-10-14 John Wooden, American basketball coach (UCLA-10 national championships), born in Hall, Indiana (d. 2010)
• 1913-05-29 Tony Zale, American boxer (World Middleweight Champion 1940-47, 48), born in Gary, Indiana (d. 1997)
• 1913-07-18 Red Skelton [Richard], American comedian (Red Skelton Show), born in Vincennes, Indiana (d. 1997)

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