1863 – The Civil War came to Indiana when over 2,000 Confederate soldiers crossed the Ohio River into Corydon. Under the command of John Hunt Morgan, the troops known as “Morgan’s Raiders” overwhelmed about 400 members of the Indiana militia. They plundered their way through several towns, including Salem, Vernon, Dupont, and Versailles. Fearing an attack on Indianapolis, Governor Oliver P. Morton ordered five regiments of Union soldiers to guard the Statehouse. The Confederates escaped into Ohio where they were captured about three weeks later.
1889 – Noble Sissell was born in Indianapolis. A composer, lyricist, bandleader, singer, and playwright, he joined James “Eubie” Blake to produce Broadway musicals. Their most successful show was Shuffle Along, which introduced the hit song “I’m Just Wild About Harry.” Sissell, one of the founders of the Negro Actors Guild, was known as the “unofficial mayor of Harlem.”
1921 – The Fourth of July Parade in Indianapolis included over 5,000 former soldiers and sailors from World War I. Led by Governor Warren McCray and Mayor Charles Jewett, the procession traveled throughout the mile square. Community singing, band concerts, and bicycle races were held in city parks, with a large fireworks display that evening at the fairgrounds.
1925 – Indiana Governor Ed Jackson and his wife Lydia called upon President Calvin Coolidge at White Court in Swampscott, Mass. The President and his wife Grace were living at the spacious ocean-front home which served that year as the “Summer White House.” Newspapers reported that the Governor’s visit was purely a social call and that politics were not discussed. The Jacksons were on their way home from a Governor’s conference in Maine.
1946 – 14-year-old Richard Lugar received the Boy Scout “God and Country” award at Central Avenue Methodist Church in Indianapolis. The youngest boy in the city to become an Eagle Scout, Lugar was president of the church youth fellowship group and a member of the Sunday School orchestra. He went on to become mayor of Indianapolis and the state’s longest-serving United States Senator.
1971 – The community-owned “Miss Madison” hydroplane won both the Gold Cup and the Indiana Governor’s Cup in the annual Regatta in Madison. Driver Jim McCormick was cheered by the 100,000 spectators who lined both banks of the Ohio River. It was an unforgettable day for the Jefferson County city. Fire bells rang, sirens sounded, and crowds spilled into the streets as crew members carried McCormick on their shoulders to the judging stand.