1859 – Abraham and Mary Lincoln arrived in Indianapolis where the future President gave a speech at Masonic Hall. While promoting Republican candidates, he reminisced about his boyhood days in Spencer County. The couple stayed overnight at the American House Hotel and left the next day to return home to Springfield, Ill.
1874 – Classes began at the new land grant university named for John Purdue. There were six instructors and 19 students. Fourteen students made up the first graduating class.
1901 – Stuart Gorrell was born in Knox. At Indiana University, he became friends with fellow classmate Hoagy Carmichael. Gorrell helped Carmichael write “Stardust” and composed the lyrics for “Georgia on My Mind.”
1910 – A head-on railway collision near Kingsland killed 41 people. It was one of the worst interurban wrecks in state history.
1926 – Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel, was in Indianapolis visiting friends. Speaking of the swim six weeks earlier, she said, “I can feel that cold water even now.” She said she loved the red Buick roadster automobile that was one of her prizes.
1951 – Indianapolis had one television station on the air, and residents were beginning to purchase receivers for their homes. It was an expensive decision. The William H. Block Department Store advertised the Motorola 17-inch console set for $269.95. That was more than a month’s pay for the average worker.