1888 — Mary F. Thomas died in Richmond. A medical doctor, she had helped nurse soldiers in the Civil War. She was also a leader for women’s rights. In 1859, she was the first woman to address the Indiana Legislature when she presented a petition for women’s suffrage.
1911 — Over 200 Statehouse workers enjoyed a watermelon feast hosted by State Treasurer William H. Vollmer. The Indianapolis Star reported that 100 Knox County melons “bore the brunt of the attack.”
1940 — An estimated 260,000 people crowded Wendell Willkie’s hometown of Elwood as he accepted the Republican nomination for President. Willkie waged a whirlwind campaign but lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who won a third term.
1958 — The first suburban shopping center opened in Indianapolis. The Glendale Shopping Center, at 62nd and Keystone, offered a variety of stores. Major tenants were L.S. Ayres, William H. Block, L. Strauss, G.C. Murphy, Standard Foods, Hook’s Drugs, Baker’s Shoes, Lerner Shops, Harry Levinson and Rost Jewelers.
1968 — Janis Joplin performed on the main stage of the ballroom at Indiana Beach in Monticello. The lead singer for a rock band called “Big Brother and the Holding Company,” she was still unknown to most of the audience. Her fame began to grow the next year at the music festival in Woodstock, N.Y.
1992 — President George H. W. Bush was in Indianapolis to address the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. In his speech at the Convention Center, the President praised “the forgotten heroes of Vietnam.”