1885 – Mark Twain and novelist George W. Cable presented joint readings at Plymouth Church in downtown Indianapolis. A reviewer from the Indianapolis Sentinel reported that “the audience was in a high state of hilarity throughout the night.”
1890 – President Benjamin Harrison welcomed Alice Sanger as the first female ever to work on the White House staff. She had earlier served as a stenographer at Harrison’s law firm in Indianapolis. Historians consider the appointment an early step towards the day when more women would work in government.
1900 – Service began on an Interurban line from Indianapolis to Greenwood to Franklin and back. Riders could purchase six tickets for 25 cents. By 1910 every city within a 120-mile radius of Indianapolis could be reached by electric Interurban cars.
1925 – Indiana Secretary of State Frederick E. Schortemeier gave a talk on the new medium of radio. His topic on WFBM was the “The Blue Sky Law and how it protects.” The talk was part of the first regular programming on the new station, operated by the Merchants Heat and Light Company.
1967 – Purdue University capped a 9-2 season with a trip to the Rose Bowl. The team, coached by Jack Mollenkopf, won a hard-fought 14-13 victory over the University of Southern California. Senior defensive back John Charles was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
1970 – Indianapolis adopted “Unigov,” which expanded the city’s boundaries to include nearly all of Marion County. Overnight, the Indiana capital went from the 26th to the 11th largest city in America.