1825 – Marquis de Lafayette visited Jeffersonville on a tour of all 24 states at the time. He was welcomed by Indiana Governor James Brown Ray and many other officials.
1861 – A huge crowd gathered at the Indiana Statehouse as flags were presented to Colonel Lew Wallace’s 11th Zouave Regiment. The soldiers were leaving to serve in the Civil War.
1876 – Colonel Eli Lilly opened a laboratory on Pearl Street in Indianapolis. He had three employees, including his 14-year-old son Josiah. The firm grew over the years to become one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.
1884 – Paris C. Dunning died in Bloomington. He had served as the ninth Governor of Indiana (1848-1849.) He had also been an Indiana House member, Indiana Senator, Senate Pro Tempore President and Lieutenant Governor. He is the only person in state history to have served in all of these offices.
1914 – Indiana Governor Samuel Ralston proclaimed the second Sunday of May to be “Mother’s Day.” He was following the national observance recently announced by President Woodrow Wilson. Ralston said that mothers are “the strength of the nation” whose philosophy “shapes the destiny of man.”
1945 – German officials surrendered to the Allies, bringing an end to the European conflict in World War II. Signing for the Allies was Lieutenant General Walter Bedell Smith, Chief of Staff for General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Smith had grown up in Indianapolis and attended Emmerich Manual Training High School.