1851 – The Indiana Sentinel reported that there were 245 miles of railroad track in the state. A total of 500 miles was expected to be completed by the end of the year. Construction was underway all around the state. For example, the Shelbyville, Rushville, and Knightstown roads were operating over a “good flat bar” and “doing a fair business.”
1904 – The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held in Indianapolis. The procession traveled on downtown streets, around the Circle, and over to Tomlinson Hall on Market Street. Mayor John Holtzman led the ceremonies, which included Irish jigs and the singing of “The Wearing of the Green” and “Come Back to Erin.”
1918 – An exhibit at the Herron Institute of Art featured works by T. C. Steele as well as other members of the “Hoosier Group” of artists. Many of the exhibitors were women, including Myra R. Richards, Helen Jacoby, and Rena Tucker Kohlmann, who had both sculptures and paintings on display.
1925 – Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of the game of basketball, was a special guest at the Indiana State Basketball Tourney. The game was sold out at the cow barn at the State Fairgrounds and Naismith, who had no ticket, was initially turned away at the door. After a short discussion, he was admitted and later helped hand out medals to members of the winning team from Frankfort High School. Naismith praised the “splendid spirit of the players” and the “unbound enthusiasm of the 15,000 spectators.”
1960 – Northwest Orient Flight 710 crashed near Cannelton in southern Indiana. All 63 aboard the plane were killed. The Lockheed Electra was en route from Minneapolis to Miami. Engineers later determined that the probable cause was the collapse of the right wing at 18,000 feet.
1970 – Over 300 managers from the World Book Encyclopedia Company met at Stouffer’s Inn in Indianapolis. The multi-volume sets, printed by the R. R. Donnelly Company in Crawfordsville, were sold by a sales crew of over 87,000 agents. The universal “go-to” source of information before the Internet, a set of the 1970 World Books could be purchased for $179 to $199, depending upon binding. Today the World Book is the only A-Z encyclopedia still in print.