This week in Indiana’s history …
1865 – Albion Fellows Bacon was born in Evansville. Sometimes called “the mother of Indiana housing laws,” she gained a national reputation as a social reformer and author, best known for her efforts to improve living standards. In 1911, she helped organize the Indiana Housing Association. In 1917, she was behind a law passed by the Indiana legislature which set higher housing standards and authorized condemnation of unsanitary dwellings.
1874 – Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok were on stage at Good’s Opera House in South Bend. In a play called Scouts of the Plains, they were among a cast of characters who dramatized the Old West. Newspaper reports said, “the acting on the stage was so natural as to carry terror to the heart [of] more than one spectator.”
1910 – Single G, one of the greatest racehorses in history, was born in Cambridge City, Ind. A harness racer, he started in 434 races and placed in 418 of them, a record which has never been broken. Named for the white “G” marking on his forehead, he kept up his winning record for 14 years.
1942 – The War Production Board ordered an immediate halt of bicycle sales in Indiana and across the nation. All bicycle orders were canceled. The country was gearing up for World War II, and the bikes were needed for defense workers. They were added to the list of items to be rationed during the war.
1968 – Robert F. Kennedy, in Indianapolis for the Democratic Presidential primary campaign, announced the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to a crowd at 17th and Broadway. His impassioned plea for peace on that night is considered one of the great public addresses of that era.
1974 – Powerful tornadoes tore across 39 Indiana counties, killing 47 people, injuring over 1,000, and causing $200 million in damage. Governor Otis Bowen toured the region while President Richard Nixon declared the state to be a disaster area. The National Weather Service reported a record 148 tornadoes across 13 states in 24 hours.