1889     The cornerstone was laid for the new Wells County Courthouse in Bluffton.  The Romanesque building was the third for the county and is still in use.  (Photo by Gary Smith)

1910     Blanche Stuart Scott became the first woman to pilot an airplane in public, appearing in the Curtiss Team Exhibition in Fort Wayne.  She had already gained fame as the first woman to drive across America, going from New York to San Francisco in nine weeks.  She went on to become a stunt pilot, movie actress, and screenwriter. In 1980, the U.S. Post Office issued an airmail stamp (pictured) in her honor.

1918     State health officials believed that the worst of the influenza epidemic was over.  There were hundreds of thousands of cases in Indiana, resulting in an estimated 10,000 deaths.  All public gatherings were banned during the month.

1976     Governor Otis Bowen helped dedicate a new addition to the Indiana State Library.  The building on West Ohio Street in Indianapolis, first opened in 1934, was expanded by 87,000 square feet.  The Governor called the $4.7 million project “a versatile and outstanding new addition.”

1986     Forrest Tucker died in Los Angeles.  Born in Plainfield, Indiana, he began an acting career at age 14 at the Chicago World’s Fair. He went on to a long career in movies and television in which he played a wide variety of characters.  In “The Music Man,” he was Professor Harold Hill over 2,000 times.  Classic television fans will remember him as Sergeant Morgan O’Rourke in “F-Troop.”

1999     Market Square Arena closed in Indianapolis.  Opened in 1974, it was home to the Indiana Pacers and the site of Elvis Presley’s final concert.  The structure was demolished in 2001.

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Indiana Statehouse Tour Office

Indiana Department of Administration

Visitors are welcome at the Indiana Statehouse Monday through Saturday.  For more information, please contact the tour office.

(317) 233-5293
touroffice@idoa.in.gov

Capitals of the World

Identify each Indiana city described below.

1.  The peppermint capital of the world.

2.  The goldfish capital of the world.

3.  The RV capital of the world.

4.  The limestone capital of the world.

5.  The orthopedic capital of the world.

     She grew up in Speedway and graduated from Ball State University.  As an actress, she was most familiar as a main character in a television situation comedy that ran from 1977 to 1984.  Who is this Hoosier?

Answers:  1. Mishawaka   2. Martinsville   3. Elkhart   4. Bedford 5. Warsaw

Answer to “Hoosier GuessWho”:  Joyce DeWitt (Three’s Company)