1816  President James Madison signed a Congressional resolution admitting Indiana to the Union as the 19th state.  The new state government would be centered in the capital city of Corydon.  Jonathan Jennings won the election to serve as the state’s first governor.

1909     Workers placed the last of 3.2 million ten-pound bricks on the 2½-mile oval track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  It has been called “The Brickyard” ever since.

1917     Thirty Indiana delegates attended the National American Women’s Suffrage Association Meeting in Washington, D. C.  Women from around the nation met for the three-day event at Poli’s Theater.  The Hoosier group was led by Mrs. R. E. Edwards of Peru, president of the Indiana Franchise League.

1920     Football player George Gipp died of strep throat in his senior year at Notre Dame.  Called “The Gipper” by Coach Knute Rockne, he is considered one of the most versatile athletes ever to play the game. 

1958     Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke to a crowd of 4,000 at Cadle Tabernacle in Indianapolis.  The 29-year-old Baptist pastor was welcomed to the city by Mayor Charles Boswell.  King told the crowd, “If democracy is to live, segregation must die.”

1972     Eugene Cernan, Commander of Apollo 17, walked on the moon, becoming the last (or most recent) person to do so.  He graduated with an engineering degree from Purdue University.  When he died in 2017, Purdue President Mitch Daniels called him a “pioneer in aviation and one of the greatest Boilermakers of all time.”

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1.  The city of Corydon is found in which Indiana county?

2.  The authors of the original Indiana constitution often worked outside under what type of tree?

3.  On what official date did Indiana join the Union?

1st Place:  Yuto Hotta from John H. Castle Elementary School in Warrick County

2nd Place:  Nora Jansen from Sugar Grove Elementary School in Johnson County

3rd Place:  Antonio Zoppo from Sunnyside Elementary School in Marion County

4th Place:  Caleb Calhoun from Childs Academy in Monroe County

Follow this link to view the Indiana Statehood Day 2022 video

Answers:  1. Harrison County   2. Elm Tree   3. December 11, 1816