Timeline Indiana
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Facts: https://www.50states.com/indiana.htm
1731 Fort Vincennes, later Fort Sackville, was built by the French near present-day Vincennes, Indiana. It was captured by Colonel George Rogers Clark in 1779.
(HNQ, 7/24/00)
1774 Sep 26, John Chapman (d.1845), later known as Johnny Appleseed, was born in Massachusetts. A pioneer agriculturalist of early America, Chapman began his trek in 1797, collecting apple seedlings from western Pennsylvania and establishing apple nurseries around the early American frontier. Chapman was a Swedenborgian missionary, a land speculator, a heavy drinker and an eccentric dresser (he hated shoes and seldom wore them. He planted orchards across western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana from seed.
(www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=94)(T&L, 10/1980, p.42)(HNQ, 9/4/01)(ON, 4/09, p.10)
1778 Jul, In Indiana American Captain Leonard Helm occupied Fort Sackville, formerly named Fort Vincennes, the British having withdrawn to Detroit.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forts_of_Vincennes,_Indiana)
1778 Dec 17, The British—under Lt. Col. Henry Hamilton—returned and recaptured Fort Sackville (near Vincennes, Indiana).
(HNQ, 7/24/00)
1779 Feb 25, Fort Sackville, originally named Fort Vincennes, was captured by Colonel George Rogers Clark in 1779. Col. Clark led a force of some 170 men from Kaskaskia to lay siege to Fort Sackville in January, and received Hamilton‘s surrender on February 25. With the surrender of Fort Sackville, American forces gained effective control of the Old Northwest, thereby affecting the outcome of the Revolutionary War. The fort, which Clark described as “a wretched stockade, surrounded by a dozen wretched cabins called houses," was located near present-day Vincennes, Indiana.
(HNQ, 7/24/00)(AP, 2/25/08)
1791 Nov 3, Gen. St. Clair moved his force of approximately 1,400 men to some high ground on the upper Wabash River. St. Clair was looking for the forces of Michikinikwa (Chief Little Turtle 1752-1812), who had recently defeated Gen. Josiah Harmar’s (1753-1813) army. St. Clair deployed only minimal sentry positions. [see Nov 4]
(DoW, 1999, p.168)
1791 Nov 4, General Arthur St. Clair, governor of Northwest Territory, was badly defeated by a large Indian army near Fort Wayne. Miami Indian Chief Little Turtle (1752-1812) led the powerful force of Miami, Wyandot, Iroquois, Shawnee, Delaware, Ojibwa and Potawatomi that inflicted the greatest defeat ever suffered by the U.S. Army at the hands of North American Indians. Some 623 regulars led by General Arthur St. Clair were killed and 258 wounded on the banks of the Wabash River near present day Fort Wayne, Indiana. The staggering defeat moved Congress to authorize a larger army in 1792.
(HNQ, 8/10/98)(HN, 11/4/98)
1800 May 7, Congress divided the Northwest Territory into two parts. The western part became the Indiana Territory and the eastern sections remained the Northwest Territory.
(HN, 5/7/99)
1811 Nov 7, Gen. William Henry Harrison won a battle against the Shawnee Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe in the Indiana territory. Tenskwatawa, the brother of Shawnee leader Tecumseh, was engaged in the Battle of the Wabash, aka Battle of Tippecanoe, in spite of his brother’s strict admonition to avoid it. The battle near the Tippecanoe River with the regular and militia forces of Indiana Territory Governor William Henry Harrison, took place while Tecumseh was out of the area seeking support for a united Indian movement. The battle, which was a nominal victory for Harrison’s forces, effectively put an end to Tecumseh’s dream of a pan-Indian confederation. Harrison’s leadership in the battle also provided a useful campaign slogan for his presidential bid in 1840.
(HFA, ‘96, p.46)(HNQ, 5/28/98)(HN, 11/7/98)
1812 Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne established Fort Wayne, Indiana. He got his nickname because he was crazy enough to join his troops on the front lines.
(WSJ, 2/6/04, p.A10)
1816 Dec 11, Indiana became the 19th state.
(AP, 12/11/97)
1820 A law banning the carrying of concealed weapons was passed in Indiana.
(http://tinyurl.com/d337x96)
1825 Jan 3, Scottish factory owner Robert Owen bought 30,000 acres in Indiana as site for New Harmony utopian community.
(MC, 1/3/02)
1837 Methodists opened DePauw University in Greencastle.
(WSJ, 3/8/00, p.A6)
1838 In New Harmony Indiana’s oldest public lending library was founded. The town was founded by the millennialist Harmonie Society and later bought by Robert Owen, a social reformer and educator.
(WSJ, 7/22/98, p.A12)
1840 A US no-bail-out policy forced some state into default. Several US states had loaded up on unsustainable debt following an extended period of easy credit. These states consequently found payments on their existing bonds increasingly unaffordable. Between 1841 and 1843 Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and one territory – a proto-state called Florida – defaulted.
(Econ, 2/11/12, p.57)(http://tinyurl.com/6pgf4wq)
1841 In Indiana Mother Theodore Guerin (1798-1856), a French nun, established St. Mary-of-the-Woods College for women. In 2006 Pope Benedict XVI named her a saint.
(SFC, 10/16/06, p.A2)
1842 Rev. Edward Sorin inherited 3 log cabins and envisioned the future development of Notre Dame. In 2001 Marvin R. O’Connell authored the biography "Edward Sorin."
(WSJ, 11/8/01, p.A22)
1844 Jan 15, The University of Notre Dame received its charter from the state of Indiana.
(AP, 1/15/98)
1845 Feb 18, John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, died in Allen County, Indiana. In 1954 Robert Price authored Johnny Appleseed: Man and Myth."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Appleseed)(ON, 4/09, p.12)
1852 Apr 30, A strong tornado hit New Harmony, Indiana, killing 16 people.
(SFC, 4/30/09, p.D8)
1853 The town of Austin, Indiana, was founded. It became an important rail stop between Indianapolis and Louisville.
(SFC, 4/6/15, p.A7)
1858 Tell City, Ind., was founded as a planned community of Swiss furniture craftsmen from Cincinnati, Ohio.
(SFC, 11/23/05, p.G2)
1858 John Mohler Studebaker (b1833) joined his two older brothers in a South Bend firm producing wagons. The company went on to become the world’s largest producer of farm wagons and carriages.
(WSJ, 6/13/96, p.A12)(HNQ, 1/21/02)
1862 Oct 22, Battle at Old Fort Wayne, Indian Territory.
(MC, 10/22/01)
1862 Oct 30, Dr. Richard Gatling patented a machine gun. [see Nov 3]
(MC, 10/30/01)
1862 Nov 3, Dr. Richard Gatling patented machine gun in Indianapolis. [see Oct 30]
(MC, 11/3/01)
1863 In Indianapolis the Crown Hill cemetery was established.
(SFEC,10/26/97, p.T6)
1865 Swiss furniture craftsmen formed the Chair Makers Union of Tell City, Ind. This later became the Tell City Chair Co.
(SFC, 11/23/05, p.G2)
1866 Oct 6, The Reno brothers--Frank, John, Simeon and William--committed the country's first train robbery near Seymore, In., netting $10,000.
(HN, 10/6/98)
1868 May 22, The Great Train Robbery took place near Marshfield, Ind., as seven members of the Reno gang made off with $96,000 ($98k) in cash, gold and bonds.
(AP, 5/22/97)(HN, 5/22/02)
1868 Dec 12, In Indiana 56 hooded men entered New Albany jail. Frank Reno was the first to be dragged from his cell to be lynched. He was followed by his two brothers, William and Simeon. Another gang member, Charlie Anderson, was also hanged in the prison. [see May 22]
(www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WWvigilantes.htm)
1877 Jan 15, Lewis M. Terman, psychologist (developed Stanford-Binet IQ test), was born in Indiana.
(MC, 1/15/02)
1879 Apr, A fire struck the Catholic college of Notre Dame. The administration building and several others were destroyed.
(WSJ, 11/8/01, p.A22)
1879 The American Furniture Co. was first organized in Batesville, Ind. It was re-organized in 1888 and in 1930 merged with 2 other firms to form RomWeber Co.
(SFC, 12/13/06, p.E3)
1880 Mar 31, Wabash, Ind., became the first town completely illuminated by electrical lighting.
(AP, 3/31/97)(HN, 3/31/98)
1883 Jun 2, The first baseball game under electric lights was played in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
(HN, 6/2/98)
1884 Feb 19, A series of tornadoes left an estimated 800 people dead in 7 US states (Miss, Ala, NC, SC, Tenn., Ky & In).
(WSJ, 9/13/01, p.B11)(MC, 2/19/02)
1885 Sep 5, The 1st gasoline pump was delivered to a gasoline dealer in Ft. Wayne, Ind.
(MC, 9/5/01)
1888 Nov 6, Benjamin Harrison of Indiana won the presidential election, beating incumbent Grover Cleveland on electoral votes, 233-168, although Cleveland led in the popular vote. Tammany Hall helped carry new York for the GOP. In 2008 Charles W. Calhoun authored “Minority Victory: Gilded Age Politics and the Front Porch Campaign of 1888.
(AP, 11/6/97)(WSJ, 11/9/00, p.A26)(WSJ, 12/3/08, p.A15)
1890 Sep 9, Colonel Harland Sanders (d.1980), originator of Kentucky Fried Chicken fast-food restaurants, was born in Henryville, Ind.
(HN, 9/9/98)(www.born-today.com/Today/09-09.htm)
1891 Mar, David Starr Jordan (40) of Indiana Univ. accepted an offer as president of the new Stanford Univ. in Palo Alto, Ca.
(Ind, 10/17/98, p.5A)(Ind, 11/17/01, 5A)
1892 Nov 6, John Sigvard "Ole" Olsen, comedian (Olsen & Johnson), was born in Wabash, Ind.
(MC, 11/6/01)
1892 The Gill Clay Pot Co. moved from Bellaire, Ohio, to Muncie, Ind., to be near glass companies and natural gas supplies. The company made pots and tanks to hold melting glass. In 1923 a family member opened Muncie Pottery next door.
(SFC, 9/21/05, p.G3)
1893 Apr 29, Harold C. Urey, physicist (Deuterium, Nobel 1934), was born in Indiana.
(MC, 4/29/02)
1893 Jun 9, Cole Porter, American composer and lyricist, was born in Indiana. His songs include "Night and Day," "You're the Tops," and "I Get a Kick Our of You." In 1998 William McBrian published the biography "Cole Porter." [see Jun 9, 1891]
(WUD, 1994 p.1120)(CFA, '96, p.48)(SFEC, 11/22/98, BR p.4)
1897 Feb 5, The Indiana House of Representatives unanimously passed a measure redefining the area of a circle and the value of pi as 4. The bill died in the state Senate.
(AP, 2/5/97)(SFEC, 3/14/99, p.C5)
1897 The lower house of the Indiana state legislature declared that pi is 3.2.
(NH, 11/1/04, p.19)
1899 Jul 25, Ralph Dumke, actor (Movieland Quiz), was born in Indiana.
(SC, 7/25/02)
1899 Nov 22, Hoagy Carmichael (d.1981), American composer, was born in Bloomington, Ind. His songs included "Georgia on My Mind" (1930) "Stardust" and over 600 other melodies. Lyrics for Georgia on my Mind were written by Stuart Gorrell.
(WSJ, 9/9/99, p.A24)(SFC, 11/25/99, p.C22)(Econ, 7/3/04, p.16)
1901 Mar 13, Benjamin Harrison (67), 23rd president of the United States (1889-1893), died in Indianapolis.
(AP, 3/13/97)(BG, 3/13/16, p.B6)
1902 Mar 9, Will Greer, actor (Grandpa Walton-The Waltons), was born in Frankfort, Ind.
(MC, 3/9/02)
1903 Jun 22, John Dillinger, one of America’s "Most Wanted" gangsters, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.
(YarraNet, 6/22/00)
1905 Feb 15, Lewis Wallace (77), US politician, general, writer (Ben Hur), artist and inventor, died. His paintings included "The Conspirators," a depiction of those accused in the assassination of Pres. Lincoln. He had 8 registered US patents and was accomplished at playing and making violins. His home in Crawfordsville, Indiana, is now a museum.
(HT, 3/97, p.66)(MC, 2/15/02)
1905 Studebaker of South Bend, Indiana, produced an electric car, the Victoria Phaeton, that could be charged at home.
(Econ, 10/9/10, p.22)
1906 US Steel Corp. begat a company town in Indiana name Gary after Elbert Henry Gary, the chairman of the board.
(SFC, 9/8/97, p.A3)(Econ, 7/11/15, p.27)
1907 Mar 9, Indiana enacted the nation’s 1st involuntary sterilization law based on eugenics. It was intended "to prevent procreation of confirmed criminals, idiots, imbeciles, and rapists." More than 30 states ended up passing compulsory sterilization laws that were eventually overturned or repealed. In 2004 Christine Rosen authored "Preaching Eugenics."
(NH, 7/02, p.12)(WSJ, 4/22/04, p.D10)(AP, 3/9/07)
1907 Jul 16, Orville Redenbacher (d.1995), agronomist and popcorn entrepreneur, was born in Brazil, Indiana. "Do one thing and do it better than anyone."
(AH, 10/01, p.36)(AP, 7/16/07)
1908 Oct 6, Carol Lombard, American comedienne and actress who was nominated for an Oscar for My Man Godfrey, was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Lombard started during the silent movie era revealed herself to be a wonderful amusing and witty actress after the advent of the talkies and quickly became one of the top box office draws of the 1930's in such films as 'My Man Godfrey'. Clark Gable was married to Lombard. (My Man Godfrey, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Made for Each Other).
(HN, 10/6/98)(MC, 10/5/01)
1908 Belle Gunness (48), reportedly died in a fire at her farm in Laporte, Indiana. Many locals believed Gunness, dubbed Lady Bluebeard, staged her death and had killed at least 25 people before the fire.
(AP, 4/27/08)
1909 Aug 19, The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened with a 2.5 mile race track. It was founded in 1906 and the 1st 500 race was held in 1911.
(MC, 8/19/02)(Internet)
1910 Oct 23, Blanche S. Scott became the first woman to make a solo, public airplane flight, reaching an altitude of 12 feet at a park in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
(AP, 10/23/00)
1911 May 29, The first running of the Indianapolis 500. Ray Harroun won at 74.59 mph (120 kph).
(HN, 5/29/98)(SC, 5/29/02)
1911 May 30, The first long-distance auto race in Indianapolis was won by Ray Harroun.
(AP, 5/30/97)
1913 Jul 18, Richard "Red" Skelton, legendary clown, was born in Vincennes, Ind. During a career that stretched through medicine shows, vaudeville, motion pictures, radio and television, the gentle Skelton created a beloved host of characters from the silent tramp Freddie the Freeloader (shown at left) to the Mean Widdle Kid, who coined the catch phrase, "I dood it!" Skelton's sentimental humor, so popular in the '40s, '50s and '60s, did not change with the times and in 1970, CBS canceled The Red Skelton Show. Skelton refused to retire, touring the college lecture circuit and painting clown faces that sold for as much as $80,000. Red Skelton died at age 84 on September 17, 1997.
(HNPD, 7/18/98)(MC, 7/18/02)
1913 In New Harmony the neoclassical Murphy Auditorium was built.
(WSJ, 7/22/98, p.A12)
1913 Knute Rockne, football coach at Notre Dame, popularized the forward pass.
(WSJ, 6/9/04, p.D8)
1914 The Napanee Line of Dutch Kitchenet cabinets was introduced by Coppes Brothers and Zook of Nappanee, Indiana, about this time.
(SFC, 7/26/06, p.G2)
1916 John Holliday, founder of the Indianapolis News and the Indiana National Bank, donated his country estate to Indianapolis for family recreation and nature study.
(NH, 3/1/04, p.16)
1917 May 26, Up to eight separate tornadoes cut a path of destruction for nearly 300 miles across Illinois and Indiana.
(SFC, 5/26/09, p.D8)
1919 Sep 22, Steel workers at Gary, Ind., went on strike to force US Steel to recognize their union. The walkout ended in 110 days without success.
(PCh, 1992, p.734)(MC, 9/22/01)
1920 May 2, 1st game of National Negro Baseball League was played in Indianapolis.
(MC, 5/2/02)
1920 Dec 14, George Gipp (b.1895) died in Indiana from pneumonia and a strep infection during his senior year at Notre Dame. He was buried in northern Michigan. Gipp was the school's first All-American and set a school career rushing record that stood for more than 50 years. Ronald Reagan portrayed Gipp in the 1940 movie "Knute Rockne, All American," in which he made famous the phrase "win one for the Gipper."
(AP, 11/10/07)(www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1595)
1920 Louis Chevrolet won the Indianapolis 500 auto race.
(WSJ, 6/19/96, Adv. Supl)(SFEC, 1/9/00, Z1 p.2)
1922 Jun 11, John Bromfield, actor (Easy to Love), was born in South Bend, In.
(SC, 6/11/02)
1922 Jun 22, Bill Blass (d.2002), fashion designer, was born in Fort Wayne, Ind.
(SFC, 6/13/02, p.A23)
1923 Aug 21, Chris Schenkel, sportscaster (Monday Night Fights), was born in Biuppus, Ind.
(SC, 8/21/02)
1925 Mar 18, The great Tri-State Tornado killed 695 people in Illinois, Indiana and Missouri and injured some 13,000 people, and causing $17 million in property damage. Several other destructive tornadoes in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana, as well as tornadoes in Alabama and Kansas brought the total to at least 747 dead.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-State_Tornado)(SSFC, 5/11/03, Par p.A11)(AP, 5/24/11)
1926 Apr 3, Virgil Grissom (d.1967), Lt. Col. USAF, astronaut (Mercury 4, Gemini 3), was born in Mitchell, Ind. He was the Mercury and Gemini astronaut who was killed in a fire while preparing for the first Apollo flight.
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Apollo204/grissom.html
(MC, 4/3/02)
1926 Montgomery Ward opened its 1st store in Plymouth, Indiana.
(WSJ, 12/29/00, p.A3)
1927 Nov 12, Notre Dame's Fighting Irish changed their blue jerseys for green.
(MC, 11/12/01)
1927 Max Ehrmann (1872-1945), Indiana lawyer, wrote his poem “Desiderata" – “Be gentle with yourself…"
(WSJ, 11/15/05, p.D7)(www.businessballs.com/desideratapoem.htm)
1928 Mar 14, Frank Borman, astronaut (Gem 7, Ap 8), CEO (Eastern Airline), was born in Gary, Ind.
(MC, 3/14/02)
1928 Nov 17, Notre Dame finally lost a football game after nearly 25 years.
(MC, 11/17/01)
1929 Jul 4, AM radio station WOWO, Indiana's transmitter burned down.
(Maggio, 98)
1929 Sociologists Robert and Helen Lynd rechristened Muncie, Indiana, to “Middletown" in a study regarding it as representative of the American experience.
(Econ, 9/10/11, p.35)
1930 Aug 7, In Marion, Indiana, a mob broke into a jail and beat to death 2 young black men and hung them from a tree in the courthouse square. Tommy Shipp and Abe Smith and a 3rd teenager had just been arrested for a botched robbery that left Claude Deeter, a white man, dead. James Cameron (16) was saved from hanging, even as a noose was on his neck. In 2006 Cynthia Carr authored “Our Town: A Heartland Lynching, a Haunted Town and the Hidden History of White America."
(SSFC, 3/26/06, p.M3)
1931 Feb 8, James Dean, stage and film actor who personified "cool" for young people in the 1950s, was born in Marion, In. His films were Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden and Giant.
(HN, 2/8/99)(MC, 2/8/02)
1931 May 13, Jim Jones (d.1978), leader of religious community in Jonestown, Guyana, was born in Crete, Ind. In 1978 he led 900 of his followers to mass suicide.
(V.D.-H.K.p.312)(SFEC, 11/8/98, p.A18)
1933 Louie Meyer won the Indianapolis 500 and asked for a glass of buttermilk.
(SFC, 8/7/99, p.D3)
1934 Mar 3, John Dillinger broke out of jail using a wooden pistol in Crown Point, Indiana.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1934 Apr 25, Denny "Scott" Miller, actor (Wagon Train), was born in Bloomington, Ind.
(SS, 4/25/02)
1934 Jul 1, Sydney Pollack, film director (Tootsie, Presumed Innocent, The Firm, Out of Africa), was born in Lafayette, Indiana.
(www.nndb.com/people/772/000023703/)
1936 Jun 11, Chad Everett, actor (Medical Center, Airplane II), was born in South Bend, In.
(SC, 6/11/02)
1937 Jun 27, Joseph P. Allen IV, PhD, astronaut (STS-5, STS 51A), was born in Crawfordsville, Ind.
(SC, 6/27/02)
1938 Dec 31, Dr. R.N. Harger's "drunkometer," the 1st breath test, was introduced in Indiana.
(MC, 12/31/01)
1938-1962 Herman B. Wells (d.2000 at 97) served as the president of Indiana University in Bloomington.
(SFC, 3/20/00, p.A21)
1939 Edwin Sutherland, sociology prof. at Indiana Univ., coined the term white-collar crime.
(WSJ, 10/15/03, p.B1)
1939 Dan West, a relief worker from Indiana, concluded during the Spanish Civil War that there must be a better way to help the needy than simply handing out free milk. In 1944, the first shipment of 17 heifers left York, Pennsylvania, for Puerto Rico, going to families whose malnourished children had never even tasted milk.
(SSFC, 11/26/06, p.E3)(www.heifer.org)
1940 Aug 17, Wendell Willkie, a former Democrat, delivered his formal acceptance speech as the Republican nominee for president from his home in Elwood, Indiana.
(WSJ, 7/22/96, p.A12)(SFEC, 7/30/00, p.C17)(http://tinyurl.com/e3xrw)
1945 Apr, Black officers of the 477th Bombardment Group of the Army Air Forces were arrested for entering the Freeman Field officer’s club near Seymour, Ind. 101 black officers refused to sign a document that established segregation of the club and were put up for court-martial. Criminal charges were dropped but reprimands were placed in the officers’ files. The reprimands were only removed in 1995.
(SFC, 4/11/98, p.A15)
1945 Sep 18, 1000 white children walked out of Gary, Indiana, schools to protest integration.
(MC, 9/18/01)
1947 Jan 4, J. Danforth Quayle (Sen-R-Ind, 44th VP 1989-93) was born. [see Feb 4]
(MC, 1/4/02)
1947 Feb 4, Dan Quayle was born in Indianapolis. He later became vice-president under George Bush (1988-1992). [see Jan 4]
(DFP, 7/28/96, p.J5)(HN, 2/4/99)
1947 Apr 12, David Letterman, comedian (Late Night), was born in Indianapolis, Ind.
(MC, 4/12/02)
1947 Dec 2, 13th Heisman Trophy Award was awarded to John Lujack, Notre Dame (QB).
(MC, 12/2/01)
1948 Bill Garrett became the first African American to play a varsity sport in the Big Ten. He was recruited by basketball coach Branch McCracken under the urging of Indiana Univ. Pres. Herman B. Wells.
(SFC, 3/20/00, p.A21)
1949 Aug 31, Six of the 16 surviving Union veterans of the Civil War attended the last-ever encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, held in Indianapolis, Indiana.
(HN, 8/31/98)
1950 May 29, Rebbie [Maureen] Jackson, singer (R U Tuff Enuff), was born in Gary, IN.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1951 Aug 21, Harry Smith, TV host (CBS Morning Show), was born in Indiana.
(SC, 8/21/02)
1955 May, Bill Vukovich, 2-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, was killed while going for his 3rd win.
(WSJ, 7/7/04, p.D10)
1956 May 29, LaToya Yvette Jackson, singer (posed in Playboy, Millipede), was born in Gary, IN.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1956 Aug 25, Alfred C. Kinsey (62), US human sexuality researcher (Kinsey Report), died in Bloomington, Ind.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(AP, 8/25/06)
1956 The Indiana Toll Road opened with eight pairs of travel plazas along the 156-mile stretch linking Chicago to Ohio and points eastward. In 2015 IFM, an Australian infrastructure fund, acquired a 66-year lease on the road in a $5.8 billion deal.
(Econ, 4/22/17, p.67)
1958 Aug 29, Michael Jackson (d.2009), pop singer, entertainer, was born in Gary, Ind., the 7th of nine children.
(SFC, 6/14/05, p.D6)(SFC, 6/26/09, p.A1)
1958 Dec 9, Robert H.W. Welch Jr. and 11 other men met in Indianapolis to form the anti-Communist John Birch Society.
(AP, 12/9/97)
1963 Oct 31, On Halloween night leaking propane gas exploded and killed 64 at the "Holiday on Ice" show at the Indiana State Fair Grounds in Indianapolis.
(http://tinyurl.com/npsda6j)
1963 Richard Trentlage, Indiana songwriter, wrote the TV jingle “I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener," and had it sung by his kids.
(WSJ, 8/11/07, p.A6)
1963 Studebaker halted production of its cars. Some 4,000 employees lost their company pensions as the firm permanently closed its plant in South Bend, Ind. This led to the passage of the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in 1974.
(WSJ, 6/19/96, Adv. Supl)(SFC, 2/14/02, p.B1)(Econ, 7/11/15, p.28)
1964 Feb 1, Indiana Governor Mathew Walsh tried to ban "Louie Louie" for obscenity.
(MC, 2/1/02)
1964 James C. Quayle (d.2000 at 79) and his wife, the parents of later vice-president Dan Quayle, became the owners of the Huntington Herald-Press.
(SFC, 7/10/00, p.A20)
1967 Nov 7, Richard Hatcher (1933-2019), a black activist, lawyer and City Council president, was elected mayor of Gary, Indiana. He went on to serve five terms. Hatcher attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money to Gary in his 20 years in office, some of which was used to build low-cost housing and the first public housing units in the city in nearly two decades.
(AP, 12/14/19)
1968 Apr 4, Bobby Kennedy spoke at a black ghetto in Indianapolis just after hearing of the assassination of Martin Luther King. His speech registered the enormity of the event and began the work of healing. Riots over the next few days hit 76 American cities, but Indianapolis remained quiet.
(Econ, 4/22/06, p.79)
1968 Apr 6, In Richmond, Indiana, gunpowder stocks at a sporting-goods store exploded and at least 16 people were killed.
(www.gendisasters.com/data1/in/explosions/richmond-gasexplosion-apr1968.htm)
1968 Jul 27, A 3-day race riot began in Gary, Indiana.
(www.project1968.com/july-28-august-3-1968.html)
1969 Sep 9, Allegheny Flight 853 collided with Piper Cherokee above Indiana. 82 were killed.
{Air Crash, Indonesia, USA}
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegheny_Airlines_Flight_853)
1971 Mar 27, Bob Knight was named head coach at Indiana Univ. [see Sep 10, 2000]
(SFC, 9/11/00, p.A11)
1972 John Howard Yoder (d.1997 at 71), a Mennonite theologian who taught at Notre Dame, wrote "The Politics of Jesus," in part an analysis of Christian attitudes towards the state.
(SFC, 1/9/98, p.A19)
1973 Jul 2, Swede Savage (b.1946), American race car driver, died 33 days after suffering injuries at the Indianapolis 500.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swede_Savage)
1974 Apr 3, A series of 148 deadly tornadoes struck wide parts of the South and Midwest before jumping across the border into Canada; some 330 people were killed in 13 states: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Total property damage was estimated at $600 million. In 2007 Mark Levine authored “F5: Devastation, Survival, and the Most Violent Tornado Outbreak of the 20th Century."
(AP, 4/3/99)(WSJ, 9/13/01, p.B11)(SSFC, 9/4/05, p.A7)(WSJ, 6/16/07, p.P10)
1974 The first high school swing choir invitational competition was held at Bishop Luers High School in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Marion High School's (Indiana) "The 26th Street Singers," under the direction of teacher F. Ritchie Walton, introduced a new brand of song and dance at the competition and took home the competition trophy.
(SSFC, 10/3/10, Par p.4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show_choir)
1977 May 29, Janet Guthrie (b.1938) became the 1st woman to drive in the Indianapolis 500. Her autobiography, "Janet Guthrie: A Life at Full Throttle," was published in 2005.
(www.janetguthrie.com/biofr.htm)(www.nascar.com/2002/kyn/women/02/02/Guthrie/)
1979 Mar 26, In the 41st NCAA Men's Basketball Championship the Michigan State Spartans beat the Indiana State Sycamores, 75-64, as Magic Johnson outscored Larry Bird, 24-19; this snapped Indiana State's 33-game win streak. In 2009 Seth Davis authored “When March Went Mad: The Game That Transformed Basketball."
(http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/moments/9903.html)(WSJ, 3/20/09, p.W10)
1980 May 29, In Fort Wayne, Indiana, there was an attempted assassination of Vernon Jordan Jr., National Urban League president. in 1996 an acquitted sniper told a newspaper that he did shoot and wound Vernon Jordan, then president of the Urban League, outside an Indiana hotel in 1980.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_Jordan,_Jr.)(WSJ, 4/9/96, p.A-1)(WSJ, 11/21/01, p.A12)
1980-1990 Herbert Baumeister (1947-1996), an Indianapolis businessman, killed 16 men, most of them gay, and dumped them in the woods behind his home and along rural roads in Indiana and Ohio. Baumeister committed suicide in Canada at age 49.
(www.mayhem.net/Crime/morg9804.html)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_Baumeister)
1981 Aug 22, In Indianapolis, Indiana, King Edward Bell (33), a laid-off autoworker, killed his estranged wife, mother-in-law and 4 children. Bell was sentenced to six consecutive 40-year prison terms.
(AP, 6/2/06)(http://tinyurl.com/3dnvkc)
1982 Aug 17, A jury in South Bend, Ind., acquitted self-avowed racist Joseph Paul Franklin, for the 1980 attempted assassination of Vernon Jordan Jr, National Urban League president.
(http://tinyurl.com/2nzrco)
1982 The Fourth Freedom Forum was formed in Goshen, Indiana, by Howard Brembeck to advocate the use of economic power instead of military force.
(www.fourthfreedom.org/Applications/cms.php?page_id=75)
1984 Mar 29, The NFL Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis_Colts)
1985 Feb 23, Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight threw a chair during a game.
(http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/people/k/knight_bob/knight.html)
1985 May 14, In Indiana Paula Cooper (b.1969) took part in the stabbing death of Ruth Pelke (78), a Bible studies teacher during a robbery with three other teens. Cooper was sentenced to death in 1986, but in 1988 the state’s high court set her death sentence aside and ordered her to serve 60 years in prison. Cooper was released from prison on June 17, 2013.
(SFC, 6/18/13, p.A5)(http://tinyurl.com/mklp5el)
1985 Aug 26, Thirteen-year-old AIDS patient Ryan White began "attending" classes at Western Middle School in Kokomo, Indiana, via a telephone hook-up at his home. School officials had barred Ryan from attending classes in person.
(AP, 8/26/00)
1986 Feb 21, Ryan White (1971-1990), AIDS patient, returned to classes at Western Middle School in Indiana.
(www.ryanwhite.com/pages/timeline.html)
1986 Mar 28, In Indiana high school student Denise Pflum went missing in Connersville after she planned to return to the site of a party to retrieve her purse. In 2020 the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office announced that Shawn M. McClung has been charged with voluntary manslaughter in the girl’s death.
(Miami Herald, 7/9/20)
1986 The bodies of Tony (48) and Michael (41) Spilotro were found buried in an Indiana cornfield. Tony “The Ant" Spilotro was a top mob figure in Las Vegas. In 2005 prosecutors indicted 11 Chicago mob figures for at least 18 murders, including the Spilotros.
(SFC, 4/26/05, p.A5)
1987 Mar 31, Indiana Univ. won the NCAA basketball finals with a last-second, corner shot by Keith Smart.
(WSJ, 4/4/03, p.B2)(http://tinyurl.com/rcskk)
1987 Oct 20, Ten people were killed when an Air Force jet crashed into a Ramada Inn hotel near Indianapolis International Airport after the pilot, who was trying to make an emergency landing, ejected safely.
(AP, 10/20/97)
1987 Gov. Robert D. Orr (d.2004 at 86) pushed through a major educational reform package.
(SFC, 3/12/04, p.B7)
1988 Apr 1, In Indiana April Tinsley (8) of Fort Wayne was abducted. Her body was found three days later in a ditch about 20 miles away. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. In 2018 DNA evidence linked John Miller (59) to the case. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 80 years in prison for her abduction, rape and murder.
(http://truecrimeguy.com/april-marie-tinsley/)(SFC, 12/22/18, p.A5)
1988 Aug 16, Vice President George Bush tapped Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle to be his running mate.
(AP, 8/16/98)
1988 Aug 18, Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle was nominated to be George Bush's running mate during the Republican convention in New Orleans; meanwhile, questions were being raised about Quayle's service in the Indiana National Guard during the Vietnam War.
(AP, 8/18/98)
1988 Nov 8, Evan Bayh, Indiana secretary of state, was elected as state governor.
(Econ, 2/20/10, p.28)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Bayh)
1988 Purdue Univ. began hosting the National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. Reuben Lucius "Rube" Goldberg (b.1883), cartoonist, was known for drawing vastly complicated machines that performed simple tasks.
(WUD, 1994, p.607)(SFEC, 4/5/98, p.A28)
1989 Jan 9, Evan Bayh (b.1955) began office as Indiana state governor and continued to 1997. In 1998 he was elected as a US Senator for Indiana. In 2010 he decided not to seek re-election.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Bayh)(Econ, 2/20/10, p.28)
1989 In Noblesville the parents of Brian and David Setters were shot to death. The brothers took over the family insurance business. In 1998 the 2 brothers were charged with the murder.
(SFC, 10/1/98, p.A3)
1990 Apr 8, Ryan White (18), the teen-age AIDS patient whose battle for acceptance gained national attention, died in Indianapolis. The Ryan White Foundation was established for AIDS education programs after his death and it closed its doors due to dwindling funds in 1999.
(AP, 4/8/97)(SFC, 10/19/99, p.A3)
1990 Gilmore Reynolds of Osgood died at age 91. A foundation was created to administer money from his estate. His wife Golda died at age 98 in 1999 and the couple left $23 million to the town of Osgood for distribution in annual chunks of over $1 million.
(SFC, 11/27/99, p.A10)(SFC, 6/5/00, p.A3)
1991 Jul 19, Boxer Mike Tyson had sex with Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant. On September 9, 1991, an Indiana Grand Jury voted to indict Tyson on three counts, including one for the rape of Washington. Tyson was convicted on February 10, 1992 and was imprisoned.
(www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/tysonrec.htm)
1992 Feb 6, Sixteen people were killed when a C-130 military transport plane crashed in Evansville, Ind.
(AP, 2/6/02)
1992 Feb 10, Boxer Mike Tyson was convicted in Indianapolis of raping Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant.
(AP, 2/10/97)
1992 Mar 26, A judge in Indianapolis sentenced former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson to six years in prison for raping a Miss Black America contestant. Tyson ended up serving three years.
(AP, 3/26/02)
1993 May 30, Emerson Fittipaldi won the 77th Indianapolis 500, driving at an average speed of 157.2 mph.
(AP, 5/30/98)
1993 Father Timothy Scully founded the Alliance for Catholic Education at Notre Dame in an effort to help staff the inner-city parochial schools.
(WSJ, 5/21/99, p.W15)
1994 Oct 31, An American Eagle French-built ATR-72, en route from Indianapolis to Chicago, crashed in Roselawn, Ind., and killed 68 people. In 1997 American Airlines and 7 other companies settled a suit filed by relatives for $110 million.
(SFC, 9/23/97, p.A4)(AP, 10/31/97)
1995 Jun 30, In a Greensburg, Indiana, a mobile home fire killed the 3-year-old son of Kristine Bunch. She was arrested in 1996, accused of setting the fire and was sentenced to 60 years in prison. In 2012 she was released following 16 years behind bars for a murder she said all along she didn't commit. The Indiana Court of Appeals had ordered the local court to allow Bunch's release on bond while she awaits a second trial.
(AFP, 8/23/12)(http://tinyurl.com/95nz9nz)
1995 Philip Holton died and left his estate to DePauw Univ. When his wife died in 1997 the estate was estimated at $128 million.
(WSJ, 3/8/00, p.A1)
1996 May 17, Scott Brayton, race car driver, was killed during a practice run for the US Indy 500 race. He was the 40th driver to die during practice, qualifications or the race. 66 people in all have died in accidents related to the race.
(SFC, 5/18/96, p.B-1)
1996 May 26, Buddy Lazier won the Indianapolis 500.
(AP, 5/26/97)
1996 Aug 27, In Indianapolis 4 police officers engaged in a fight outside the city’s Circle Center mall. They were off duty and had just consumed a large amount of beer in the city’s luxury suite at a ball game. They were later tried for battery, disorderly conduct and public intoxication but the 1997 trial ended in a hung jury.
(SFEC,10/26/97, p.A7)
1996 Dec 27, In South Bend, Ind., Annie Fulford was shot and killed during a drug-related robbery. Her boyfriend, Leif O’Connell, began a rampage and after 2 months began drive-by shootings of black men that left 1 dead and five injured. He and accomplice, Jerred Kahlenbeck, faced murder and attempted murder charges.
(SFC, 5/13/97, p.A2)
1997 May 27, Arie Luyendyk won the Indianapolis 500 for the second time.
(AP, 5/27/98)
1997 May 31, Rosie Will Monroe (77), aka Rosie the Riveter, died in Indiana. During WW II she worked as a riveter at the Willow Run Aircraft Factory in Ypsilanti, Michigan, building B-29 and B-24 bombers for the Air Force. She appeared in films and poster used by the U.S. government to encourage women to go to work in support of the war effort.
(www.yvonnesplace.net/news/rosemonroe.htm)
1997 Dec 29, In Newport, Indiana, Orville Lynn Majors (36), a former nurse, was arrested for murder and suspected in the deaths of 130 out of 147 patients that died while he was on duty between 1993 and 1995. In 1999 Majors was convicted in the deaths of 6 patients in 1994 at Vermillion County Hospital and sentenced to 6 consecutive 60-year terms in jail.
(SFC,12/30/97, p.A2)(SFC, 10/18/99, p.A11)
1997 Jim Brainard, the Republican mayor of Carmel, Indiana, built the city’s first roundabout. By 2021 Brainard was serving a 7th term and the city had 140 roundabouts, with a dozen still to come. .Brainard had studied at the University of Oxford in the 1980s and he became taken with European traffic flow.
(NY Times, 11/21/21)
1998 Mar 20, An Indiana man, Chris Dean (35), was arrested for sending the pipe bomb that killed Christopher Marquis of Vermont. Marquis had defrauded Dean in a $400 trade of Citizens Band radio equipment arranged on the Internet.
(SFC, 3/21/98, p.A3)
1998 Apr 30, In Indiana Antoine Whitehead (19) robbed the KeyBank in Carmel and killed Penny Schmitt (32) and shot 3 co-workers. He had just been refused a loan and killed himself following an intensive manhunt.
(SFC, 5/1/98, p.A10)
1998 Jun 18, In Portage, Ind., a commuter train struck a truck and dislodged a steel coil that crashed into the first train car and crushed 3 people to death.
(SFC, 6/19/98, p.A3)
1998 Jul 28, In Indiana explosions at the coal-fired generating plant of Southern Energy Co. in Hammond injured 16 people.
(SFC, 7/29/98, p.A3)
1998 Aug 2, In Indiana a stolen pickup carrying a homemade bomb crashed into the Tippecanoe County Courthouse in Lafayette. The driver escaped and there were no injuries.
(SFC, 8/4/98, p.A3)
1998 Oct 30, Four abortion clinics in 3 states, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, received letters claiming to contain deadly anthrax bacteria. The letters were tested and found to be free of anthrax.
(SFC, 10/31/98, p.A3)(SFEC, 11/1/98, p.A11)
1999 Jan 4, In Indianapolis William Kyle (6) was shot dead during a bad drug deal. His father Michael Kyle (37) used his children as shields during drug deals. Kyle was charged with murder as was Donnell L. Hughley (21), the alleged gunman.
(SFC, 1/30/99, p.A2)
1999 Jan 20, Eugene S. Pullman, publisher of the Indianapolis Star and the Indianapolis News, died at age 84.
(SFC, 1/22/99, p.E4)
1999 Feb 23, Federal authorities reported that Jay Scott Ballinger (36) of Indiana had admitted to burning as many as 50 churches in the last 5 years. He was charged with arson in 7 burnings in southern Indiana.
(SFC, 2/24/99, p.A5)
1999 May 30, Kenny Brack won the crash-marred Indianapolis 500, driving a car owned by racing legend A.J. Foyt.
(AP, 5/30/00)
1999 Jun 19, In Franklin Ronald Lee Shanabarger smothered to death his 7-month old son, Tyler, in revenge against his wife, Amy, who had refused to cut short a vacation in 1996 when his father died. It was later learned that Shanabarger had a $100,000 insurance policy for the boy.
(SFC, 6/29/99, p.A2)(SFEC, 7/4/99, p.A5)
1999 Jul 4, In Bloomington, Ind., Benjamin Nathaniel Smith killed Won Joon Moon (26), a Korean-born Indiana Univ. student. Later the same day he shot himself dead during a police chase in Salem, Ill. Authorities believe Smith was also responsible for killing former college basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong during a three-day rampage targeting minorities.
(SFC, 7/5/99, p.A1,5)(AP, 7/4/00)
1999 Nov 17, In Elkhart Sasezley Richardson (19) was shot by Jason Powell (19) in a random driveby shooting. Richardson died Nov 20. Powell was reportedly seeking admission to the Aryan Brotherhood and wanted a spiderweb tattoo for having killed a black person. Driver Alex Witmer (18) was also jailed.
(SFC, 11/24/99, p.A9)
1999 Nov 21, Kevin R. Noles (36) killed 3 people and then himself after he was expelled from a party in Angola.
(SFC, 11/22/99, p.A4)
2000 Mar 25, Judy Kirby (31) drove into oncoming traffic and killed 4 of her children and 3 people in an oncoming minivan near Martinsville. She was charged with 7 counts of murder. Her lawyer later argued that she suffered from postpartum depression.
(SFC, 5/10/00, p.C3)
2000 Sep 10, Bob Knight, Indian Univ. basketball coach, was fired for unacceptable behavior. Knight had led the team to 3 NCAA titles over 29 years.
(SFC, 9/11/00, p.A1)
2000 Sep 12, Robby Bott (45), a mechanic from Brooklyn, was found dead in the trunk of his burning Mercury Cougar.
(SFEC, 10/22/00, p.A12)
2000 Oct 17, Police in San Francisco captured Joshua Maxwell and Tessie McFarland of Indianapolis, wanted for killings in two states following a gun-shooting chase. Maxwell and McFarland were wanted for the recent murder of Sgt. Rudy Lopes in San Antonio, Texas, and for the murder of Robby Bott in Brooklyn, Indiana.
(SFC, 10/18/00, p.A1,5)
2001 Mar 30, Neal Boyd (16) was shot and killed by a former student (17) in the parking lot of Lew Wallace High School in Gary.
(SFC, 3/31/01, p.A4)
2001 Apr 1, Notre Dame won its first national championship in women's basketball, defeating Purdue, 66-64.
(AP, 4/1/02)
2001 Jun 19, Juan Raul Garza (44), Texas drug kingpin, was executed by injection in Terra Haute, Ind. He was the 2nd federal inmate to die since 1963.
(SFC, 6/20/01, p.A3)(WSJ, 6/20/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 6, In Indiana Robert L. Wissman, an employee of the Nu-Wood Decorative Millwork plant on the edge of Goshen killed manager Greg Oswald, wounded 6 others, and then killed himself. A love triangle was later aid to be the cause.
(SFC, 12/7/01, p.A3)(SFC, 12/8/01, p.A7)
2001 Dec 14, George O'Leary resigned as Notre Dame football coach five days after being hired, admitting he'd lied about his academic and athletic background.
(AP, 12/14/06)
2001 Dec 31, Notre Dame tapped Tyrone Willingham to be its football coach, replacing George O'Leary, who'd resigned because of misstatements about his academic and athletic achievements on his resume; Willingham became the first black head coach in any sport for the Irish.
(AP, 12/31/02)
2001 Michael Martone authored "The Blue Guide to Indiana.
(SSFC, 9/9/01, DB p.70)
2002 Mar 5, It was reported that a team of physicists claimed nuclear fusion utilizing a burst of ultrasound on a bubble of gases in a phenomenon known as sonoluminescence. Details were to appear the journal Science. In 2008 Purdue Univ. said physicist Rusi Taleyarkhan was guilty of misconduct in his research.
(SFC, 3/5/02, p.A4)(SFC, 7/19/08, p.A4)
2002 Apr 1, Maryland beat Indiana 64-52 in the NCAA basketball finals.
(SFC, 4/2/02, p.C1)
2002 May 17, Midwest flooding left as many as 9 people dead over the last 2 weeks. Missouri Gov. Bob Holden asked Pres. Bush to declare 37 counties as disaster areas. Illinois and Indiana were also hard hit.
(SFC, 5/18/02, p.A3)
2002 May 26, Helio Castroneves won his second straight Indianapolis 500 despite a protest filed by Paul Tracy.
(AP, 5/26/03)
2002 Sep 17, Elizabeth Coblentz (66), Amish cooking columnist, died. Her cook books included "The Amish Cook Cookbook" and "An Amish Christmas."
(SFC, 9/23/02, p.B5)
2003 Sep 13, Frank O'Bannon (73), Indiana Gov. since 1996, died. He had suffered a massive stroke in his Chicago hotel room on Sep 8. He was succeeded by Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan.
(SFC, 9/9/03, p.A3)
2003 Nov 2, Frank McCloskey (64), who represented Indiana's 8th District in Congress (1983-1995), died in Bloomington.
(SFC, 11/4/03, p.A21)
2003 Dec 31, Chicago regained the title of America's murder capital. It finished 2003 with 599 homicides. That was down from 648 a year earlier and the first time since 1967 that the total dipped below 600. Gary, Ind., appeared to finish 2003 with the nation's highest per capita homicide rate for the ninth straight year.
(AP, 1/1/04)
2004 Jan 15, Legislation was proposed to raise salaries for Indiana judges and legislators. Legislator earned and average of $37,210 for 2002. Trial judges had a base salary of $90,000, among the lowest in the USA.
(USAT, 1/16/04, p.10A)
2004 Mar 10, Robert D. Orr (86), former 2-term Indiana governor, died.
(SFC, 3/12/04, p.B7)
2004 May 10, In Bloomington, Indiana, Brood X of the 17-year Cicadas started emerging from the ground. Billions and possibly even trillions of cicadas were expected to emerge across much of the eastern half of the United States over the next few weeks.
(Reuters, 5/15/04)(Econ, 5/8/04, p.75)
2004 May 30, Buddy Rice won the Indianapolis 500 in the rain.
(AP, 5/30/05)
2004 Aug 16, J. Irwin Miller (95), former head of Cummins Engine Corp., died in Columbus, Indiana. Miller had used his wealth to promote good architecture for the city of Columbus.
(WSJ, 9/1/04, p.D10)
2004 Nov 2, Mitchell Daniels (R) was elected governor of Indiana with 53% of the vote.
(SFC, 11/4/04, p.A18)(Econ, 8/210, p.21)
2005 May 25, In Michigan City, Ind., Gregory Scott Johnson (40) died by injection at 12:28 a.m. for beating and stomping an 82-year-old woman to death in 1985, then setting her house on fire to hide the crime. Gov. Mitch Daniels rejected a request for a reprieve to allow Johnson to donate part of his liver to his ailing sister.
(AP, 5/25/05)(SFC, 5/25/05, p.A3)
2005 Sep 19, In Ohio Katelind Caudill (13) was shot and killed by Melvin Keeling (43) because she told authorities her best friend was being molested. Keeling fled the Cincinnati area. He was also sought for the killing of 2 convenience store clerks, Lisa Kendall (29) and Kendora Furr (38) at the Family Express store in Remington, Indiana. On Sep 28 more than a dozen investigators on the Keeling task force combed the woods in Gary, Indiana and found the fugitive's wallet, ID and other personal items a few blocks from where Keeling abandoned his van. Tracking dogs also followed Keeling's scent from the wooded area to nearby train tracks. He was an apparent suicide.
(SFC, 9/22/05, p.A6)(www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=34686)
2005 Oct 24, Abigail Brinkman (28), of Columbus, Ind., died and three companions spent three days floating in the stormy Caribbean off Belize after their weekend diving trip went awry.
(AP, 10/26/05)
2005 Nov 6, A tornado ripped across southwestern Indiana and northern Kentucky, killing at least 22 people, wrecking homes and knocking out power to thousands.
(AP, 11/6/05)(WSJ, 11/7/05, p.A1)
2005 Nov 15, Nearly 3 dozen tornadoes hit Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee destroying dozens of homes and killing 2 people.
(SFC, 11/17/05, p.A14)
2005 Indiana passed legislation requiring voters to provide a giovernment issued photo ID. In 2008 the US Supreme Court upheld the law.
(Econ, 5/3/08, p.40)
2005 There was a measles outbreak among school children in Indiana. In 2006 the CDC attributed it to home-schooled children whose parents avoided vaccinations out of safety concern. The outbreak was later traced to a 17-year-old girl who had traveled to Romania without getting vaccinated.
(WSJ, 8/3/06, p.A1)(SFC, 12/22/06, p.A18)
2006 Feb 28, In Gas City, Indiana, a museum chronicling the short life of James Dean closed after struggling financially since its opening in 2004. David Loehr said he would soon be setting up a small display in the National Automotive & Truck Museum in Auburn.
(AP, 3/30/06)
2006 Mar 11, Rural house fires in Tennessee and Indiana killed 15 members of two families, and most of the victims were children.
(AP, 3/12/06)
2006 Mar 12-2006 Mar 13, Swarms of tornadoes killed at least 10 people across the Midwest states of Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. It caused so much damage in Springfield, Ill., that the mayor compared it to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
(AP, 3/13/06)
2006 Mar 13, South Korea’s Kia Motors Corp. said it will build a $1.2 billion factory in West Point, Ga., its first in the US. Toyota said it will build a plant in Lafayette, Ind.
(SFC, 3/14/06, p.D3)
2006 Apr 12, The Indiana Toll Road was leased for $3.8 billion to a Spanish-Australian consortium that is to maintain and run it for 75 years.
(WSJ, 4/13/06, p.A1)
2006 May 28, Sam Hornish Jr. won the second-closest Indianapolis 500 ever.
(AP, 5/28/07)
2006 Jun 1, In Indiana 7 Covarrubias family members, the youngest just 5 years old, were shot to death in their Indianapolis home. The next day police arrested suspect James Stewart (30) without incident after a traffic stop. A second suspect, Desmond Turner (28), turned himself in on June 3. Robbery was the suspected motive.
(AP, 6/2-3/06)(SSFC, 6/4/06, p.A11)
2006 Jul 23, In southern Indiana 2 sets of sniper attacks within hours of each other left one man dead, another wounded and four vehicles peppered with bullet holes. On July 25 police said a Gaston youth (18) confessed to weekend sniping.
(AP, 7/24/06)(WSJ, 7/26/06, p.A1)
2006 Aug 8, In Indianapolis, Indiana, a fatal stabbing boosted the homicides to 13 in just one week in the midst of an upsurge of violence that has police working longer shifts and saturating high-crime areas.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 13, In Michigan City, Indiana, fire swept through a two-story house, killing at least six people. An unknown number of others were missing. It was not clear whether they had left the scene or were still inside the home.
(AP, 8/13/06)
2006 Oct 25, A US federal judge ruled that Indiana’s do-not-call list applies to political telemarketers in a House race.
(WSJ, 10/26/06, p.A1)
2006 Nov 1, In Indiana Stephanie Wagner, a missing 16-year-old girl, was found dead in a field. Authorities jailed Danny R. Rouse (51), her restaurant co-worker and a convicted child murderer, who confessed to killing the teen. Rouse was released from prison in March after serving more than 26 years for murdering a 5-year-old Kansas boy in 1979.
(AP, 11/2/06)
2006 Dec 15, In Indianapolis health officials closed an Olive Garden restaurant after receiving over 300 calls from people who said they had become ill after eating there.
(SFC, 12/16/06, p.A3)
2006 Dec 18, In South Bend, Indiana, Daniel Sharp (56) began killing homeless men suspected in stealing scrap metal. In February 2006 Sharp admitted that he and Randy Lee Reeder (50) killed 4 men between Dec 18 and Dec 21 for stealing metal that he and Reeder had collected to sell for salvage. In 2007 Sharp pleaded guilty to the killings.
(SFC, 2/5/07, p.A3)(SFC, 5/31/07, p.A3)
2007 Jan 17, A US snow and ice storm was blamed for at least 64 deaths in nine states. These included 20 deaths in Oklahoma, 9 in Missouri, 8 in Iowa, 4 in New York, 5 in Texas, 4 in Michigan, 3 in Arkansas, and 1 each in Maine and Indiana.
(AP, 1/17/07)(SFC, 1/18/07, p.A3)
2007 Jan 21, Lovie Smith became the first black head coach to make it to the Super Bowl when his Chicago Bears won the NFC championship, beating the New Orleans Saints 39-14; Tony Dungy became the second when his Indianapolis Colts took the AFC title over the New England Patriots, 38-34.
(AP, 1/21/08)
2007 Feb 4, Peyton Manning added the missing ingredient to his Hall of Fame credentials by leading the Indianapolis Colts to a 29-17 victory over the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.
(Reuters, 2/5/07)
2007 May 27, Dario Franchitti won a rain-abbreviated Indy 500.
(AP, 5/27/08)
2007 Aug 10, In southern Indiana 3 men were killed in a coal mine when a nylon sling used to transport supplies up and down a shaft got caught, causing the bucket the men were riding in to tip and send them plummeting more than 500 feet to their deaths.
(WSJ, 8/11/07, p.A1)(AP, 8/10/08)
2007 Dec 16, Street and highway crews were at work trying to clear roads across the Great Lakes states into New England as a storm blamed for three deaths spread a hazardous mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain. The storm was blamed for at least 10 deaths including 4 in Indiana, 2 in Michigan and Wisconsin, one in Pennsylvania and one in Nova Scotia.
(AP, 12/16/07)(SFC, 12/18/07, p.A19)
2007 Dec 23, High wind and ice coated power lines blacked out tens of thousands of people in the Midwest. The storm was blamed for at least 22 deaths. At least 8 people in Minnesota, 5 in Wisconsin, 3 each in Indiana and Wyoming and one each in Michigan, Texas and Kansas were killed in traffic accidents.
(AP, 12/23/07)(WSJ, 12/24/07, p.A1)(SFC, 12/25/07, p.A11)
2008 Jan 8, Flooding in northern Indiana left 3 people dead.
(SFC, 1/10/08, p.A3)
2009 Jan 11, Marcus Schrenker's plane went down en route to Destin, Fla., from Anderson, Ind. Schrenker (38), an Indiana investment manager, had reported that the windshield imploded and that he was bleeding profusely. Federal marshals believe he faked a distress call before parachuting from his plane over Alabama and disappearing on a motorcycle he had stashed in advance. US Marshals apprehended Schrenker on Jan 13 at a northern Florida campground. Officers had to tend to Schrenker's self-inflicted gash to the wrist before he was airlifted to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. In August Schrenker pleaded guilty was sentenced in Florida to 4 years and 3 months in federal prison.
(AP, 1/13/09)(AP, 1/14/09)(SFC, 8/20/09, p.A4)
2008 Jan 14, In Indianapolis two mothers and their 2 babies were shot and killed. 2 men were seen running form the victim’s home. Four men were later arrested in connection with the fatal shootings.
(SFC, 1/16/08, p.A4)(AP, 1/20/08)
2008 Mar 19, Flooding forced hundreds of people to flee their homes and closed scores of roads across a wide swath of the US midsection as a huge storm system poured as much as 10 inches of rain on the region. Flooding was reported in parts of Arkansas, southern Illinois, southern Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky with over a dozen deaths.
(AP, 3/19/08)(AP, 3/20/08)
2008 Apr 28, The US Supreme Court upheld Indian’s voter-ID law, passed in 2005. It ruled that states can require voters to produce photo identification without violating their constitutional rights, validating Republican-inspired voter ID laws.
(AP, 4/28/08)(WSJ, 4/29/08, p.A1)(Econ, 5/3/08, p.40)
2008 May 6, Sen. Barack Obama climbed within 200 delegates of clinching the Democratic presidential nomination. In the Indiana primary Clinton won 51% to 49%. In North Carolina Obama won 56% to 42%.
(AP, 5/7/08)(SFC, 5/7/08, p.A1)
2008 Jun 8, Wicked weekend storms pounded the US from the Midwest to the East Coast, forcing hundreds of people to flee flooded communities, spawning tornadoes that tore up houses and killing at least eight people in Indiana (1), Michigan (6), Connecticut (1). Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle declared a state of emergency in 29 counties and President Bush declared a major disaster in 29 Indiana counties, freeing up aid. Iowa Gov. Chet Culver declared an emergency in nearly a third of the state's 99 counties.
(AP, 6/8/08)
2008 Oct 3, The Great Lakes Governors (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin) applauded President George W. Bush for signing a joint resolution of Congress providing consent to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. It barred new diversions beyond the Great Lakes Basin.
(www.cglg.org/projects/water/CompactConsent.asp)(Econ, 5/22/10, p.36)
2008 Nov 4, Mitchell Daniels (R) was re-elected governor of Indiana with 58% of the vote.
(Econ, 8/21/10, p.21)
2008 Nov 26, Edna Parker (115), the world’s oldest person, died in Shelbyville, Indiana.
(WSJ, 11/28/08, p.A10)
2009 Jan 24, In Las Vegas Miss Indiana Katie Stam was crowned Miss America 2009 by Miss America 2008 Kirsten Haglund.
(AP, 1/25/09)
2009 Jan 28, President Barack Obama signed requests from Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe for federal emergency declarations as crews worked around the clock to resurrect power lines downed by thick ice in both states. Since the storm began building on Jan 26, the weather has been blamed for at least six deaths in Texas, four in Arkansas, three in Virginia, six in Missouri, two in Oklahoma, and one each in Indiana and Ohio.
(AP, 1/29/09)
2009 May 17, In Indiana Pres. Obama addressed a graduation ceremony at Notre Dame Univ. and called for “open hearts, open minds and fair-minded words" in the pursuit of “common ground" regarding the issue of abortion rights.
(SFC, 5/18/09, p.A3)
2009 Jun 15, In Indiana the bodies of Dr. Philip Gabriele (44), an eye surgeon, and his wife, Marcella (43), were found at his clinic in Elkhart. Suicide was suspected as they were scheduled to surrender to authorities on charges of performing unnecessary surgeries on patients and bilking money from health insurers.
(SFC, 6/16/09, p.A4)
2009 Nov 4, The US Dept. of Agriculture said pigs in a commercial herd in Indiana have tested positive for swine flu, making it the first time the virus has been found in such hogs.
(SFC, 11/5/09, p.A9)
2009 Nov 29, Andrew Conley (17) of Rising Sun, Indiana, strangled his 10-year-old brother as the two wrestled. The teen told investigators he had had fantasies about killing someone since he was in eighth grade, including cutting somebody's throat, and felt "just like" the serial killer Dexter on the Showtime television series of the same name.
(AP, 12/4/09)
2009 Dec 15, In Italy Dr. Mark Weinberger, a fugitive American doctor, was arrested near the northern border with France. He was found in a tent near Mont Blanc. Weinberger, of Merrillville, Indiana, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Hammond, Indiana, in 2006 on 22 counts of fraud for allegedly scheming to overbill insurance companies for procedures that were either not needed or sometimes never performed. On Dec 24 a court in Turin approved a US extradition request.
(AP, 12/24/09)
2010 Mar 28, US federal agents in Ohio arrested 2 members of Hutaree, a Christian militia group “preparing for end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive." A 3rd person was arrested the next day in Indiana as part of an investigation led by the FBI in Michigan.
(SFC, 3/29/10, p.A6)
2010 May 18, Indiana Republican Rep. Mark Souder announced he would resign from Congress, effective May 21, because he had an affair with a staffer.
(AP, 5/18/10)
2010 May 30, In Indianapolis Marco Andretti earned his first podium finish of the season at the Indy 500 following an extensive video review that showed three cars illegally passed the 23-year-old under caution in the race's final yards.
(AP, 5/30/10)
2010 Oct 21, In Oregon a former Bend police captain and his wife, who have been under investigation by the FBI and IRS over their real estate dealings in Oregon and Indiana, were indicted on fraud charges. Kevin (56) and Tamara (47) "Tami" Sawyer were charged with 21 counts of various crimes that include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors claim the fraud cost investors more than $4.4 million.
(AP, 10/23/10)
2010 Dec 13, Schools in Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and other states closed because of snow and low temperatures. Authorities worked frantically to reach motorists in snow-covered northwest Indiana who were trapped in their cars in biting temperatures.
(AP, 12/13/10)
2011 Jan 23, In Indiana police officer David Moore was shot twice in the face during a traffic stop in Indianapolis. On Jan 26 Moore was declared brain dead.
(SFC, 1/27/11, p.A6)
2011 Feb 22, Democratic members of the Indiana House of Representatives left Indianapolis to deny Republicans a quorum hoping to kill legislation that included a bill allowing workers in private-sector unions the right to opt out of their dues or fees.
(SFC, 2/24/11, p.A7)
2011 Mar 28, Indiana House Democrats, who fled the state 5 weeks ago to protest a Republican assault on labor unions and public education, resumed work after winning concessions on several issues.
(SFC, 3/29/11, p.A6)
2011 Apr 27, The Indiana state House approved a bill to cut $3 million in federal money for the Planned Parenthood organization. The state Senate approved the bill earlier this month. Rep. Gov. Mitch Daniels signed the bill on May 10.
(SFC, 4/28/11, p.A6)(SFC, 4/30/11, p.A7)(SFC, 5/11/11, p.A4)
2011 May 5, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed two bills into law establishing a statewide private school voucher program and expanding charter schools.
(www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jun2011/indi-j02.shtml)(SFC, 8/29/11, p.A6)
2011 Jun 24, In Indiana a federal judge issued an injunction barring the state from cutting off funding for general health services by Planned Parenthood clinics just because the organization also provides abortions.
(SSFC, 6/26/11, p.A11)
2011 Aug 8, The US Justice department and 4 the attorney generals of California, Illinois, Florida, and Indiana accused Pittsburgh-based Education Management Corp. of paying recruiters to enroll students in an $11 billion fraud case.
(SFC, 8/8/11, p.A5)
2011 Aug 13, In Indiana a wind gust toppled a stage at the state fair in Indianapolis killing 5 people and injuring dozens of fans waiting for the country band Sugarland to perform. A 6th person died of her injuries on Aug 19. The death toll reached 7 people in the disaster with 58 injured. A government in 2012 blamed fair officials, a stagehands union and a company that built the roof and lights rigging for the stage collapse.
(SFC, 8/15/11, p.A4)(SFC, 8/20/11, p.A6)(SFC, 2/9/12, p.A7)
2011 Aug 21, In northern Indiana Arthur L. Anderson a 76-year-old Scout leader was stabbed to death while leading Boy Scouts on a hiking trip. Suspect Shane C. Golitko (22), who battered his mother and killed a dog near the trail, was arrested following an eight-mile police chase.
(AP, 8/22/11)
2011 Sep 25, In Indiana 5 people were found slain in 2 residences near Laurel.
(SFC, 9/26/11, p.A4)
2011 Oct 27, In Indiana 7 of 10 people in a minivan full of relatives were killed when their vehicle hit a deer and then was slammed from behind by a semitrailer about 10 miles east of South Bend. Burials were planned in their home country of Ecuador.
(SFC, 10/29/11, p.A5)(SSFC, 10/30/11, p.A11)
2011 Dec 22, In Fort Wayne, Indiana, babysitter and trusted neighbor Michael Plumadore (39) bludgeoned Aliahna Lemmon (9) to death with a brick then dismembered her, hiding her head, hands and feet at his home and dumping the rest of her remains nearby.
(AP, 12/28/11)
2012 Feb 1, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed legislation making Indiana the 23rd right-to-work state.
(SFC, 2/2/12, p.A7)
2012 Feb 4, An Indiana jury convicted Charlie White, the Republican Sec. of State, of multiple voter-fraud-related charges.
(SSFC, 2/5/12, p.A9)
2012 Feb 5, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning led his team to a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
(SFC, 2/6/12, p.B1)
2012 Mar 2, A string of violent storms scratched away small towns in the South and Midwest as an early season tornado outbreak left 39 people in 5 states, including 14 in Indiana, 19 in Kentucky, 3 in Ohio and one each in Alabama and Georgia.
(AP, 3/3/12)(http://tinyurl.com/6u9f2bp)(SFC, 3/5/12, p.A9)
2012 Apr 6, In Indiana Richard Leon Finkbinder (39) was arrested and charged with coercing 2 teenage boys into performing online sex acts for him by threatening to post on gay porn sites videos he secretly made of them.
(SFC, 4/10/12, p.A12)
2012 Apr 27, In Albany, Indiana, the remains of Stephanie Marie Kirk (35), last seen on March 25, were found at the home of William Gibson. He was being held in connection with the death last week of Christine Whitis (75) and the death of Karen Hodella (44), whose body was found in 2003.
(SSFC, 4/29/12, p.A9)
2012 May 5, In Indianapolis Leon Thomas III (4) was stabbed to death. Police picked up his 14-year-old cousin covered in blood. She faced a preliminary murder charge. The boy and his 11-year-old sister were at their grandparent's apartment at the time of the attack.
(AFP, 5/7/12)
2012 May 23, BP agreed to spend over $400 million to settle legal complaints about chronic pollution problems at its refinery in northwest Indiana.
(SFC, 5/24/12, p.A8)
2012 May 25, In Indiana a gunman allegedly shot himself in the head after an hours-long standoff in which he held as many as 10 hostages in an office building in Valparaiso, 30 miles from Chicago. The SWAT team stormed the office shortly after the gunman released the last hostage. He suffered 3 gunshot wounds before dying, likely from two different weapons.
(AP, 5/26/12)
2012 Jul 11, US federal prosecutors said 42 people connected to the Outlaws motorcycle gang were arrested during raids in Indianapolis. They faced charges that included drug trafficking and extortion.
(SFC, 7/12/12, p.A7)
2012 Nov 6, In Indiana Mike Pence, a Republican congressman, was elected state governor.
(Econ, 11/10/12, p.34)
2012 Nov 10, In Indiana a late night massive explosion sparked a huge fire and killed two people in an Indianapolis neighborhood more than 80 homes were damaged or destroyed. On Dec 21 the home's owner, Monserrate Shirley; her boyfriend, Mark Leonard; and his brother, Bob Leonard, were arrested and charged with murder, arson and other counts. On July 14, 2015, Mark Leonard (46) was convicted of murder, arson and insurance fraud. In August he was sentenced to two life sentences. On March 18, 2016, Bob Leonard was sentenced to life in prison.
(AP, 11/11/12)(AP, 12/21/12)(SFC, 7/15/15, p.A6)
2012 Nov 30, Timothy Durham (50), a former chief executive of National Lampoon, was sentenced in Indianapolis to 50 years in prison for securities fraud, conspiracy and wire fraud.
(SFC, 12/1/12, p.A5)
2012 Dec 15, In Indiana Von. I. Meyer (60) of Cedar Lake, was arrested after prosecutors filed formal charges of felony intimidation, domestic battery and resisting law enforcement against him. He had allegedly threatened to "kill as many people as he could" at an elementary school near his home. Officers found 47 guns and ammunition hidden throughout his home.
(AP, 12/16/12)
2013 Mar 17, In Indiana a small plane crashed in South Bend killing 2 men including Steve Davis (60), former Oklahoma quarterback.
(SFC, 2/19/13, p.A7)
2013 Apr 19, Floodwaters swelled the Mississippi River and other Midwestern rivers following days of torrential rains. In Quiincy, Ill., the river rose nearly 10 feet in 36 hours. Two flood related deaths were in Indiana, a 3rd in Missouri.
(SFC, 4/20/13, p.A4)(SSFC, 4/21/13, p.A9)(SFC, 4/22/13, p.A6)
2013 May 11, In Indiana 3 men and a woman were found shot to death in Waynesville.
(AP, 5/13/13)
2013 Jul 27, In Indiana a bus carrying teenagers from a church camp crashed in Indianapolis. 3 people were killed.
(SSFC, 7/28/13, p.A8)
2014 Jan 16, In northern Indiana a man fatally shot two women in a grocery store and was waving a gun at a kneeling store manager when police arrived and killed the gunman in Elkhart.
(SFC, 1/17/14, p.A7)
2014 Jan 21, In Indiana Cody Cousins (24) shot and stabbed to death Andrew Boldt (21). On Sep 19 Cousins was sentenced on to 65 years in prison for killing his fellow Purdue engineering senior whom he envied, in front of about a dozen students in a lab class.
(AP, 9/19/14)
2014 Jan 24, Over 40 vehicles piled up in blinding snow on I-94 in a crash near Michigan City, Ind. A couple from Michigan and a man from Chicago were killed.
(SFC, 1/25/14, p.A12)
2014 May 17, US health officials reported what appears to be the first time that a mysterious Middle East virus (MERS) has spread from one person to another in the United States. An Illinois man probably picked up an infection from an Indiana man who earlier this month became the first US case of Middle East respiratory syndrome.
(AP, 5/18/14)
2014 Jul 5, In Indianapolis police Officer Perry Renn (51) was shot and killed when responding to a report of shots fired near the intersection of East 34th Street and Forest Manor Avenue. On April 27, 2017, Major Davis II (27) was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty last week to killing Renn.
(SFC, 4/28/17, p.A5)
2014 Jul 22, Babar Suleman (58) and his son Haris (17) were killed when their small plane crashed shortly after leaving Pago Pago in American Samoa. They had departed Indiana on June 19 for a round the world flight to raise to break records and raise money for the Citizens Foundation, a nonprofit that builds schools in Pakistan.
(SFC, 7/24/14, p.A8)(SFC, 7/25/14, p.A11)
2014 Aug 15, In Indiana William Clyde Gibson III (56) was sentenced to death in the strangling of Stephanie Kirk (35) of Charlestown. Gibson was sentenced to death last year for the murder of Christine Whitis (75), whose body was discovered in his garage days before Kirk's body was found.
(AP, 8/15/14)
2014 Oct 6, The US Supreme Court denied review of cases in five states that had limited marriage to opposite sex couples. This in effect granted equal marriage rights to gays and lesbians in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.
(SFC, 10/7/14, p.A1)
2014 Oct 7, A cell-phone video was released showing Indiana police breaking a car window and then using a stun gun on a man in a car after police stopped the driver for not wearing a seat belt.
(SFC, 10/8/14, p.A6)
2014 Oct 17, Indiana police found the body of Afrika Hardy (19) in a Motel 6 in Hammond. Police the next day arrested Darren Vann (43) of Gary. Vann confessed and told where the bodies of other women would be found. The body of Anith Jones of Merrillville, missing since Oct 8, was found the next day. Five more bodies were found on Oct 19.
(SFC, 10/20/14, p.A5)(SFC, 10/21/14, p.A6)
2015 Feb 7, Workers at refineries in Indiana and Ohio went on strike against two BP plants in an extension of strikes that began Feb 1.
(SSFC, 2/8/15, p.A9)
2015 Feb 26, In Indiana Theodore Hesburgh (b.1917), former president of Notre Dame Univ. (1952-1987), died. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2000.
(SFC, 2/28/15, p.A5)
2015 Mar 24, In Indiana 4 people were found fatally shot this morning at a ransacked home in Indianapolis.
(Reuters, 3/24/15)
2015 Mar 26, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed into law a religious objections bill that some convention organizers and business leaders have opposed amid concern it could allow discrimination against gay people.
(AP, 3/26/15)
2015 Mar, Indiana state health officials reported 81 HIV-positive tests in one week with most of them coming from the small town of Austin.
(SFC, 4/6/15, p.A7)
2015 Apr 2, The US states of Arkansas and Indiana passed amended versions of religious freedom laws following a nationwide outcry that the original legislation effectively legalized discrimination against homosexuals.
(AFP, 4/2/15)
2015 Apr 24, In Indiana the body of Hannah Wilson (22), a student at Indiana Univ. was found near Lake Lemmon. Daniel Messel (49) was arrested in the case.
(SSFC, 4/26/15, p.A9)
2015 Apr 29, Russell Taylor, executive director of the Jared Foundation, was arrested at his home in Wayne Township, Indiana, after investigators found child pornography. The Jared Foundation to prevent childhood obesity was started in 2004 by Jared Fogle, spokesperson for sandwich chain Subway.
(http://tinyurl.com/pby9uyk)(SFC, 7/8/15, p.A14)
2015 Aug 19, In Indiana Jared Fogle (37), the longtime pitchman for the Subway sandwich chain, pleaded guilty to allegations that he paid for sex acts with minors and received child pornography. On Nov 19 Fogle was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison.
(SFC, 8/20/15, p.A6)(SFC, 11/20/15, p.A14)
2015 Nov 14, In Indiana Lonny Jordan Hatland (20), a reserve officer with the Muncie Police Department, was arrested for sexually and physically assaulting a juvenile girl and coercing her into having sex with other men.
(AP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 16, Indiana Gov. Michael Pence suspended the resettlement of Syrian refugees three days after the terror attacks in Paris. As many as 30 other Republican governors and one Democrat soon made similar moves. On Feb 29, 2016, a federal judge ruled the Gov. Pence’s order to cut federal funds for the resettlement of Syrian refugees in his state was unconstitutional. On March 8 Indiana filed an appeal.
(Econ, 3/19/15, p.30)
2016 Jan 15, US federal officials said an H7N8 strain of bird flu has been found at a southern Indiana turkey farm. The entire flock of some 60,000 turkeys was euthanized. Authorities the next day said nine more turkey farms had tested positive.
(SFC, 1/16/16, p.A5)(SSFC, 1/17/16, p.A8)
2016 Mar 24, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed a bill that added broad limits to women’s access to abortions. The bill prohibited abortions on the grounds of Down’s syndrome or any other disability. On April 7 the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky sued Indiana over the law.
(http://tinyurl.com/zlxr6zj)(SFC, 3/25/16, p.A4)(Econ, 4/2/16, p.30)(SFC, 4/8/16, p.A6)
2016 Jun 30, A US federal judge blocked an Indiana law prohibiting abortions sought because of a fetus’ genetic abnormalities because the state does not have authority to limit a woman’s reasons for ending a pregnancy.
(SFC, 7/1/16, p.A6)
2016 Jul 15, GOP front runner Donald Trump named Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate.
(SFC, 7/16/16, p.A6)
2016 Jul 22, In northern Indiana 14 dogs were found dead after air conditioning failed in a truck they were housed in for a dog show.
(SFC, 7/26/16, p.A5)
2016 Aug 24, Several tornadoes plowed through central Indiana, demolishing numerous homes and a Starbucks cafe in the town of Kokomo and cutting off power to thousands of Indianapolis-area residents. No serious injuries were reported.
(Reuters, 8/25/16)
2016 Aug 28, In northwestern Indiana Justin L. Babbs (20), Richard Thomas (23) and Kimberly Spears (39) were killed in Sumava Resorts, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Gary. In 2018 Derrick Cardosi was convicted of murder and other charges and sentenced to life in prison. His co-defendant, Sebastian Wedding, pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to 55 years in prison.
(http://tinyurl.com/y34kjyhp)(AP, 8/8/19)
2016 Nov 21, In Indiana a house fire killed four young sisters in the town of Flora.
(SFC, 11/22/16, p.A5)
2016 Nov 30, Air-conditioning maker Carrier Corp. said it has reached a deal with Pres.-elect Donald Trump to keep nearly 1,000 jobs in Indiana.
(SFC, 12/1/16, p.C2)
2017 Jan 5, US Pres.-elect Donald Trump selected former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats to lead the office of the Director of National Intelligence.
(SFC, 1/6/17, p.A5)
2017 Feb 28, Tornadoes and storms killed at least three people and destroyed homes in Illinois and Missouri. Tornado spotters reported at least 23 twisters in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Tennessee and Indiana.
(Reuters, 3/1/17)(SFC, 3/2/17, p.A6)
2017 Apr 22, US actress Erin Moran (56) died in Corydon, Indiana. She played the mischievous kid sister Joanie on the sitcom "Happy Days" (1974-1984) and its spin-off "Joanie Loves Chachi" (1982-1983).
(AFP, 4/23/17)
2017 May 28, In Indiana Takuma Sato became the first Japanese driver to win the Indianapolis 500.
(AP, 5/29/17)
2017 Jun 29, Indianapolis police killed Aaron Bailey (45), an unarmed black man, who crashed his car while fleeing from a traffic stop. No criminal charges were filled against the two police officers involved.
(http://tinyurl.com/y6wzbj3e)(SFC, 11/1/17, p.A5)
2017 Jul 27, In Indiana police Officer Aaron Allen was shot and killed while responding to a traffic crash on the south side of Indianapolis. Other officers returned fire striking a person inside the vehicle.
(SFC, 7/28/17, p.A6)
2017 Sep 22, A federal judge blocked Indiana from enforcing provisions of a law banning abortions sought due to fetal genetic abnormalities and requiring that aborted fetuses be buried or cremated.
(SFC, 9/26/17, p.A5)
2017 Dec 16, In southeastern Indiana a single-engine Cessna crashed near Oldenberg killing three people.
(SFC, 12/18/17, p.A5)
2018 Jan 17, Central Indiana health network Hancock Health said it has paid $55,000 ransom to hackers to regain access to hospital computer systems.
(SFC, 1/18/18, p.A5)
2018 Feb 4, Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and an Uber driver were struck early today and killed by a pickup truck driven by an illegal immigrant, who was arrested shortly after the fatal crash. Manuel Orrego-Savala (37), who is from Guatemala and has twice been deported from the US, was later charged with causing death while driving intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident.
(AP, 2/7/18)
2018 Feb 23, High waters in the US Midwest persisted in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio in areas swamped by heavy rains and melting snow.
(SFC, 2/24/18, p.A6)
2018 May 4, In Indiana police Officer Robert Pitts was killed in a shootout as he and other oficers approached an Apartment complex in Terre Haute. The suspect was killed.
(SSFC, 5/6/18, p.A14)
2018 May 25, In Indiana a male student (13) armed with two handguns opened fire at the Noblesville West Middle School wounding a teacher and another student. Science teacher Jason Seaman swatted a gun from his hand and tackled him to the ground.
(SFC, 5/26/18, p.A7)(SFC, 6/12/18, p.A7)
2018 Sep 1, In Indiana four people were killed in a crash on I-90 involving wrong-way driver Tiara Davis (25) of Indiana.
(SSFC, 9/2/18, p.A10)
2018 Nov 22, In northeastern Indiana three people were killed and two others critically injured during a possible home invasion late this Thanksgiving day in Fort Wayne. Suspect Kameron Joyner (22) was arrested the next day.
(SFC, 11/24/18, p.A6)
2018 Nov 28, Authorities in Indiana recovered six bodies from the rubble of a burned out home in Logansport. Four children and two adults were believed to have died in the fire.
(SFC, 11/29/18, p.A6)
2018 Nov 30, In southern Indiana a small jet crashed with no survivors after taking off from Clark County Airport. Three people were believed to have been aboard.
(SFC, 12/1/18, p.A6)
2018 Dec 9, In Indiana Breanna Rouhselang (17) and her fetus died after being stabbed by Aaron Trejo (16) in Mishawaka following an argument over her pregnancy. Trejo said she had waited too long to tell him she was pregnant ad it was too late to get an abortion.
(SFC, 12/11/18, p.A5)
2018 Dec 21, In Indiana John Miller (59) was sentenced to 80 years in prison for the 1988 abduction, rape and killing of April Tinsley (8) of Fort Wayne.
(SFC, 12/22/18, p.A5)
2019 Jan 2, US soldier Peter Lian (21) was charged with murder in the death of his estranged wife, Khuang Par, whose body was discovered in a suitcase in an Indianapolis dumpster on Dec. 23. Lian was accused of flying to Indianapolis from Colorado to kill his estranged wife, then dumping her body in a trash bin and fleeing to Thailand.
(AP, 1/3/19)
2019 Apr 14, Pete Buttigieg (37), the gay, liberal mayor of South Bend Indiana, officially launched his presidential bid, joining a crowded field of Democrats vying for their party's nomination in 2020.
(AFP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 28, Richard Lugar, former senator from Indiana (b.1932), died in Virginia. He had served as US Senator from Indiana for 36 years.
(SFC, 4/29/19, p.C3)
2019 May 23, John Walker Lindh (38), the American captured in Afghanistan in 2001 fighting for the Taliban, was released early a federal prison in Indiana after serving 17 years of a 20-year sentence. He was sent to live in Virginia and still faced three years of probation.
(Reuters, 5/23/19)(SFC, 5/24/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 16, Indiana police Officer Ryan O'Neill, responding to a report of a person breaking into cars in South Bend, confronted Eric Logan (54) and fatally shot him after he refused to drop a knife. O'Neill resigned the following month due to stress and media attention. In 2020 a special prosecutor said the shooting was justified.
(SFC, 7/17/19, p.A5)(SFC, 3/7/20, p.A5)
2019 Jun 21, In Indiana Akram Musleh of Brownsburg (21), arrested on June 21, 2016, was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison for trying to join the Islamic State group. He was also sentenced to 11 years and eight months of supervised release after he gets out of prison.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Indiana a federal judge blocked a new state law that would ban a second-trimester abortion procedure.
(SSFC, 6/30/19, p.A8)
2019 Jul, Duke Energy, America’s biggest utility, proposed large investments in natural gas in Indiana.
(Econ, 7/27/19, p.53)
2019 Aug 14, James McGhee, was arrested in Lake County, Indiana, late today after a days-long manhunt, in the death of Sidne-Nichole Buchanan (27). Buchanan, of Gary, Indiana, had vanished after attending a concert in Tinley Park, Illinois, on July 27. She was reported missing two days later.
(ABC News, 8/14/19)
2019 Aug 14, An Indiana steel plant released toxic levels of chemicals in the Little Calumet River, killing fish and shutting down parts of the Indiana Dunes. Arcelor-Mittal later apologized and accepted responsibility for the spill.
(http://tinyurl.com/y3nfzcxu)(SFC, 8/19/19, p.A5)
2019 Aug 23, In Indiana 16-year-old Nicholas Nelson and his 15-year-old sister, Ashlynn Nelson were shot and killed by a 15-year-old boy.
(AP, 8/28/19)
2019 Aug 31, In Indiana Amanda Carmack reported that her 10-year-old stepdaughter, Skylea Carmack, was missing. On Sept. 4 Carmack confessed to police that she killed Skylea and hid her body in a in a plastic bag in a shed behind their home in Gas City.
(SFC, 9/7/19, p.A5)
2019 Sep 2, In Indiana a flat-bottomed johnboat capsized late today on the White River killing two people and leaving three missing.
(AP, 9/3/19)
2019 Oct 9, Indianapolis man Darrin Banks (28) was sentenced to 53 years in prison for the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old girl and the wounding of her 19-year-old aunt. Banks and Brian Palmer (30) were charged with murder in the March 29, 2018, shooting that killed Malaysia Robson and wounded her aunt.
(AP, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 11, Indiana state trooper Peter R. Stephan (27) was killed in a car crash in Tippecanoe County while he was headed to help another trooper.
(AP, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 13, The Indianapolis Zoo said it plans to open an international center devoted to saving threatened species, an effort that zoo officials call a natural extension of their biennial Indianapolis Prize honoring animal conservation leaders.
(AP, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 18, In Indiana Alyssa Shepherd (24) was found guilty of criminal recklessness in the Oct. 30, 2018, crash that killed 6-year-old twin brothers Xzavier and Mason Ingle, and their 9-year-old sister, Alivia Stahl.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 30, In Indiana emergency workers were called to the home in Battle Ground and found 36-year-old Laura Hurst dead with an 8-foot python coiled around her neck. The Reticulated Python was one of 140 snakes that were found inside the home.
(ABC News, 10/31/19)
2019 Nov 2, In western Indiana two Amish people were killed when a van car crashed into a horse-drawn buggy.
(AP, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 18, In Indiana Dennis Tyler (76), the mayor of Muncie, was arrested for allegedly taking a $5,000 bribe in exchange for a public works contract.
(SFC, 11/19/19, p.A6)
2019 Nov 19, Thousands of red-clad Indiana teachers swarmed the state capitol building, chanting loudly to protest low salaries and evaluation policies and forcing half the state's school districts to cancel classes for the day.
(Reuters, 11/19/19)
2020 Feb 6, In Indiana four young people were fatally shot in Indianapolis late today in an apparent targeted attack.
(SFC, 2/7/20, p.A6)
2020 Mar 1, Pete Buttigieg (38), the former mayor of Indiana's fourth largest city, formally suspended his White House bid late today.
(AP, 3/1/20)
2020 Mar 20, In Indiana the bodies of Felina Lewis (35) and her two daughters were recovered after two vehicles were swept off a roadway overnight and into a creek following torrential rainfall. The body of a 3rd sibling was recovered the next day. Six people were presumed to have drowned in the tragedy.
(SSFC, 3/22/20, p.A5)(https://tinyurl.com/uorcnse)
2020 Mar 20, The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it had temporarily closed the air traffic control tower at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York and shuttered part of the Indianapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center for cleaning after workers tested positive for the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 3/20/20)
2020 Mar 21, Primaries scheduled for Georgia, Maryland, Indiana, Connecticut and Kentucky were all reported postponed to May or June due to the coronavirus pandemic.
(AP, 3/21/20)
2020 Apr 1, In Indiana a boy (8) died overnight after he was struck by stray gunfire when shots were fired into a house in Indianapolis.
(AP, 4/1/20)
2020 Apr 9, In Indiana an Indianapolis police officer was fatally shot during a domestic violence call. Detectives arrested Elliahs Dorsey (27) on preliminary charges of murder and attempted murder in the slaying of Officer Breann Leath (24).
(AP, 4/10/20)
2020 Apr 16, Governors in seven US Midwest states said they will work in close coordination to reopen the economy in their regions. The governors for Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky have formed a partnership to work together on restarting the economies in their states, they said in a statement.
(Reuters, 4/17/20)
2020 Apr 25, The Tyson plant in Logansport, Indiana, was closed after nearly 900 employees tested positive; it resumed limited operations on May 7.
{Indiana, USA, COVID-19}
(AP, 5/11/20)
2020 May 7, In Indiana protesters crowded the streets of Indianapolis to voice concerns about police treatment after officers shot and killed two men and fatally struck a pregnant pedestrian in three separate incidents just hours apart. Dreasjon Reed "21" was one of the two men killed.
(AP, 5/7/20)(SSFC, 5/10/20, p.A5)
2020 May 31, In Indiana overnight shootings in Indianapolis left two people dead.
(AP, 5/31/20)
2020 Jun 16, In Indiana a psychiatric patient disarmed and fatally shot a retired police officer at the Community Hospital in Munster early today before another retired officer working security at the hospital fatally shot the patient.
(AP, 6/16/20)
2020 Jul 13, A US district judge ordered a new delay in federal executions, hours before the first lethal injection was scheduled to be carried out at a federal prison in Indiana. Daniel Lewis Lee (47) had been scheduled to die today by lethal injection for the 1996 killing in Arkansas of gun dealer William Mueller, his wife and her daughter (8). The Trump administration immediately appealed to a higher court, asking that the executions move forward.
(AP, 7/13/20)(SFC, 7/13/20, p.A4)
2020 Jul 14, In Indiana, the US federal government carried out its first execution in almost two decades, killing by lethal injection Daniel Lewis Lee (47), a man convicted of murdering an Arkansas family in 1996 as part of a plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest. His final words were: "You’re killing an innocent man." Lee’s co-defendant and the reputed ringleader, Chevie Kehoe, received a life sentence.
(AP, 7/14/20)
2020 Jul 14, The FBI arrested an Indiana woman (19) they say was torturing and graphically killing cats and dogs. Private citizens helped identify Krystal Cherika Scott using social media and providing the information to law enforcement.
(Insider, 7/17/20)
2020 Jul 15, A US judge halted the execution of Wesley Ira Purkey (68), a man said to be suffering from dementia, who had been set to die by lethal injection in the federal government’s second execution after a 17-year hiatus. Purkey, convicted of a gruesome 1998 kidnapping and killing, was scheduled for execution this evening at the US Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.
(AP, 7/15/20)
2020 Jul 16, The United States carried out its second federal execution in three days following a hiatus of nearly two decades, killing by lethal injection Wesley Ira Purkey, a Kansas man, whose lawyers contended he had dementia and was unfit to be executed. Purkey was put to death at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was sentenced to be executed for kidnapping and killing Jennifer Long (16), before dismembering, burning and dumping her body in a septic pond. He was also convicted in a state court in Kansas of using a claw hammer to kill an 80-year-old woman who had polio.
(AP, 7/16/20)
2020 Jul 17, The US government executed Dustin Lee Honken (52), a convicted murderer, at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Honken was a dealer in illegal methamphetamine when he and his girlfriend murdered five people in Iowa in 1993.
(Reuters, 7/17/20)
2020 Aug 26, The Justice Department executed Lezmond Mitchell (38) at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. He was the only Native American man on federal death row and was executed against the wishes of Navajo leaders. He had been sentenced to death for the 2001 murder of a grandmother, Alyce Slim, and her 9-year-old granddaughter, Tiffany Lee. Mitchell was the fourth person to be executed since the Trump administration resumed federal capital punishment last year.
(NY Times, 8/27/20)
2020 Aug 28, In Indiana Keith Nelson (45), the killer of a Kansas girl, became the fifth federal inmate put to death this year, an execution that went forward only after a higher court tossed a ruling that would have required the government to get a prescription for the drug used to kill him. In 1999 Nelson raped and strangled Pamela Butler (10) with a wire.
(AP, 8/29/20)
2020 Sep 22, The US government executed William Emmett LeCroy (50) in Terre Haute, Indiana. The former soldier said an obsession with witchcraft led him to kill a Georgia nurse he believed had put a spell on him in 2001.
(AP, 9/23/20)
2020 Sep 23, Gale Sayers (77), Chicago Bears running back, died in Indiana, from complications of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. His short but brilliant career left opponents, as they used to say, clutching at air.
(AP, 9/24/20)
2020 Sep 24, In Indiana Christopher Vialva (40), a Black man, was executed by the federal government for a crime he committed at age 19, even though his attorney said prosecutors used inflammatory racial stereotypes during the trial 20 years ago to land her client on death row.
(NBC News, 9/24/20)
2020 Oct 24, In Indiana, a vehicle struck three Univ. of Notre Dame students in South Bend, killing two of them.
(SSFC, 10/25/20, p.A8)
2020 Nov 10, An Indianapolis police officer who fatally shot a Black man after a high-speed chase earlier this year was cleared by a grand jury. The group, which was empaneled to investigate the May 6 killing of Dreasjon Reed, 21, returned a “no bill," concluding that officer Dejoure Mercer should not face criminal charges.
(NBC News, 11/10/20)
2020 Nov 19, The US Justice Department executed Orlando Cordia Hall late today for his role in the 1994 kidnapping and killing of a 16-year-old girl, after the Supreme Court cleared the way earlier in the night. His execution, by lethal injection at the penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., was the eighth by the Trump administration since this summer.
(NY Times, 11/20/20)
2020 Dec 10, In Indiana Brandon Bernard (40) was put to death for his part in a 1999 killing of a religious couple from Iowa after he and other teenage members of a street gang abducted and robbed Todd and Stacie Bagley in Texas. Bernard, who was 18 at the time of the killings, was a rare execution of a person who was in his teens when his crime was committed.
(AP, 12/11/20)
2020 Dec 11, The Trump administration continued its unprecedented series of post-election federal executions by putting to death in Indiana Alfred Bourgeois (56), a Louisiana truck driver who severely abused his 2-year-old daughter for weeks in 2002, then killed her by slamming her head repeatedly against a truck’s windows and dashboard.
(AP, 12/11/20)
2020 Dec 28, In Indiana Winston Corbett (25) was sentenced to 115 years in prison for fatally stabbing college professor James Miller (58) and leaving the man's wife with nearly two dozen stab wounds during a home invasion in 2011.
(AP, 12/29/20)
2021 Jan 13, The Trump administration executed Lisa Montgomery (52) early today in Terre Haute, Ind., the only woman on federal death row. Montgomery had been sentenced to death for murdering a pregnant woman in 2004 and abducting the unborn child.
(AP, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 14, Convicted murderer Corey Johnson was executed in an Indiana prison for his role in a 1992 Virginia gang violence rampage that ended with 11 people killed in 45 days.
(TheGrio, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 16, Dustin Higgs (48) was executed early today at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind. He was sentenced to death for the 1996 killings of three women in a Maryland wildlife refuge, a crime that led to a life sentence for the man who fired the fatal shots. This was the 13th federal death row inmate to be executed since the Justice Department resumed federal capital punishment in July 2019 after a 17- year gap.
(SSFC, 1/17/21, p.A7)
2021 Jan 24, In Indiana five people and an unborn child were shot and killed in Indianapolis. A juvenile suspect was arrested the following day. Raymond Ronald Lee Childs III (17) was soon charged as an adult with six counts of murder.
(AP, 1/25/21)(AP, 1/28/21)
2021 Feb 2, The US Senate confirmed former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (39) as President Biden's transportation secretary. Buttigieg is the first openly gay Cabinet member in US history to win Senate confirmation. Cuban-born Alejandro Mayorkas as Homeland Security secretary.
(ABC News, 2/2/21)(SFC, 2/3/21, p.A3)
2021 Feb 5, It was reported that federal executions in the last months of the Trump administration likely served as a COVID superspreader. Employees at the Indiana prison complex where the 13 executions were carried out over six months had contact with inmates and other people infected with the coronavirus.
(AP, 2/6/21)
2021 Mar 28, In Indiana serial killer Joseph Edward Duncan III (58) died in US prison, having admitted to slaughtering seven people — including five children — in Idaho, Washington state, Montana and California.
(AP, 3/31/21)
2021 Apr 15, A gunman killed at least eight people at a FedEx warehouse on the grounds of the Indianapolis International Airport late today. Police said the gunman killed himself. At least five other people had been hospitalized with injuries, including one in critical condition. The suspected shooter was soon identified as Brandon Scott Hole (19).
(NY Times, 4/16/21)(AP, 4/17/21)
2021 Jun 30, A US federal judge on blocked a new Indiana law that would require doctors to tell women undergoing drug-induced abortions about a disputed treatment for potentially stopping the abortion process.
(AP, 6/30/21)
2021 Jul 19, A federal judge upheld Indiana University’s requirement that students and staff members on campus be vaccinated against the coronavirus this fall, but the ruling is unlikely to be the last chapter in the culture wars over vaccine mandates.
(NY Times, 7/19/21)
2021 Aug 10, A US federal judge ruled that several of Indiana's laws restricting abortion are unconstitutional.
(SFC, 8/11/21, p.A4)
2021 Sep 26, Indiana Dunes National Park closed its beaches and a northwest Indiana water utility shut down an intake facility after an orange substance apparently spilled from a US Steel plant into a Lake Michigan tributary.
(AP, 9/27/21)
2021 Oct 7, A second spill in less than two weeks at a US Steel plant in northwest Indiana sent an oily sheen onto a Lake Michigan tributary, prompting officials to close some nearby lake access as a precaution.
(AP, 10/8/21)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = Indiana
End of file.
Return to home
Facts: https://www.50states.com/indiana.htm
1731 Fort Vincennes, later Fort Sackville, was built by the French near present-day Vincennes, Indiana. It was captured by Colonel George Rogers Clark in 1779.
(HNQ, 7/24/00)
1774 Sep 26, John Chapman (d.1845), later known as Johnny Appleseed, was born in Massachusetts. A pioneer agriculturalist of early America, Chapman began his trek in 1797, collecting apple seedlings from western Pennsylvania and establishing apple nurseries around the early American frontier. Chapman was a Swedenborgian missionary, a land speculator, a heavy drinker and an eccentric dresser (he hated shoes and seldom wore them. He planted orchards across western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana from seed.
(www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=94)(T&L, 10/1980, p.42)(HNQ, 9/4/01)(ON, 4/09, p.10)
1778 Jul, In Indiana American Captain Leonard Helm occupied Fort Sackville, formerly named Fort Vincennes, the British having withdrawn to Detroit.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forts_of_Vincennes,_Indiana)
1778 Dec 17, The British—under Lt. Col. Henry Hamilton—returned and recaptured Fort Sackville (near Vincennes, Indiana).
(HNQ, 7/24/00)
1779 Feb 25, Fort Sackville, originally named Fort Vincennes, was captured by Colonel George Rogers Clark in 1779. Col. Clark led a force of some 170 men from Kaskaskia to lay siege to Fort Sackville in January, and received Hamilton‘s surrender on February 25. With the surrender of Fort Sackville, American forces gained effective control of the Old Northwest, thereby affecting the outcome of the Revolutionary War. The fort, which Clark described as “a wretched stockade, surrounded by a dozen wretched cabins called houses," was located near present-day Vincennes, Indiana.
(HNQ, 7/24/00)(AP, 2/25/08)
1791 Nov 3, Gen. St. Clair moved his force of approximately 1,400 men to some high ground on the upper Wabash River. St. Clair was looking for the forces of Michikinikwa (Chief Little Turtle 1752-1812), who had recently defeated Gen. Josiah Harmar’s (1753-1813) army. St. Clair deployed only minimal sentry positions. [see Nov 4]
(DoW, 1999, p.168)
1791 Nov 4, General Arthur St. Clair, governor of Northwest Territory, was badly defeated by a large Indian army near Fort Wayne. Miami Indian Chief Little Turtle (1752-1812) led the powerful force of Miami, Wyandot, Iroquois, Shawnee, Delaware, Ojibwa and Potawatomi that inflicted the greatest defeat ever suffered by the U.S. Army at the hands of North American Indians. Some 623 regulars led by General Arthur St. Clair were killed and 258 wounded on the banks of the Wabash River near present day Fort Wayne, Indiana. The staggering defeat moved Congress to authorize a larger army in 1792.
(HNQ, 8/10/98)(HN, 11/4/98)
1800 May 7, Congress divided the Northwest Territory into two parts. The western part became the Indiana Territory and the eastern sections remained the Northwest Territory.
(HN, 5/7/99)
1811 Nov 7, Gen. William Henry Harrison won a battle against the Shawnee Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe in the Indiana territory. Tenskwatawa, the brother of Shawnee leader Tecumseh, was engaged in the Battle of the Wabash, aka Battle of Tippecanoe, in spite of his brother’s strict admonition to avoid it. The battle near the Tippecanoe River with the regular and militia forces of Indiana Territory Governor William Henry Harrison, took place while Tecumseh was out of the area seeking support for a united Indian movement. The battle, which was a nominal victory for Harrison’s forces, effectively put an end to Tecumseh’s dream of a pan-Indian confederation. Harrison’s leadership in the battle also provided a useful campaign slogan for his presidential bid in 1840.
(HFA, ‘96, p.46)(HNQ, 5/28/98)(HN, 11/7/98)
1812 Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne established Fort Wayne, Indiana. He got his nickname because he was crazy enough to join his troops on the front lines.
(WSJ, 2/6/04, p.A10)
1816 Dec 11, Indiana became the 19th state.
(AP, 12/11/97)
1820 A law banning the carrying of concealed weapons was passed in Indiana.
(http://tinyurl.com/d337x96)
1825 Jan 3, Scottish factory owner Robert Owen bought 30,000 acres in Indiana as site for New Harmony utopian community.
(MC, 1/3/02)
1837 Methodists opened DePauw University in Greencastle.
(WSJ, 3/8/00, p.A6)
1838 In New Harmony Indiana’s oldest public lending library was founded. The town was founded by the millennialist Harmonie Society and later bought by Robert Owen, a social reformer and educator.
(WSJ, 7/22/98, p.A12)
1840 A US no-bail-out policy forced some state into default. Several US states had loaded up on unsustainable debt following an extended period of easy credit. These states consequently found payments on their existing bonds increasingly unaffordable. Between 1841 and 1843 Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and one territory – a proto-state called Florida – defaulted.
(Econ, 2/11/12, p.57)(http://tinyurl.com/6pgf4wq)
1841 In Indiana Mother Theodore Guerin (1798-1856), a French nun, established St. Mary-of-the-Woods College for women. In 2006 Pope Benedict XVI named her a saint.
(SFC, 10/16/06, p.A2)
1842 Rev. Edward Sorin inherited 3 log cabins and envisioned the future development of Notre Dame. In 2001 Marvin R. O’Connell authored the biography "Edward Sorin."
(WSJ, 11/8/01, p.A22)
1844 Jan 15, The University of Notre Dame received its charter from the state of Indiana.
(AP, 1/15/98)
1845 Feb 18, John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, died in Allen County, Indiana. In 1954 Robert Price authored Johnny Appleseed: Man and Myth."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Appleseed)(ON, 4/09, p.12)
1852 Apr 30, A strong tornado hit New Harmony, Indiana, killing 16 people.
(SFC, 4/30/09, p.D8)
1853 The town of Austin, Indiana, was founded. It became an important rail stop between Indianapolis and Louisville.
(SFC, 4/6/15, p.A7)
1858 Tell City, Ind., was founded as a planned community of Swiss furniture craftsmen from Cincinnati, Ohio.
(SFC, 11/23/05, p.G2)
1858 John Mohler Studebaker (b1833) joined his two older brothers in a South Bend firm producing wagons. The company went on to become the world’s largest producer of farm wagons and carriages.
(WSJ, 6/13/96, p.A12)(HNQ, 1/21/02)
1862 Oct 22, Battle at Old Fort Wayne, Indian Territory.
(MC, 10/22/01)
1862 Oct 30, Dr. Richard Gatling patented a machine gun. [see Nov 3]
(MC, 10/30/01)
1862 Nov 3, Dr. Richard Gatling patented machine gun in Indianapolis. [see Oct 30]
(MC, 11/3/01)
1863 In Indianapolis the Crown Hill cemetery was established.
(SFEC,10/26/97, p.T6)
1865 Swiss furniture craftsmen formed the Chair Makers Union of Tell City, Ind. This later became the Tell City Chair Co.
(SFC, 11/23/05, p.G2)
1866 Oct 6, The Reno brothers--Frank, John, Simeon and William--committed the country's first train robbery near Seymore, In., netting $10,000.
(HN, 10/6/98)
1868 May 22, The Great Train Robbery took place near Marshfield, Ind., as seven members of the Reno gang made off with $96,000 ($98k) in cash, gold and bonds.
(AP, 5/22/97)(HN, 5/22/02)
1868 Dec 12, In Indiana 56 hooded men entered New Albany jail. Frank Reno was the first to be dragged from his cell to be lynched. He was followed by his two brothers, William and Simeon. Another gang member, Charlie Anderson, was also hanged in the prison. [see May 22]
(www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WWvigilantes.htm)
1877 Jan 15, Lewis M. Terman, psychologist (developed Stanford-Binet IQ test), was born in Indiana.
(MC, 1/15/02)
1879 Apr, A fire struck the Catholic college of Notre Dame. The administration building and several others were destroyed.
(WSJ, 11/8/01, p.A22)
1879 The American Furniture Co. was first organized in Batesville, Ind. It was re-organized in 1888 and in 1930 merged with 2 other firms to form RomWeber Co.
(SFC, 12/13/06, p.E3)
1880 Mar 31, Wabash, Ind., became the first town completely illuminated by electrical lighting.
(AP, 3/31/97)(HN, 3/31/98)
1883 Jun 2, The first baseball game under electric lights was played in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
(HN, 6/2/98)
1884 Feb 19, A series of tornadoes left an estimated 800 people dead in 7 US states (Miss, Ala, NC, SC, Tenn., Ky & In).
(WSJ, 9/13/01, p.B11)(MC, 2/19/02)
1885 Sep 5, The 1st gasoline pump was delivered to a gasoline dealer in Ft. Wayne, Ind.
(MC, 9/5/01)
1888 Nov 6, Benjamin Harrison of Indiana won the presidential election, beating incumbent Grover Cleveland on electoral votes, 233-168, although Cleveland led in the popular vote. Tammany Hall helped carry new York for the GOP. In 2008 Charles W. Calhoun authored “Minority Victory: Gilded Age Politics and the Front Porch Campaign of 1888.
(AP, 11/6/97)(WSJ, 11/9/00, p.A26)(WSJ, 12/3/08, p.A15)
1890 Sep 9, Colonel Harland Sanders (d.1980), originator of Kentucky Fried Chicken fast-food restaurants, was born in Henryville, Ind.
(HN, 9/9/98)(www.born-today.com/Today/09-09.htm)
1891 Mar, David Starr Jordan (40) of Indiana Univ. accepted an offer as president of the new Stanford Univ. in Palo Alto, Ca.
(Ind, 10/17/98, p.5A)(Ind, 11/17/01, 5A)
1892 Nov 6, John Sigvard "Ole" Olsen, comedian (Olsen & Johnson), was born in Wabash, Ind.
(MC, 11/6/01)
1892 The Gill Clay Pot Co. moved from Bellaire, Ohio, to Muncie, Ind., to be near glass companies and natural gas supplies. The company made pots and tanks to hold melting glass. In 1923 a family member opened Muncie Pottery next door.
(SFC, 9/21/05, p.G3)
1893 Apr 29, Harold C. Urey, physicist (Deuterium, Nobel 1934), was born in Indiana.
(MC, 4/29/02)
1893 Jun 9, Cole Porter, American composer and lyricist, was born in Indiana. His songs include "Night and Day," "You're the Tops," and "I Get a Kick Our of You." In 1998 William McBrian published the biography "Cole Porter." [see Jun 9, 1891]
(WUD, 1994 p.1120)(CFA, '96, p.48)(SFEC, 11/22/98, BR p.4)
1897 Feb 5, The Indiana House of Representatives unanimously passed a measure redefining the area of a circle and the value of pi as 4. The bill died in the state Senate.
(AP, 2/5/97)(SFEC, 3/14/99, p.C5)
1897 The lower house of the Indiana state legislature declared that pi is 3.2.
(NH, 11/1/04, p.19)
1899 Jul 25, Ralph Dumke, actor (Movieland Quiz), was born in Indiana.
(SC, 7/25/02)
1899 Nov 22, Hoagy Carmichael (d.1981), American composer, was born in Bloomington, Ind. His songs included "Georgia on My Mind" (1930) "Stardust" and over 600 other melodies. Lyrics for Georgia on my Mind were written by Stuart Gorrell.
(WSJ, 9/9/99, p.A24)(SFC, 11/25/99, p.C22)(Econ, 7/3/04, p.16)
1901 Mar 13, Benjamin Harrison (67), 23rd president of the United States (1889-1893), died in Indianapolis.
(AP, 3/13/97)(BG, 3/13/16, p.B6)
1902 Mar 9, Will Greer, actor (Grandpa Walton-The Waltons), was born in Frankfort, Ind.
(MC, 3/9/02)
1903 Jun 22, John Dillinger, one of America’s "Most Wanted" gangsters, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.
(YarraNet, 6/22/00)
1905 Feb 15, Lewis Wallace (77), US politician, general, writer (Ben Hur), artist and inventor, died. His paintings included "The Conspirators," a depiction of those accused in the assassination of Pres. Lincoln. He had 8 registered US patents and was accomplished at playing and making violins. His home in Crawfordsville, Indiana, is now a museum.
(HT, 3/97, p.66)(MC, 2/15/02)
1905 Studebaker of South Bend, Indiana, produced an electric car, the Victoria Phaeton, that could be charged at home.
(Econ, 10/9/10, p.22)
1906 US Steel Corp. begat a company town in Indiana name Gary after Elbert Henry Gary, the chairman of the board.
(SFC, 9/8/97, p.A3)(Econ, 7/11/15, p.27)
1907 Mar 9, Indiana enacted the nation’s 1st involuntary sterilization law based on eugenics. It was intended "to prevent procreation of confirmed criminals, idiots, imbeciles, and rapists." More than 30 states ended up passing compulsory sterilization laws that were eventually overturned or repealed. In 2004 Christine Rosen authored "Preaching Eugenics."
(NH, 7/02, p.12)(WSJ, 4/22/04, p.D10)(AP, 3/9/07)
1907 Jul 16, Orville Redenbacher (d.1995), agronomist and popcorn entrepreneur, was born in Brazil, Indiana. "Do one thing and do it better than anyone."
(AH, 10/01, p.36)(AP, 7/16/07)
1908 Oct 6, Carol Lombard, American comedienne and actress who was nominated for an Oscar for My Man Godfrey, was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Lombard started during the silent movie era revealed herself to be a wonderful amusing and witty actress after the advent of the talkies and quickly became one of the top box office draws of the 1930's in such films as 'My Man Godfrey'. Clark Gable was married to Lombard. (My Man Godfrey, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Made for Each Other).
(HN, 10/6/98)(MC, 10/5/01)
1908 Belle Gunness (48), reportedly died in a fire at her farm in Laporte, Indiana. Many locals believed Gunness, dubbed Lady Bluebeard, staged her death and had killed at least 25 people before the fire.
(AP, 4/27/08)
1909 Aug 19, The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened with a 2.5 mile race track. It was founded in 1906 and the 1st 500 race was held in 1911.
(MC, 8/19/02)(Internet)
1910 Oct 23, Blanche S. Scott became the first woman to make a solo, public airplane flight, reaching an altitude of 12 feet at a park in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
(AP, 10/23/00)
1911 May 29, The first running of the Indianapolis 500. Ray Harroun won at 74.59 mph (120 kph).
(HN, 5/29/98)(SC, 5/29/02)
1911 May 30, The first long-distance auto race in Indianapolis was won by Ray Harroun.
(AP, 5/30/97)
1913 Jul 18, Richard "Red" Skelton, legendary clown, was born in Vincennes, Ind. During a career that stretched through medicine shows, vaudeville, motion pictures, radio and television, the gentle Skelton created a beloved host of characters from the silent tramp Freddie the Freeloader (shown at left) to the Mean Widdle Kid, who coined the catch phrase, "I dood it!" Skelton's sentimental humor, so popular in the '40s, '50s and '60s, did not change with the times and in 1970, CBS canceled The Red Skelton Show. Skelton refused to retire, touring the college lecture circuit and painting clown faces that sold for as much as $80,000. Red Skelton died at age 84 on September 17, 1997.
(HNPD, 7/18/98)(MC, 7/18/02)
1913 In New Harmony the neoclassical Murphy Auditorium was built.
(WSJ, 7/22/98, p.A12)
1913 Knute Rockne, football coach at Notre Dame, popularized the forward pass.
(WSJ, 6/9/04, p.D8)
1914 The Napanee Line of Dutch Kitchenet cabinets was introduced by Coppes Brothers and Zook of Nappanee, Indiana, about this time.
(SFC, 7/26/06, p.G2)
1916 John Holliday, founder of the Indianapolis News and the Indiana National Bank, donated his country estate to Indianapolis for family recreation and nature study.
(NH, 3/1/04, p.16)
1917 May 26, Up to eight separate tornadoes cut a path of destruction for nearly 300 miles across Illinois and Indiana.
(SFC, 5/26/09, p.D8)
1919 Sep 22, Steel workers at Gary, Ind., went on strike to force US Steel to recognize their union. The walkout ended in 110 days without success.
(PCh, 1992, p.734)(MC, 9/22/01)
1920 May 2, 1st game of National Negro Baseball League was played in Indianapolis.
(MC, 5/2/02)
1920 Dec 14, George Gipp (b.1895) died in Indiana from pneumonia and a strep infection during his senior year at Notre Dame. He was buried in northern Michigan. Gipp was the school's first All-American and set a school career rushing record that stood for more than 50 years. Ronald Reagan portrayed Gipp in the 1940 movie "Knute Rockne, All American," in which he made famous the phrase "win one for the Gipper."
(AP, 11/10/07)(www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1595)
1920 Louis Chevrolet won the Indianapolis 500 auto race.
(WSJ, 6/19/96, Adv. Supl)(SFEC, 1/9/00, Z1 p.2)
1922 Jun 11, John Bromfield, actor (Easy to Love), was born in South Bend, In.
(SC, 6/11/02)
1922 Jun 22, Bill Blass (d.2002), fashion designer, was born in Fort Wayne, Ind.
(SFC, 6/13/02, p.A23)
1923 Aug 21, Chris Schenkel, sportscaster (Monday Night Fights), was born in Biuppus, Ind.
(SC, 8/21/02)
1925 Mar 18, The great Tri-State Tornado killed 695 people in Illinois, Indiana and Missouri and injured some 13,000 people, and causing $17 million in property damage. Several other destructive tornadoes in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana, as well as tornadoes in Alabama and Kansas brought the total to at least 747 dead.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-State_Tornado)(SSFC, 5/11/03, Par p.A11)(AP, 5/24/11)
1926 Apr 3, Virgil Grissom (d.1967), Lt. Col. USAF, astronaut (Mercury 4, Gemini 3), was born in Mitchell, Ind. He was the Mercury and Gemini astronaut who was killed in a fire while preparing for the first Apollo flight.
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Apollo204/grissom.html
(MC, 4/3/02)
1926 Montgomery Ward opened its 1st store in Plymouth, Indiana.
(WSJ, 12/29/00, p.A3)
1927 Nov 12, Notre Dame's Fighting Irish changed their blue jerseys for green.
(MC, 11/12/01)
1927 Max Ehrmann (1872-1945), Indiana lawyer, wrote his poem “Desiderata" – “Be gentle with yourself…"
(WSJ, 11/15/05, p.D7)(www.businessballs.com/desideratapoem.htm)
1928 Mar 14, Frank Borman, astronaut (Gem 7, Ap 8), CEO (Eastern Airline), was born in Gary, Ind.
(MC, 3/14/02)
1928 Nov 17, Notre Dame finally lost a football game after nearly 25 years.
(MC, 11/17/01)
1929 Jul 4, AM radio station WOWO, Indiana's transmitter burned down.
(Maggio, 98)
1929 Sociologists Robert and Helen Lynd rechristened Muncie, Indiana, to “Middletown" in a study regarding it as representative of the American experience.
(Econ, 9/10/11, p.35)
1930 Aug 7, In Marion, Indiana, a mob broke into a jail and beat to death 2 young black men and hung them from a tree in the courthouse square. Tommy Shipp and Abe Smith and a 3rd teenager had just been arrested for a botched robbery that left Claude Deeter, a white man, dead. James Cameron (16) was saved from hanging, even as a noose was on his neck. In 2006 Cynthia Carr authored “Our Town: A Heartland Lynching, a Haunted Town and the Hidden History of White America."
(SSFC, 3/26/06, p.M3)
1931 Feb 8, James Dean, stage and film actor who personified "cool" for young people in the 1950s, was born in Marion, In. His films were Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden and Giant.
(HN, 2/8/99)(MC, 2/8/02)
1931 May 13, Jim Jones (d.1978), leader of religious community in Jonestown, Guyana, was born in Crete, Ind. In 1978 he led 900 of his followers to mass suicide.
(V.D.-H.K.p.312)(SFEC, 11/8/98, p.A18)
1933 Louie Meyer won the Indianapolis 500 and asked for a glass of buttermilk.
(SFC, 8/7/99, p.D3)
1934 Mar 3, John Dillinger broke out of jail using a wooden pistol in Crown Point, Indiana.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1934 Apr 25, Denny "Scott" Miller, actor (Wagon Train), was born in Bloomington, Ind.
(SS, 4/25/02)
1934 Jul 1, Sydney Pollack, film director (Tootsie, Presumed Innocent, The Firm, Out of Africa), was born in Lafayette, Indiana.
(www.nndb.com/people/772/000023703/)
1936 Jun 11, Chad Everett, actor (Medical Center, Airplane II), was born in South Bend, In.
(SC, 6/11/02)
1937 Jun 27, Joseph P. Allen IV, PhD, astronaut (STS-5, STS 51A), was born in Crawfordsville, Ind.
(SC, 6/27/02)
1938 Dec 31, Dr. R.N. Harger's "drunkometer," the 1st breath test, was introduced in Indiana.
(MC, 12/31/01)
1938-1962 Herman B. Wells (d.2000 at 97) served as the president of Indiana University in Bloomington.
(SFC, 3/20/00, p.A21)
1939 Edwin Sutherland, sociology prof. at Indiana Univ., coined the term white-collar crime.
(WSJ, 10/15/03, p.B1)
1939 Dan West, a relief worker from Indiana, concluded during the Spanish Civil War that there must be a better way to help the needy than simply handing out free milk. In 1944, the first shipment of 17 heifers left York, Pennsylvania, for Puerto Rico, going to families whose malnourished children had never even tasted milk.
(SSFC, 11/26/06, p.E3)(www.heifer.org)
1940 Aug 17, Wendell Willkie, a former Democrat, delivered his formal acceptance speech as the Republican nominee for president from his home in Elwood, Indiana.
(WSJ, 7/22/96, p.A12)(SFEC, 7/30/00, p.C17)(http://tinyurl.com/e3xrw)
1945 Apr, Black officers of the 477th Bombardment Group of the Army Air Forces were arrested for entering the Freeman Field officer’s club near Seymour, Ind. 101 black officers refused to sign a document that established segregation of the club and were put up for court-martial. Criminal charges were dropped but reprimands were placed in the officers’ files. The reprimands were only removed in 1995.
(SFC, 4/11/98, p.A15)
1945 Sep 18, 1000 white children walked out of Gary, Indiana, schools to protest integration.
(MC, 9/18/01)
1947 Jan 4, J. Danforth Quayle (Sen-R-Ind, 44th VP 1989-93) was born. [see Feb 4]
(MC, 1/4/02)
1947 Feb 4, Dan Quayle was born in Indianapolis. He later became vice-president under George Bush (1988-1992). [see Jan 4]
(DFP, 7/28/96, p.J5)(HN, 2/4/99)
1947 Apr 12, David Letterman, comedian (Late Night), was born in Indianapolis, Ind.
(MC, 4/12/02)
1947 Dec 2, 13th Heisman Trophy Award was awarded to John Lujack, Notre Dame (QB).
(MC, 12/2/01)
1948 Bill Garrett became the first African American to play a varsity sport in the Big Ten. He was recruited by basketball coach Branch McCracken under the urging of Indiana Univ. Pres. Herman B. Wells.
(SFC, 3/20/00, p.A21)
1949 Aug 31, Six of the 16 surviving Union veterans of the Civil War attended the last-ever encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, held in Indianapolis, Indiana.
(HN, 8/31/98)
1950 May 29, Rebbie [Maureen] Jackson, singer (R U Tuff Enuff), was born in Gary, IN.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1951 Aug 21, Harry Smith, TV host (CBS Morning Show), was born in Indiana.
(SC, 8/21/02)
1955 May, Bill Vukovich, 2-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, was killed while going for his 3rd win.
(WSJ, 7/7/04, p.D10)
1956 May 29, LaToya Yvette Jackson, singer (posed in Playboy, Millipede), was born in Gary, IN.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1956 Aug 25, Alfred C. Kinsey (62), US human sexuality researcher (Kinsey Report), died in Bloomington, Ind.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(AP, 8/25/06)
1956 The Indiana Toll Road opened with eight pairs of travel plazas along the 156-mile stretch linking Chicago to Ohio and points eastward. In 2015 IFM, an Australian infrastructure fund, acquired a 66-year lease on the road in a $5.8 billion deal.
(Econ, 4/22/17, p.67)
1958 Aug 29, Michael Jackson (d.2009), pop singer, entertainer, was born in Gary, Ind., the 7th of nine children.
(SFC, 6/14/05, p.D6)(SFC, 6/26/09, p.A1)
1958 Dec 9, Robert H.W. Welch Jr. and 11 other men met in Indianapolis to form the anti-Communist John Birch Society.
(AP, 12/9/97)
1963 Oct 31, On Halloween night leaking propane gas exploded and killed 64 at the "Holiday on Ice" show at the Indiana State Fair Grounds in Indianapolis.
(http://tinyurl.com/npsda6j)
1963 Richard Trentlage, Indiana songwriter, wrote the TV jingle “I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener," and had it sung by his kids.
(WSJ, 8/11/07, p.A6)
1963 Studebaker halted production of its cars. Some 4,000 employees lost their company pensions as the firm permanently closed its plant in South Bend, Ind. This led to the passage of the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in 1974.
(WSJ, 6/19/96, Adv. Supl)(SFC, 2/14/02, p.B1)(Econ, 7/11/15, p.28)
1964 Feb 1, Indiana Governor Mathew Walsh tried to ban "Louie Louie" for obscenity.
(MC, 2/1/02)
1964 James C. Quayle (d.2000 at 79) and his wife, the parents of later vice-president Dan Quayle, became the owners of the Huntington Herald-Press.
(SFC, 7/10/00, p.A20)
1967 Nov 7, Richard Hatcher (1933-2019), a black activist, lawyer and City Council president, was elected mayor of Gary, Indiana. He went on to serve five terms. Hatcher attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money to Gary in his 20 years in office, some of which was used to build low-cost housing and the first public housing units in the city in nearly two decades.
(AP, 12/14/19)
1968 Apr 4, Bobby Kennedy spoke at a black ghetto in Indianapolis just after hearing of the assassination of Martin Luther King. His speech registered the enormity of the event and began the work of healing. Riots over the next few days hit 76 American cities, but Indianapolis remained quiet.
(Econ, 4/22/06, p.79)
1968 Apr 6, In Richmond, Indiana, gunpowder stocks at a sporting-goods store exploded and at least 16 people were killed.
(www.gendisasters.com/data1/in/explosions/richmond-gasexplosion-apr1968.htm)
1968 Jul 27, A 3-day race riot began in Gary, Indiana.
(www.project1968.com/july-28-august-3-1968.html)
1969 Sep 9, Allegheny Flight 853 collided with Piper Cherokee above Indiana. 82 were killed.
{Air Crash, Indonesia, USA}
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegheny_Airlines_Flight_853)
1971 Mar 27, Bob Knight was named head coach at Indiana Univ. [see Sep 10, 2000]
(SFC, 9/11/00, p.A11)
1972 John Howard Yoder (d.1997 at 71), a Mennonite theologian who taught at Notre Dame, wrote "The Politics of Jesus," in part an analysis of Christian attitudes towards the state.
(SFC, 1/9/98, p.A19)
1973 Jul 2, Swede Savage (b.1946), American race car driver, died 33 days after suffering injuries at the Indianapolis 500.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swede_Savage)
1974 Apr 3, A series of 148 deadly tornadoes struck wide parts of the South and Midwest before jumping across the border into Canada; some 330 people were killed in 13 states: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Total property damage was estimated at $600 million. In 2007 Mark Levine authored “F5: Devastation, Survival, and the Most Violent Tornado Outbreak of the 20th Century."
(AP, 4/3/99)(WSJ, 9/13/01, p.B11)(SSFC, 9/4/05, p.A7)(WSJ, 6/16/07, p.P10)
1974 The first high school swing choir invitational competition was held at Bishop Luers High School in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Marion High School's (Indiana) "The 26th Street Singers," under the direction of teacher F. Ritchie Walton, introduced a new brand of song and dance at the competition and took home the competition trophy.
(SSFC, 10/3/10, Par p.4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show_choir)
1977 May 29, Janet Guthrie (b.1938) became the 1st woman to drive in the Indianapolis 500. Her autobiography, "Janet Guthrie: A Life at Full Throttle," was published in 2005.
(www.janetguthrie.com/biofr.htm)(www.nascar.com/2002/kyn/women/02/02/Guthrie/)
1979 Mar 26, In the 41st NCAA Men's Basketball Championship the Michigan State Spartans beat the Indiana State Sycamores, 75-64, as Magic Johnson outscored Larry Bird, 24-19; this snapped Indiana State's 33-game win streak. In 2009 Seth Davis authored “When March Went Mad: The Game That Transformed Basketball."
(http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/moments/9903.html)(WSJ, 3/20/09, p.W10)
1980 May 29, In Fort Wayne, Indiana, there was an attempted assassination of Vernon Jordan Jr., National Urban League president. in 1996 an acquitted sniper told a newspaper that he did shoot and wound Vernon Jordan, then president of the Urban League, outside an Indiana hotel in 1980.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_Jordan,_Jr.)(WSJ, 4/9/96, p.A-1)(WSJ, 11/21/01, p.A12)
1980-1990 Herbert Baumeister (1947-1996), an Indianapolis businessman, killed 16 men, most of them gay, and dumped them in the woods behind his home and along rural roads in Indiana and Ohio. Baumeister committed suicide in Canada at age 49.
(www.mayhem.net/Crime/morg9804.html)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_Baumeister)
1981 Aug 22, In Indianapolis, Indiana, King Edward Bell (33), a laid-off autoworker, killed his estranged wife, mother-in-law and 4 children. Bell was sentenced to six consecutive 40-year prison terms.
(AP, 6/2/06)(http://tinyurl.com/3dnvkc)
1982 Aug 17, A jury in South Bend, Ind., acquitted self-avowed racist Joseph Paul Franklin, for the 1980 attempted assassination of Vernon Jordan Jr, National Urban League president.
(http://tinyurl.com/2nzrco)
1982 The Fourth Freedom Forum was formed in Goshen, Indiana, by Howard Brembeck to advocate the use of economic power instead of military force.
(www.fourthfreedom.org/Applications/cms.php?page_id=75)
1984 Mar 29, The NFL Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis_Colts)
1985 Feb 23, Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight threw a chair during a game.
(http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/people/k/knight_bob/knight.html)
1985 May 14, In Indiana Paula Cooper (b.1969) took part in the stabbing death of Ruth Pelke (78), a Bible studies teacher during a robbery with three other teens. Cooper was sentenced to death in 1986, but in 1988 the state’s high court set her death sentence aside and ordered her to serve 60 years in prison. Cooper was released from prison on June 17, 2013.
(SFC, 6/18/13, p.A5)(http://tinyurl.com/mklp5el)
1985 Aug 26, Thirteen-year-old AIDS patient Ryan White began "attending" classes at Western Middle School in Kokomo, Indiana, via a telephone hook-up at his home. School officials had barred Ryan from attending classes in person.
(AP, 8/26/00)
1986 Feb 21, Ryan White (1971-1990), AIDS patient, returned to classes at Western Middle School in Indiana.
(www.ryanwhite.com/pages/timeline.html)
1986 Mar 28, In Indiana high school student Denise Pflum went missing in Connersville after she planned to return to the site of a party to retrieve her purse. In 2020 the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office announced that Shawn M. McClung has been charged with voluntary manslaughter in the girl’s death.
(Miami Herald, 7/9/20)
1986 The bodies of Tony (48) and Michael (41) Spilotro were found buried in an Indiana cornfield. Tony “The Ant" Spilotro was a top mob figure in Las Vegas. In 2005 prosecutors indicted 11 Chicago mob figures for at least 18 murders, including the Spilotros.
(SFC, 4/26/05, p.A5)
1987 Mar 31, Indiana Univ. won the NCAA basketball finals with a last-second, corner shot by Keith Smart.
(WSJ, 4/4/03, p.B2)(http://tinyurl.com/rcskk)
1987 Oct 20, Ten people were killed when an Air Force jet crashed into a Ramada Inn hotel near Indianapolis International Airport after the pilot, who was trying to make an emergency landing, ejected safely.
(AP, 10/20/97)
1987 Gov. Robert D. Orr (d.2004 at 86) pushed through a major educational reform package.
(SFC, 3/12/04, p.B7)
1988 Apr 1, In Indiana April Tinsley (8) of Fort Wayne was abducted. Her body was found three days later in a ditch about 20 miles away. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. In 2018 DNA evidence linked John Miller (59) to the case. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 80 years in prison for her abduction, rape and murder.
(http://truecrimeguy.com/april-marie-tinsley/)(SFC, 12/22/18, p.A5)
1988 Aug 16, Vice President George Bush tapped Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle to be his running mate.
(AP, 8/16/98)
1988 Aug 18, Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle was nominated to be George Bush's running mate during the Republican convention in New Orleans; meanwhile, questions were being raised about Quayle's service in the Indiana National Guard during the Vietnam War.
(AP, 8/18/98)
1988 Nov 8, Evan Bayh, Indiana secretary of state, was elected as state governor.
(Econ, 2/20/10, p.28)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Bayh)
1988 Purdue Univ. began hosting the National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. Reuben Lucius "Rube" Goldberg (b.1883), cartoonist, was known for drawing vastly complicated machines that performed simple tasks.
(WUD, 1994, p.607)(SFEC, 4/5/98, p.A28)
1989 Jan 9, Evan Bayh (b.1955) began office as Indiana state governor and continued to 1997. In 1998 he was elected as a US Senator for Indiana. In 2010 he decided not to seek re-election.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Bayh)(Econ, 2/20/10, p.28)
1989 In Noblesville the parents of Brian and David Setters were shot to death. The brothers took over the family insurance business. In 1998 the 2 brothers were charged with the murder.
(SFC, 10/1/98, p.A3)
1990 Apr 8, Ryan White (18), the teen-age AIDS patient whose battle for acceptance gained national attention, died in Indianapolis. The Ryan White Foundation was established for AIDS education programs after his death and it closed its doors due to dwindling funds in 1999.
(AP, 4/8/97)(SFC, 10/19/99, p.A3)
1990 Gilmore Reynolds of Osgood died at age 91. A foundation was created to administer money from his estate. His wife Golda died at age 98 in 1999 and the couple left $23 million to the town of Osgood for distribution in annual chunks of over $1 million.
(SFC, 11/27/99, p.A10)(SFC, 6/5/00, p.A3)
1991 Jul 19, Boxer Mike Tyson had sex with Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant. On September 9, 1991, an Indiana Grand Jury voted to indict Tyson on three counts, including one for the rape of Washington. Tyson was convicted on February 10, 1992 and was imprisoned.
(www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/tysonrec.htm)
1992 Feb 6, Sixteen people were killed when a C-130 military transport plane crashed in Evansville, Ind.
(AP, 2/6/02)
1992 Feb 10, Boxer Mike Tyson was convicted in Indianapolis of raping Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant.
(AP, 2/10/97)
1992 Mar 26, A judge in Indianapolis sentenced former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson to six years in prison for raping a Miss Black America contestant. Tyson ended up serving three years.
(AP, 3/26/02)
1993 May 30, Emerson Fittipaldi won the 77th Indianapolis 500, driving at an average speed of 157.2 mph.
(AP, 5/30/98)
1993 Father Timothy Scully founded the Alliance for Catholic Education at Notre Dame in an effort to help staff the inner-city parochial schools.
(WSJ, 5/21/99, p.W15)
1994 Oct 31, An American Eagle French-built ATR-72, en route from Indianapolis to Chicago, crashed in Roselawn, Ind., and killed 68 people. In 1997 American Airlines and 7 other companies settled a suit filed by relatives for $110 million.
(SFC, 9/23/97, p.A4)(AP, 10/31/97)
1995 Jun 30, In a Greensburg, Indiana, a mobile home fire killed the 3-year-old son of Kristine Bunch. She was arrested in 1996, accused of setting the fire and was sentenced to 60 years in prison. In 2012 she was released following 16 years behind bars for a murder she said all along she didn't commit. The Indiana Court of Appeals had ordered the local court to allow Bunch's release on bond while she awaits a second trial.
(AFP, 8/23/12)(http://tinyurl.com/95nz9nz)
1995 Philip Holton died and left his estate to DePauw Univ. When his wife died in 1997 the estate was estimated at $128 million.
(WSJ, 3/8/00, p.A1)
1996 May 17, Scott Brayton, race car driver, was killed during a practice run for the US Indy 500 race. He was the 40th driver to die during practice, qualifications or the race. 66 people in all have died in accidents related to the race.
(SFC, 5/18/96, p.B-1)
1996 May 26, Buddy Lazier won the Indianapolis 500.
(AP, 5/26/97)
1996 Aug 27, In Indianapolis 4 police officers engaged in a fight outside the city’s Circle Center mall. They were off duty and had just consumed a large amount of beer in the city’s luxury suite at a ball game. They were later tried for battery, disorderly conduct and public intoxication but the 1997 trial ended in a hung jury.
(SFEC,10/26/97, p.A7)
1996 Dec 27, In South Bend, Ind., Annie Fulford was shot and killed during a drug-related robbery. Her boyfriend, Leif O’Connell, began a rampage and after 2 months began drive-by shootings of black men that left 1 dead and five injured. He and accomplice, Jerred Kahlenbeck, faced murder and attempted murder charges.
(SFC, 5/13/97, p.A2)
1997 May 27, Arie Luyendyk won the Indianapolis 500 for the second time.
(AP, 5/27/98)
1997 May 31, Rosie Will Monroe (77), aka Rosie the Riveter, died in Indiana. During WW II she worked as a riveter at the Willow Run Aircraft Factory in Ypsilanti, Michigan, building B-29 and B-24 bombers for the Air Force. She appeared in films and poster used by the U.S. government to encourage women to go to work in support of the war effort.
(www.yvonnesplace.net/news/rosemonroe.htm)
1997 Dec 29, In Newport, Indiana, Orville Lynn Majors (36), a former nurse, was arrested for murder and suspected in the deaths of 130 out of 147 patients that died while he was on duty between 1993 and 1995. In 1999 Majors was convicted in the deaths of 6 patients in 1994 at Vermillion County Hospital and sentenced to 6 consecutive 60-year terms in jail.
(SFC,12/30/97, p.A2)(SFC, 10/18/99, p.A11)
1997 Jim Brainard, the Republican mayor of Carmel, Indiana, built the city’s first roundabout. By 2021 Brainard was serving a 7th term and the city had 140 roundabouts, with a dozen still to come. .Brainard had studied at the University of Oxford in the 1980s and he became taken with European traffic flow.
(NY Times, 11/21/21)
1998 Mar 20, An Indiana man, Chris Dean (35), was arrested for sending the pipe bomb that killed Christopher Marquis of Vermont. Marquis had defrauded Dean in a $400 trade of Citizens Band radio equipment arranged on the Internet.
(SFC, 3/21/98, p.A3)
1998 Apr 30, In Indiana Antoine Whitehead (19) robbed the KeyBank in Carmel and killed Penny Schmitt (32) and shot 3 co-workers. He had just been refused a loan and killed himself following an intensive manhunt.
(SFC, 5/1/98, p.A10)
1998 Jun 18, In Portage, Ind., a commuter train struck a truck and dislodged a steel coil that crashed into the first train car and crushed 3 people to death.
(SFC, 6/19/98, p.A3)
1998 Jul 28, In Indiana explosions at the coal-fired generating plant of Southern Energy Co. in Hammond injured 16 people.
(SFC, 7/29/98, p.A3)
1998 Aug 2, In Indiana a stolen pickup carrying a homemade bomb crashed into the Tippecanoe County Courthouse in Lafayette. The driver escaped and there were no injuries.
(SFC, 8/4/98, p.A3)
1998 Oct 30, Four abortion clinics in 3 states, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, received letters claiming to contain deadly anthrax bacteria. The letters were tested and found to be free of anthrax.
(SFC, 10/31/98, p.A3)(SFEC, 11/1/98, p.A11)
1999 Jan 4, In Indianapolis William Kyle (6) was shot dead during a bad drug deal. His father Michael Kyle (37) used his children as shields during drug deals. Kyle was charged with murder as was Donnell L. Hughley (21), the alleged gunman.
(SFC, 1/30/99, p.A2)
1999 Jan 20, Eugene S. Pullman, publisher of the Indianapolis Star and the Indianapolis News, died at age 84.
(SFC, 1/22/99, p.E4)
1999 Feb 23, Federal authorities reported that Jay Scott Ballinger (36) of Indiana had admitted to burning as many as 50 churches in the last 5 years. He was charged with arson in 7 burnings in southern Indiana.
(SFC, 2/24/99, p.A5)
1999 May 30, Kenny Brack won the crash-marred Indianapolis 500, driving a car owned by racing legend A.J. Foyt.
(AP, 5/30/00)
1999 Jun 19, In Franklin Ronald Lee Shanabarger smothered to death his 7-month old son, Tyler, in revenge against his wife, Amy, who had refused to cut short a vacation in 1996 when his father died. It was later learned that Shanabarger had a $100,000 insurance policy for the boy.
(SFC, 6/29/99, p.A2)(SFEC, 7/4/99, p.A5)
1999 Jul 4, In Bloomington, Ind., Benjamin Nathaniel Smith killed Won Joon Moon (26), a Korean-born Indiana Univ. student. Later the same day he shot himself dead during a police chase in Salem, Ill. Authorities believe Smith was also responsible for killing former college basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong during a three-day rampage targeting minorities.
(SFC, 7/5/99, p.A1,5)(AP, 7/4/00)
1999 Nov 17, In Elkhart Sasezley Richardson (19) was shot by Jason Powell (19) in a random driveby shooting. Richardson died Nov 20. Powell was reportedly seeking admission to the Aryan Brotherhood and wanted a spiderweb tattoo for having killed a black person. Driver Alex Witmer (18) was also jailed.
(SFC, 11/24/99, p.A9)
1999 Nov 21, Kevin R. Noles (36) killed 3 people and then himself after he was expelled from a party in Angola.
(SFC, 11/22/99, p.A4)
2000 Mar 25, Judy Kirby (31) drove into oncoming traffic and killed 4 of her children and 3 people in an oncoming minivan near Martinsville. She was charged with 7 counts of murder. Her lawyer later argued that she suffered from postpartum depression.
(SFC, 5/10/00, p.C3)
2000 Sep 10, Bob Knight, Indian Univ. basketball coach, was fired for unacceptable behavior. Knight had led the team to 3 NCAA titles over 29 years.
(SFC, 9/11/00, p.A1)
2000 Sep 12, Robby Bott (45), a mechanic from Brooklyn, was found dead in the trunk of his burning Mercury Cougar.
(SFEC, 10/22/00, p.A12)
2000 Oct 17, Police in San Francisco captured Joshua Maxwell and Tessie McFarland of Indianapolis, wanted for killings in two states following a gun-shooting chase. Maxwell and McFarland were wanted for the recent murder of Sgt. Rudy Lopes in San Antonio, Texas, and for the murder of Robby Bott in Brooklyn, Indiana.
(SFC, 10/18/00, p.A1,5)
2001 Mar 30, Neal Boyd (16) was shot and killed by a former student (17) in the parking lot of Lew Wallace High School in Gary.
(SFC, 3/31/01, p.A4)
2001 Apr 1, Notre Dame won its first national championship in women's basketball, defeating Purdue, 66-64.
(AP, 4/1/02)
2001 Jun 19, Juan Raul Garza (44), Texas drug kingpin, was executed by injection in Terra Haute, Ind. He was the 2nd federal inmate to die since 1963.
(SFC, 6/20/01, p.A3)(WSJ, 6/20/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 6, In Indiana Robert L. Wissman, an employee of the Nu-Wood Decorative Millwork plant on the edge of Goshen killed manager Greg Oswald, wounded 6 others, and then killed himself. A love triangle was later aid to be the cause.
(SFC, 12/7/01, p.A3)(SFC, 12/8/01, p.A7)
2001 Dec 14, George O'Leary resigned as Notre Dame football coach five days after being hired, admitting he'd lied about his academic and athletic background.
(AP, 12/14/06)
2001 Dec 31, Notre Dame tapped Tyrone Willingham to be its football coach, replacing George O'Leary, who'd resigned because of misstatements about his academic and athletic achievements on his resume; Willingham became the first black head coach in any sport for the Irish.
(AP, 12/31/02)
2001 Michael Martone authored "The Blue Guide to Indiana.
(SSFC, 9/9/01, DB p.70)
2002 Mar 5, It was reported that a team of physicists claimed nuclear fusion utilizing a burst of ultrasound on a bubble of gases in a phenomenon known as sonoluminescence. Details were to appear the journal Science. In 2008 Purdue Univ. said physicist Rusi Taleyarkhan was guilty of misconduct in his research.
(SFC, 3/5/02, p.A4)(SFC, 7/19/08, p.A4)
2002 Apr 1, Maryland beat Indiana 64-52 in the NCAA basketball finals.
(SFC, 4/2/02, p.C1)
2002 May 17, Midwest flooding left as many as 9 people dead over the last 2 weeks. Missouri Gov. Bob Holden asked Pres. Bush to declare 37 counties as disaster areas. Illinois and Indiana were also hard hit.
(SFC, 5/18/02, p.A3)
2002 May 26, Helio Castroneves won his second straight Indianapolis 500 despite a protest filed by Paul Tracy.
(AP, 5/26/03)
2002 Sep 17, Elizabeth Coblentz (66), Amish cooking columnist, died. Her cook books included "The Amish Cook Cookbook" and "An Amish Christmas."
(SFC, 9/23/02, p.B5)
2003 Sep 13, Frank O'Bannon (73), Indiana Gov. since 1996, died. He had suffered a massive stroke in his Chicago hotel room on Sep 8. He was succeeded by Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan.
(SFC, 9/9/03, p.A3)
2003 Nov 2, Frank McCloskey (64), who represented Indiana's 8th District in Congress (1983-1995), died in Bloomington.
(SFC, 11/4/03, p.A21)
2003 Dec 31, Chicago regained the title of America's murder capital. It finished 2003 with 599 homicides. That was down from 648 a year earlier and the first time since 1967 that the total dipped below 600. Gary, Ind., appeared to finish 2003 with the nation's highest per capita homicide rate for the ninth straight year.
(AP, 1/1/04)
2004 Jan 15, Legislation was proposed to raise salaries for Indiana judges and legislators. Legislator earned and average of $37,210 for 2002. Trial judges had a base salary of $90,000, among the lowest in the USA.
(USAT, 1/16/04, p.10A)
2004 Mar 10, Robert D. Orr (86), former 2-term Indiana governor, died.
(SFC, 3/12/04, p.B7)
2004 May 10, In Bloomington, Indiana, Brood X of the 17-year Cicadas started emerging from the ground. Billions and possibly even trillions of cicadas were expected to emerge across much of the eastern half of the United States over the next few weeks.
(Reuters, 5/15/04)(Econ, 5/8/04, p.75)
2004 May 30, Buddy Rice won the Indianapolis 500 in the rain.
(AP, 5/30/05)
2004 Aug 16, J. Irwin Miller (95), former head of Cummins Engine Corp., died in Columbus, Indiana. Miller had used his wealth to promote good architecture for the city of Columbus.
(WSJ, 9/1/04, p.D10)
2004 Nov 2, Mitchell Daniels (R) was elected governor of Indiana with 53% of the vote.
(SFC, 11/4/04, p.A18)(Econ, 8/210, p.21)
2005 May 25, In Michigan City, Ind., Gregory Scott Johnson (40) died by injection at 12:28 a.m. for beating and stomping an 82-year-old woman to death in 1985, then setting her house on fire to hide the crime. Gov. Mitch Daniels rejected a request for a reprieve to allow Johnson to donate part of his liver to his ailing sister.
(AP, 5/25/05)(SFC, 5/25/05, p.A3)
2005 Sep 19, In Ohio Katelind Caudill (13) was shot and killed by Melvin Keeling (43) because she told authorities her best friend was being molested. Keeling fled the Cincinnati area. He was also sought for the killing of 2 convenience store clerks, Lisa Kendall (29) and Kendora Furr (38) at the Family Express store in Remington, Indiana. On Sep 28 more than a dozen investigators on the Keeling task force combed the woods in Gary, Indiana and found the fugitive's wallet, ID and other personal items a few blocks from where Keeling abandoned his van. Tracking dogs also followed Keeling's scent from the wooded area to nearby train tracks. He was an apparent suicide.
(SFC, 9/22/05, p.A6)(www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=34686)
2005 Oct 24, Abigail Brinkman (28), of Columbus, Ind., died and three companions spent three days floating in the stormy Caribbean off Belize after their weekend diving trip went awry.
(AP, 10/26/05)
2005 Nov 6, A tornado ripped across southwestern Indiana and northern Kentucky, killing at least 22 people, wrecking homes and knocking out power to thousands.
(AP, 11/6/05)(WSJ, 11/7/05, p.A1)
2005 Nov 15, Nearly 3 dozen tornadoes hit Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee destroying dozens of homes and killing 2 people.
(SFC, 11/17/05, p.A14)
2005 Indiana passed legislation requiring voters to provide a giovernment issued photo ID. In 2008 the US Supreme Court upheld the law.
(Econ, 5/3/08, p.40)
2005 There was a measles outbreak among school children in Indiana. In 2006 the CDC attributed it to home-schooled children whose parents avoided vaccinations out of safety concern. The outbreak was later traced to a 17-year-old girl who had traveled to Romania without getting vaccinated.
(WSJ, 8/3/06, p.A1)(SFC, 12/22/06, p.A18)
2006 Feb 28, In Gas City, Indiana, a museum chronicling the short life of James Dean closed after struggling financially since its opening in 2004. David Loehr said he would soon be setting up a small display in the National Automotive & Truck Museum in Auburn.
(AP, 3/30/06)
2006 Mar 11, Rural house fires in Tennessee and Indiana killed 15 members of two families, and most of the victims were children.
(AP, 3/12/06)
2006 Mar 12-2006 Mar 13, Swarms of tornadoes killed at least 10 people across the Midwest states of Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. It caused so much damage in Springfield, Ill., that the mayor compared it to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
(AP, 3/13/06)
2006 Mar 13, South Korea’s Kia Motors Corp. said it will build a $1.2 billion factory in West Point, Ga., its first in the US. Toyota said it will build a plant in Lafayette, Ind.
(SFC, 3/14/06, p.D3)
2006 Apr 12, The Indiana Toll Road was leased for $3.8 billion to a Spanish-Australian consortium that is to maintain and run it for 75 years.
(WSJ, 4/13/06, p.A1)
2006 May 28, Sam Hornish Jr. won the second-closest Indianapolis 500 ever.
(AP, 5/28/07)
2006 Jun 1, In Indiana 7 Covarrubias family members, the youngest just 5 years old, were shot to death in their Indianapolis home. The next day police arrested suspect James Stewart (30) without incident after a traffic stop. A second suspect, Desmond Turner (28), turned himself in on June 3. Robbery was the suspected motive.
(AP, 6/2-3/06)(SSFC, 6/4/06, p.A11)
2006 Jul 23, In southern Indiana 2 sets of sniper attacks within hours of each other left one man dead, another wounded and four vehicles peppered with bullet holes. On July 25 police said a Gaston youth (18) confessed to weekend sniping.
(AP, 7/24/06)(WSJ, 7/26/06, p.A1)
2006 Aug 8, In Indianapolis, Indiana, a fatal stabbing boosted the homicides to 13 in just one week in the midst of an upsurge of violence that has police working longer shifts and saturating high-crime areas.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 13, In Michigan City, Indiana, fire swept through a two-story house, killing at least six people. An unknown number of others were missing. It was not clear whether they had left the scene or were still inside the home.
(AP, 8/13/06)
2006 Oct 25, A US federal judge ruled that Indiana’s do-not-call list applies to political telemarketers in a House race.
(WSJ, 10/26/06, p.A1)
2006 Nov 1, In Indiana Stephanie Wagner, a missing 16-year-old girl, was found dead in a field. Authorities jailed Danny R. Rouse (51), her restaurant co-worker and a convicted child murderer, who confessed to killing the teen. Rouse was released from prison in March after serving more than 26 years for murdering a 5-year-old Kansas boy in 1979.
(AP, 11/2/06)
2006 Dec 15, In Indianapolis health officials closed an Olive Garden restaurant after receiving over 300 calls from people who said they had become ill after eating there.
(SFC, 12/16/06, p.A3)
2006 Dec 18, In South Bend, Indiana, Daniel Sharp (56) began killing homeless men suspected in stealing scrap metal. In February 2006 Sharp admitted that he and Randy Lee Reeder (50) killed 4 men between Dec 18 and Dec 21 for stealing metal that he and Reeder had collected to sell for salvage. In 2007 Sharp pleaded guilty to the killings.
(SFC, 2/5/07, p.A3)(SFC, 5/31/07, p.A3)
2007 Jan 17, A US snow and ice storm was blamed for at least 64 deaths in nine states. These included 20 deaths in Oklahoma, 9 in Missouri, 8 in Iowa, 4 in New York, 5 in Texas, 4 in Michigan, 3 in Arkansas, and 1 each in Maine and Indiana.
(AP, 1/17/07)(SFC, 1/18/07, p.A3)
2007 Jan 21, Lovie Smith became the first black head coach to make it to the Super Bowl when his Chicago Bears won the NFC championship, beating the New Orleans Saints 39-14; Tony Dungy became the second when his Indianapolis Colts took the AFC title over the New England Patriots, 38-34.
(AP, 1/21/08)
2007 Feb 4, Peyton Manning added the missing ingredient to his Hall of Fame credentials by leading the Indianapolis Colts to a 29-17 victory over the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.
(Reuters, 2/5/07)
2007 May 27, Dario Franchitti won a rain-abbreviated Indy 500.
(AP, 5/27/08)
2007 Aug 10, In southern Indiana 3 men were killed in a coal mine when a nylon sling used to transport supplies up and down a shaft got caught, causing the bucket the men were riding in to tip and send them plummeting more than 500 feet to their deaths.
(WSJ, 8/11/07, p.A1)(AP, 8/10/08)
2007 Dec 16, Street and highway crews were at work trying to clear roads across the Great Lakes states into New England as a storm blamed for three deaths spread a hazardous mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain. The storm was blamed for at least 10 deaths including 4 in Indiana, 2 in Michigan and Wisconsin, one in Pennsylvania and one in Nova Scotia.
(AP, 12/16/07)(SFC, 12/18/07, p.A19)
2007 Dec 23, High wind and ice coated power lines blacked out tens of thousands of people in the Midwest. The storm was blamed for at least 22 deaths. At least 8 people in Minnesota, 5 in Wisconsin, 3 each in Indiana and Wyoming and one each in Michigan, Texas and Kansas were killed in traffic accidents.
(AP, 12/23/07)(WSJ, 12/24/07, p.A1)(SFC, 12/25/07, p.A11)
2008 Jan 8, Flooding in northern Indiana left 3 people dead.
(SFC, 1/10/08, p.A3)
2009 Jan 11, Marcus Schrenker's plane went down en route to Destin, Fla., from Anderson, Ind. Schrenker (38), an Indiana investment manager, had reported that the windshield imploded and that he was bleeding profusely. Federal marshals believe he faked a distress call before parachuting from his plane over Alabama and disappearing on a motorcycle he had stashed in advance. US Marshals apprehended Schrenker on Jan 13 at a northern Florida campground. Officers had to tend to Schrenker's self-inflicted gash to the wrist before he was airlifted to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. In August Schrenker pleaded guilty was sentenced in Florida to 4 years and 3 months in federal prison.
(AP, 1/13/09)(AP, 1/14/09)(SFC, 8/20/09, p.A4)
2008 Jan 14, In Indianapolis two mothers and their 2 babies were shot and killed. 2 men were seen running form the victim’s home. Four men were later arrested in connection with the fatal shootings.
(SFC, 1/16/08, p.A4)(AP, 1/20/08)
2008 Mar 19, Flooding forced hundreds of people to flee their homes and closed scores of roads across a wide swath of the US midsection as a huge storm system poured as much as 10 inches of rain on the region. Flooding was reported in parts of Arkansas, southern Illinois, southern Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky with over a dozen deaths.
(AP, 3/19/08)(AP, 3/20/08)
2008 Apr 28, The US Supreme Court upheld Indian’s voter-ID law, passed in 2005. It ruled that states can require voters to produce photo identification without violating their constitutional rights, validating Republican-inspired voter ID laws.
(AP, 4/28/08)(WSJ, 4/29/08, p.A1)(Econ, 5/3/08, p.40)
2008 May 6, Sen. Barack Obama climbed within 200 delegates of clinching the Democratic presidential nomination. In the Indiana primary Clinton won 51% to 49%. In North Carolina Obama won 56% to 42%.
(AP, 5/7/08)(SFC, 5/7/08, p.A1)
2008 Jun 8, Wicked weekend storms pounded the US from the Midwest to the East Coast, forcing hundreds of people to flee flooded communities, spawning tornadoes that tore up houses and killing at least eight people in Indiana (1), Michigan (6), Connecticut (1). Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle declared a state of emergency in 29 counties and President Bush declared a major disaster in 29 Indiana counties, freeing up aid. Iowa Gov. Chet Culver declared an emergency in nearly a third of the state's 99 counties.
(AP, 6/8/08)
2008 Oct 3, The Great Lakes Governors (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin) applauded President George W. Bush for signing a joint resolution of Congress providing consent to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. It barred new diversions beyond the Great Lakes Basin.
(www.cglg.org/projects/water/CompactConsent.asp)(Econ, 5/22/10, p.36)
2008 Nov 4, Mitchell Daniels (R) was re-elected governor of Indiana with 58% of the vote.
(Econ, 8/21/10, p.21)
2008 Nov 26, Edna Parker (115), the world’s oldest person, died in Shelbyville, Indiana.
(WSJ, 11/28/08, p.A10)
2009 Jan 24, In Las Vegas Miss Indiana Katie Stam was crowned Miss America 2009 by Miss America 2008 Kirsten Haglund.
(AP, 1/25/09)
2009 Jan 28, President Barack Obama signed requests from Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe for federal emergency declarations as crews worked around the clock to resurrect power lines downed by thick ice in both states. Since the storm began building on Jan 26, the weather has been blamed for at least six deaths in Texas, four in Arkansas, three in Virginia, six in Missouri, two in Oklahoma, and one each in Indiana and Ohio.
(AP, 1/29/09)
2009 May 17, In Indiana Pres. Obama addressed a graduation ceremony at Notre Dame Univ. and called for “open hearts, open minds and fair-minded words" in the pursuit of “common ground" regarding the issue of abortion rights.
(SFC, 5/18/09, p.A3)
2009 Jun 15, In Indiana the bodies of Dr. Philip Gabriele (44), an eye surgeon, and his wife, Marcella (43), were found at his clinic in Elkhart. Suicide was suspected as they were scheduled to surrender to authorities on charges of performing unnecessary surgeries on patients and bilking money from health insurers.
(SFC, 6/16/09, p.A4)
2009 Nov 4, The US Dept. of Agriculture said pigs in a commercial herd in Indiana have tested positive for swine flu, making it the first time the virus has been found in such hogs.
(SFC, 11/5/09, p.A9)
2009 Nov 29, Andrew Conley (17) of Rising Sun, Indiana, strangled his 10-year-old brother as the two wrestled. The teen told investigators he had had fantasies about killing someone since he was in eighth grade, including cutting somebody's throat, and felt "just like" the serial killer Dexter on the Showtime television series of the same name.
(AP, 12/4/09)
2009 Dec 15, In Italy Dr. Mark Weinberger, a fugitive American doctor, was arrested near the northern border with France. He was found in a tent near Mont Blanc. Weinberger, of Merrillville, Indiana, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Hammond, Indiana, in 2006 on 22 counts of fraud for allegedly scheming to overbill insurance companies for procedures that were either not needed or sometimes never performed. On Dec 24 a court in Turin approved a US extradition request.
(AP, 12/24/09)
2010 Mar 28, US federal agents in Ohio arrested 2 members of Hutaree, a Christian militia group “preparing for end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive." A 3rd person was arrested the next day in Indiana as part of an investigation led by the FBI in Michigan.
(SFC, 3/29/10, p.A6)
2010 May 18, Indiana Republican Rep. Mark Souder announced he would resign from Congress, effective May 21, because he had an affair with a staffer.
(AP, 5/18/10)
2010 May 30, In Indianapolis Marco Andretti earned his first podium finish of the season at the Indy 500 following an extensive video review that showed three cars illegally passed the 23-year-old under caution in the race's final yards.
(AP, 5/30/10)
2010 Oct 21, In Oregon a former Bend police captain and his wife, who have been under investigation by the FBI and IRS over their real estate dealings in Oregon and Indiana, were indicted on fraud charges. Kevin (56) and Tamara (47) "Tami" Sawyer were charged with 21 counts of various crimes that include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors claim the fraud cost investors more than $4.4 million.
(AP, 10/23/10)
2010 Dec 13, Schools in Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and other states closed because of snow and low temperatures. Authorities worked frantically to reach motorists in snow-covered northwest Indiana who were trapped in their cars in biting temperatures.
(AP, 12/13/10)
2011 Jan 23, In Indiana police officer David Moore was shot twice in the face during a traffic stop in Indianapolis. On Jan 26 Moore was declared brain dead.
(SFC, 1/27/11, p.A6)
2011 Feb 22, Democratic members of the Indiana House of Representatives left Indianapolis to deny Republicans a quorum hoping to kill legislation that included a bill allowing workers in private-sector unions the right to opt out of their dues or fees.
(SFC, 2/24/11, p.A7)
2011 Mar 28, Indiana House Democrats, who fled the state 5 weeks ago to protest a Republican assault on labor unions and public education, resumed work after winning concessions on several issues.
(SFC, 3/29/11, p.A6)
2011 Apr 27, The Indiana state House approved a bill to cut $3 million in federal money for the Planned Parenthood organization. The state Senate approved the bill earlier this month. Rep. Gov. Mitch Daniels signed the bill on May 10.
(SFC, 4/28/11, p.A6)(SFC, 4/30/11, p.A7)(SFC, 5/11/11, p.A4)
2011 May 5, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed two bills into law establishing a statewide private school voucher program and expanding charter schools.
(www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jun2011/indi-j02.shtml)(SFC, 8/29/11, p.A6)
2011 Jun 24, In Indiana a federal judge issued an injunction barring the state from cutting off funding for general health services by Planned Parenthood clinics just because the organization also provides abortions.
(SSFC, 6/26/11, p.A11)
2011 Aug 8, The US Justice department and 4 the attorney generals of California, Illinois, Florida, and Indiana accused Pittsburgh-based Education Management Corp. of paying recruiters to enroll students in an $11 billion fraud case.
(SFC, 8/8/11, p.A5)
2011 Aug 13, In Indiana a wind gust toppled a stage at the state fair in Indianapolis killing 5 people and injuring dozens of fans waiting for the country band Sugarland to perform. A 6th person died of her injuries on Aug 19. The death toll reached 7 people in the disaster with 58 injured. A government in 2012 blamed fair officials, a stagehands union and a company that built the roof and lights rigging for the stage collapse.
(SFC, 8/15/11, p.A4)(SFC, 8/20/11, p.A6)(SFC, 2/9/12, p.A7)
2011 Aug 21, In northern Indiana Arthur L. Anderson a 76-year-old Scout leader was stabbed to death while leading Boy Scouts on a hiking trip. Suspect Shane C. Golitko (22), who battered his mother and killed a dog near the trail, was arrested following an eight-mile police chase.
(AP, 8/22/11)
2011 Sep 25, In Indiana 5 people were found slain in 2 residences near Laurel.
(SFC, 9/26/11, p.A4)
2011 Oct 27, In Indiana 7 of 10 people in a minivan full of relatives were killed when their vehicle hit a deer and then was slammed from behind by a semitrailer about 10 miles east of South Bend. Burials were planned in their home country of Ecuador.
(SFC, 10/29/11, p.A5)(SSFC, 10/30/11, p.A11)
2011 Dec 22, In Fort Wayne, Indiana, babysitter and trusted neighbor Michael Plumadore (39) bludgeoned Aliahna Lemmon (9) to death with a brick then dismembered her, hiding her head, hands and feet at his home and dumping the rest of her remains nearby.
(AP, 12/28/11)
2012 Feb 1, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed legislation making Indiana the 23rd right-to-work state.
(SFC, 2/2/12, p.A7)
2012 Feb 4, An Indiana jury convicted Charlie White, the Republican Sec. of State, of multiple voter-fraud-related charges.
(SSFC, 2/5/12, p.A9)
2012 Feb 5, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning led his team to a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
(SFC, 2/6/12, p.B1)
2012 Mar 2, A string of violent storms scratched away small towns in the South and Midwest as an early season tornado outbreak left 39 people in 5 states, including 14 in Indiana, 19 in Kentucky, 3 in Ohio and one each in Alabama and Georgia.
(AP, 3/3/12)(http://tinyurl.com/6u9f2bp)(SFC, 3/5/12, p.A9)
2012 Apr 6, In Indiana Richard Leon Finkbinder (39) was arrested and charged with coercing 2 teenage boys into performing online sex acts for him by threatening to post on gay porn sites videos he secretly made of them.
(SFC, 4/10/12, p.A12)
2012 Apr 27, In Albany, Indiana, the remains of Stephanie Marie Kirk (35), last seen on March 25, were found at the home of William Gibson. He was being held in connection with the death last week of Christine Whitis (75) and the death of Karen Hodella (44), whose body was found in 2003.
(SSFC, 4/29/12, p.A9)
2012 May 5, In Indianapolis Leon Thomas III (4) was stabbed to death. Police picked up his 14-year-old cousin covered in blood. She faced a preliminary murder charge. The boy and his 11-year-old sister were at their grandparent's apartment at the time of the attack.
(AFP, 5/7/12)
2012 May 23, BP agreed to spend over $400 million to settle legal complaints about chronic pollution problems at its refinery in northwest Indiana.
(SFC, 5/24/12, p.A8)
2012 May 25, In Indiana a gunman allegedly shot himself in the head after an hours-long standoff in which he held as many as 10 hostages in an office building in Valparaiso, 30 miles from Chicago. The SWAT team stormed the office shortly after the gunman released the last hostage. He suffered 3 gunshot wounds before dying, likely from two different weapons.
(AP, 5/26/12)
2012 Jul 11, US federal prosecutors said 42 people connected to the Outlaws motorcycle gang were arrested during raids in Indianapolis. They faced charges that included drug trafficking and extortion.
(SFC, 7/12/12, p.A7)
2012 Nov 6, In Indiana Mike Pence, a Republican congressman, was elected state governor.
(Econ, 11/10/12, p.34)
2012 Nov 10, In Indiana a late night massive explosion sparked a huge fire and killed two people in an Indianapolis neighborhood more than 80 homes were damaged or destroyed. On Dec 21 the home's owner, Monserrate Shirley; her boyfriend, Mark Leonard; and his brother, Bob Leonard, were arrested and charged with murder, arson and other counts. On July 14, 2015, Mark Leonard (46) was convicted of murder, arson and insurance fraud. In August he was sentenced to two life sentences. On March 18, 2016, Bob Leonard was sentenced to life in prison.
(AP, 11/11/12)(AP, 12/21/12)(SFC, 7/15/15, p.A6)
2012 Nov 30, Timothy Durham (50), a former chief executive of National Lampoon, was sentenced in Indianapolis to 50 years in prison for securities fraud, conspiracy and wire fraud.
(SFC, 12/1/12, p.A5)
2012 Dec 15, In Indiana Von. I. Meyer (60) of Cedar Lake, was arrested after prosecutors filed formal charges of felony intimidation, domestic battery and resisting law enforcement against him. He had allegedly threatened to "kill as many people as he could" at an elementary school near his home. Officers found 47 guns and ammunition hidden throughout his home.
(AP, 12/16/12)
2013 Mar 17, In Indiana a small plane crashed in South Bend killing 2 men including Steve Davis (60), former Oklahoma quarterback.
(SFC, 2/19/13, p.A7)
2013 Apr 19, Floodwaters swelled the Mississippi River and other Midwestern rivers following days of torrential rains. In Quiincy, Ill., the river rose nearly 10 feet in 36 hours. Two flood related deaths were in Indiana, a 3rd in Missouri.
(SFC, 4/20/13, p.A4)(SSFC, 4/21/13, p.A9)(SFC, 4/22/13, p.A6)
2013 May 11, In Indiana 3 men and a woman were found shot to death in Waynesville.
(AP, 5/13/13)
2013 Jul 27, In Indiana a bus carrying teenagers from a church camp crashed in Indianapolis. 3 people were killed.
(SSFC, 7/28/13, p.A8)
2014 Jan 16, In northern Indiana a man fatally shot two women in a grocery store and was waving a gun at a kneeling store manager when police arrived and killed the gunman in Elkhart.
(SFC, 1/17/14, p.A7)
2014 Jan 21, In Indiana Cody Cousins (24) shot and stabbed to death Andrew Boldt (21). On Sep 19 Cousins was sentenced on to 65 years in prison for killing his fellow Purdue engineering senior whom he envied, in front of about a dozen students in a lab class.
(AP, 9/19/14)
2014 Jan 24, Over 40 vehicles piled up in blinding snow on I-94 in a crash near Michigan City, Ind. A couple from Michigan and a man from Chicago were killed.
(SFC, 1/25/14, p.A12)
2014 May 17, US health officials reported what appears to be the first time that a mysterious Middle East virus (MERS) has spread from one person to another in the United States. An Illinois man probably picked up an infection from an Indiana man who earlier this month became the first US case of Middle East respiratory syndrome.
(AP, 5/18/14)
2014 Jul 5, In Indianapolis police Officer Perry Renn (51) was shot and killed when responding to a report of shots fired near the intersection of East 34th Street and Forest Manor Avenue. On April 27, 2017, Major Davis II (27) was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty last week to killing Renn.
(SFC, 4/28/17, p.A5)
2014 Jul 22, Babar Suleman (58) and his son Haris (17) were killed when their small plane crashed shortly after leaving Pago Pago in American Samoa. They had departed Indiana on June 19 for a round the world flight to raise to break records and raise money for the Citizens Foundation, a nonprofit that builds schools in Pakistan.
(SFC, 7/24/14, p.A8)(SFC, 7/25/14, p.A11)
2014 Aug 15, In Indiana William Clyde Gibson III (56) was sentenced to death in the strangling of Stephanie Kirk (35) of Charlestown. Gibson was sentenced to death last year for the murder of Christine Whitis (75), whose body was discovered in his garage days before Kirk's body was found.
(AP, 8/15/14)
2014 Oct 6, The US Supreme Court denied review of cases in five states that had limited marriage to opposite sex couples. This in effect granted equal marriage rights to gays and lesbians in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.
(SFC, 10/7/14, p.A1)
2014 Oct 7, A cell-phone video was released showing Indiana police breaking a car window and then using a stun gun on a man in a car after police stopped the driver for not wearing a seat belt.
(SFC, 10/8/14, p.A6)
2014 Oct 17, Indiana police found the body of Afrika Hardy (19) in a Motel 6 in Hammond. Police the next day arrested Darren Vann (43) of Gary. Vann confessed and told where the bodies of other women would be found. The body of Anith Jones of Merrillville, missing since Oct 8, was found the next day. Five more bodies were found on Oct 19.
(SFC, 10/20/14, p.A5)(SFC, 10/21/14, p.A6)
2015 Feb 7, Workers at refineries in Indiana and Ohio went on strike against two BP plants in an extension of strikes that began Feb 1.
(SSFC, 2/8/15, p.A9)
2015 Feb 26, In Indiana Theodore Hesburgh (b.1917), former president of Notre Dame Univ. (1952-1987), died. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2000.
(SFC, 2/28/15, p.A5)
2015 Mar 24, In Indiana 4 people were found fatally shot this morning at a ransacked home in Indianapolis.
(Reuters, 3/24/15)
2015 Mar 26, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed into law a religious objections bill that some convention organizers and business leaders have opposed amid concern it could allow discrimination against gay people.
(AP, 3/26/15)
2015 Mar, Indiana state health officials reported 81 HIV-positive tests in one week with most of them coming from the small town of Austin.
(SFC, 4/6/15, p.A7)
2015 Apr 2, The US states of Arkansas and Indiana passed amended versions of religious freedom laws following a nationwide outcry that the original legislation effectively legalized discrimination against homosexuals.
(AFP, 4/2/15)
2015 Apr 24, In Indiana the body of Hannah Wilson (22), a student at Indiana Univ. was found near Lake Lemmon. Daniel Messel (49) was arrested in the case.
(SSFC, 4/26/15, p.A9)
2015 Apr 29, Russell Taylor, executive director of the Jared Foundation, was arrested at his home in Wayne Township, Indiana, after investigators found child pornography. The Jared Foundation to prevent childhood obesity was started in 2004 by Jared Fogle, spokesperson for sandwich chain Subway.
(http://tinyurl.com/pby9uyk)(SFC, 7/8/15, p.A14)
2015 Aug 19, In Indiana Jared Fogle (37), the longtime pitchman for the Subway sandwich chain, pleaded guilty to allegations that he paid for sex acts with minors and received child pornography. On Nov 19 Fogle was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison.
(SFC, 8/20/15, p.A6)(SFC, 11/20/15, p.A14)
2015 Nov 14, In Indiana Lonny Jordan Hatland (20), a reserve officer with the Muncie Police Department, was arrested for sexually and physically assaulting a juvenile girl and coercing her into having sex with other men.
(AP, 11/16/15)
2015 Nov 16, Indiana Gov. Michael Pence suspended the resettlement of Syrian refugees three days after the terror attacks in Paris. As many as 30 other Republican governors and one Democrat soon made similar moves. On Feb 29, 2016, a federal judge ruled the Gov. Pence’s order to cut federal funds for the resettlement of Syrian refugees in his state was unconstitutional. On March 8 Indiana filed an appeal.
(Econ, 3/19/15, p.30)
2016 Jan 15, US federal officials said an H7N8 strain of bird flu has been found at a southern Indiana turkey farm. The entire flock of some 60,000 turkeys was euthanized. Authorities the next day said nine more turkey farms had tested positive.
(SFC, 1/16/16, p.A5)(SSFC, 1/17/16, p.A8)
2016 Mar 24, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed a bill that added broad limits to women’s access to abortions. The bill prohibited abortions on the grounds of Down’s syndrome or any other disability. On April 7 the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky sued Indiana over the law.
(http://tinyurl.com/zlxr6zj)(SFC, 3/25/16, p.A4)(Econ, 4/2/16, p.30)(SFC, 4/8/16, p.A6)
2016 Jun 30, A US federal judge blocked an Indiana law prohibiting abortions sought because of a fetus’ genetic abnormalities because the state does not have authority to limit a woman’s reasons for ending a pregnancy.
(SFC, 7/1/16, p.A6)
2016 Jul 15, GOP front runner Donald Trump named Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate.
(SFC, 7/16/16, p.A6)
2016 Jul 22, In northern Indiana 14 dogs were found dead after air conditioning failed in a truck they were housed in for a dog show.
(SFC, 7/26/16, p.A5)
2016 Aug 24, Several tornadoes plowed through central Indiana, demolishing numerous homes and a Starbucks cafe in the town of Kokomo and cutting off power to thousands of Indianapolis-area residents. No serious injuries were reported.
(Reuters, 8/25/16)
2016 Aug 28, In northwestern Indiana Justin L. Babbs (20), Richard Thomas (23) and Kimberly Spears (39) were killed in Sumava Resorts, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Gary. In 2018 Derrick Cardosi was convicted of murder and other charges and sentenced to life in prison. His co-defendant, Sebastian Wedding, pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to 55 years in prison.
(http://tinyurl.com/y34kjyhp)(AP, 8/8/19)
2016 Nov 21, In Indiana a house fire killed four young sisters in the town of Flora.
(SFC, 11/22/16, p.A5)
2016 Nov 30, Air-conditioning maker Carrier Corp. said it has reached a deal with Pres.-elect Donald Trump to keep nearly 1,000 jobs in Indiana.
(SFC, 12/1/16, p.C2)
2017 Jan 5, US Pres.-elect Donald Trump selected former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats to lead the office of the Director of National Intelligence.
(SFC, 1/6/17, p.A5)
2017 Feb 28, Tornadoes and storms killed at least three people and destroyed homes in Illinois and Missouri. Tornado spotters reported at least 23 twisters in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Tennessee and Indiana.
(Reuters, 3/1/17)(SFC, 3/2/17, p.A6)
2017 Apr 22, US actress Erin Moran (56) died in Corydon, Indiana. She played the mischievous kid sister Joanie on the sitcom "Happy Days" (1974-1984) and its spin-off "Joanie Loves Chachi" (1982-1983).
(AFP, 4/23/17)
2017 May 28, In Indiana Takuma Sato became the first Japanese driver to win the Indianapolis 500.
(AP, 5/29/17)
2017 Jun 29, Indianapolis police killed Aaron Bailey (45), an unarmed black man, who crashed his car while fleeing from a traffic stop. No criminal charges were filled against the two police officers involved.
(http://tinyurl.com/y6wzbj3e)(SFC, 11/1/17, p.A5)
2017 Jul 27, In Indiana police Officer Aaron Allen was shot and killed while responding to a traffic crash on the south side of Indianapolis. Other officers returned fire striking a person inside the vehicle.
(SFC, 7/28/17, p.A6)
2017 Sep 22, A federal judge blocked Indiana from enforcing provisions of a law banning abortions sought due to fetal genetic abnormalities and requiring that aborted fetuses be buried or cremated.
(SFC, 9/26/17, p.A5)
2017 Dec 16, In southeastern Indiana a single-engine Cessna crashed near Oldenberg killing three people.
(SFC, 12/18/17, p.A5)
2018 Jan 17, Central Indiana health network Hancock Health said it has paid $55,000 ransom to hackers to regain access to hospital computer systems.
(SFC, 1/18/18, p.A5)
2018 Feb 4, Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and an Uber driver were struck early today and killed by a pickup truck driven by an illegal immigrant, who was arrested shortly after the fatal crash. Manuel Orrego-Savala (37), who is from Guatemala and has twice been deported from the US, was later charged with causing death while driving intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident.
(AP, 2/7/18)
2018 Feb 23, High waters in the US Midwest persisted in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio in areas swamped by heavy rains and melting snow.
(SFC, 2/24/18, p.A6)
2018 May 4, In Indiana police Officer Robert Pitts was killed in a shootout as he and other oficers approached an Apartment complex in Terre Haute. The suspect was killed.
(SSFC, 5/6/18, p.A14)
2018 May 25, In Indiana a male student (13) armed with two handguns opened fire at the Noblesville West Middle School wounding a teacher and another student. Science teacher Jason Seaman swatted a gun from his hand and tackled him to the ground.
(SFC, 5/26/18, p.A7)(SFC, 6/12/18, p.A7)
2018 Sep 1, In Indiana four people were killed in a crash on I-90 involving wrong-way driver Tiara Davis (25) of Indiana.
(SSFC, 9/2/18, p.A10)
2018 Nov 22, In northeastern Indiana three people were killed and two others critically injured during a possible home invasion late this Thanksgiving day in Fort Wayne. Suspect Kameron Joyner (22) was arrested the next day.
(SFC, 11/24/18, p.A6)
2018 Nov 28, Authorities in Indiana recovered six bodies from the rubble of a burned out home in Logansport. Four children and two adults were believed to have died in the fire.
(SFC, 11/29/18, p.A6)
2018 Nov 30, In southern Indiana a small jet crashed with no survivors after taking off from Clark County Airport. Three people were believed to have been aboard.
(SFC, 12/1/18, p.A6)
2018 Dec 9, In Indiana Breanna Rouhselang (17) and her fetus died after being stabbed by Aaron Trejo (16) in Mishawaka following an argument over her pregnancy. Trejo said she had waited too long to tell him she was pregnant ad it was too late to get an abortion.
(SFC, 12/11/18, p.A5)
2018 Dec 21, In Indiana John Miller (59) was sentenced to 80 years in prison for the 1988 abduction, rape and killing of April Tinsley (8) of Fort Wayne.
(SFC, 12/22/18, p.A5)
2019 Jan 2, US soldier Peter Lian (21) was charged with murder in the death of his estranged wife, Khuang Par, whose body was discovered in a suitcase in an Indianapolis dumpster on Dec. 23. Lian was accused of flying to Indianapolis from Colorado to kill his estranged wife, then dumping her body in a trash bin and fleeing to Thailand.
(AP, 1/3/19)
2019 Apr 14, Pete Buttigieg (37), the gay, liberal mayor of South Bend Indiana, officially launched his presidential bid, joining a crowded field of Democrats vying for their party's nomination in 2020.
(AFP, 4/14/19)
2019 Apr 28, Richard Lugar, former senator from Indiana (b.1932), died in Virginia. He had served as US Senator from Indiana for 36 years.
(SFC, 4/29/19, p.C3)
2019 May 23, John Walker Lindh (38), the American captured in Afghanistan in 2001 fighting for the Taliban, was released early a federal prison in Indiana after serving 17 years of a 20-year sentence. He was sent to live in Virginia and still faced three years of probation.
(Reuters, 5/23/19)(SFC, 5/24/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 16, Indiana police Officer Ryan O'Neill, responding to a report of a person breaking into cars in South Bend, confronted Eric Logan (54) and fatally shot him after he refused to drop a knife. O'Neill resigned the following month due to stress and media attention. In 2020 a special prosecutor said the shooting was justified.
(SFC, 7/17/19, p.A5)(SFC, 3/7/20, p.A5)
2019 Jun 21, In Indiana Akram Musleh of Brownsburg (21), arrested on June 21, 2016, was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison for trying to join the Islamic State group. He was also sentenced to 11 years and eight months of supervised release after he gets out of prison.
(AP, 6/21/19)
2019 Jun 28, In Indiana a federal judge blocked a new state law that would ban a second-trimester abortion procedure.
(SSFC, 6/30/19, p.A8)
2019 Jul, Duke Energy, America’s biggest utility, proposed large investments in natural gas in Indiana.
(Econ, 7/27/19, p.53)
2019 Aug 14, James McGhee, was arrested in Lake County, Indiana, late today after a days-long manhunt, in the death of Sidne-Nichole Buchanan (27). Buchanan, of Gary, Indiana, had vanished after attending a concert in Tinley Park, Illinois, on July 27. She was reported missing two days later.
(ABC News, 8/14/19)
2019 Aug 14, An Indiana steel plant released toxic levels of chemicals in the Little Calumet River, killing fish and shutting down parts of the Indiana Dunes. Arcelor-Mittal later apologized and accepted responsibility for the spill.
(http://tinyurl.com/y3nfzcxu)(SFC, 8/19/19, p.A5)
2019 Aug 23, In Indiana 16-year-old Nicholas Nelson and his 15-year-old sister, Ashlynn Nelson were shot and killed by a 15-year-old boy.
(AP, 8/28/19)
2019 Aug 31, In Indiana Amanda Carmack reported that her 10-year-old stepdaughter, Skylea Carmack, was missing. On Sept. 4 Carmack confessed to police that she killed Skylea and hid her body in a in a plastic bag in a shed behind their home in Gas City.
(SFC, 9/7/19, p.A5)
2019 Sep 2, In Indiana a flat-bottomed johnboat capsized late today on the White River killing two people and leaving three missing.
(AP, 9/3/19)
2019 Oct 9, Indianapolis man Darrin Banks (28) was sentenced to 53 years in prison for the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old girl and the wounding of her 19-year-old aunt. Banks and Brian Palmer (30) were charged with murder in the March 29, 2018, shooting that killed Malaysia Robson and wounded her aunt.
(AP, 10/10/19)
2019 Oct 11, Indiana state trooper Peter R. Stephan (27) was killed in a car crash in Tippecanoe County while he was headed to help another trooper.
(AP, 10/12/19)
2019 Oct 13, The Indianapolis Zoo said it plans to open an international center devoted to saving threatened species, an effort that zoo officials call a natural extension of their biennial Indianapolis Prize honoring animal conservation leaders.
(AP, 10/13/19)
2019 Oct 18, In Indiana Alyssa Shepherd (24) was found guilty of criminal recklessness in the Oct. 30, 2018, crash that killed 6-year-old twin brothers Xzavier and Mason Ingle, and their 9-year-old sister, Alivia Stahl.
(AP, 10/19/19)
2019 Oct 30, In Indiana emergency workers were called to the home in Battle Ground and found 36-year-old Laura Hurst dead with an 8-foot python coiled around her neck. The Reticulated Python was one of 140 snakes that were found inside the home.
(ABC News, 10/31/19)
2019 Nov 2, In western Indiana two Amish people were killed when a van car crashed into a horse-drawn buggy.
(AP, 11/2/19)
2019 Nov 18, In Indiana Dennis Tyler (76), the mayor of Muncie, was arrested for allegedly taking a $5,000 bribe in exchange for a public works contract.
(SFC, 11/19/19, p.A6)
2019 Nov 19, Thousands of red-clad Indiana teachers swarmed the state capitol building, chanting loudly to protest low salaries and evaluation policies and forcing half the state's school districts to cancel classes for the day.
(Reuters, 11/19/19)
2020 Feb 6, In Indiana four young people were fatally shot in Indianapolis late today in an apparent targeted attack.
(SFC, 2/7/20, p.A6)
2020 Mar 1, Pete Buttigieg (38), the former mayor of Indiana's fourth largest city, formally suspended his White House bid late today.
(AP, 3/1/20)
2020 Mar 20, In Indiana the bodies of Felina Lewis (35) and her two daughters were recovered after two vehicles were swept off a roadway overnight and into a creek following torrential rainfall. The body of a 3rd sibling was recovered the next day. Six people were presumed to have drowned in the tragedy.
(SSFC, 3/22/20, p.A5)(https://tinyurl.com/uorcnse)
2020 Mar 20, The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it had temporarily closed the air traffic control tower at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York and shuttered part of the Indianapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center for cleaning after workers tested positive for the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 3/20/20)
2020 Mar 21, Primaries scheduled for Georgia, Maryland, Indiana, Connecticut and Kentucky were all reported postponed to May or June due to the coronavirus pandemic.
(AP, 3/21/20)
2020 Apr 1, In Indiana a boy (8) died overnight after he was struck by stray gunfire when shots were fired into a house in Indianapolis.
(AP, 4/1/20)
2020 Apr 9, In Indiana an Indianapolis police officer was fatally shot during a domestic violence call. Detectives arrested Elliahs Dorsey (27) on preliminary charges of murder and attempted murder in the slaying of Officer Breann Leath (24).
(AP, 4/10/20)
2020 Apr 16, Governors in seven US Midwest states said they will work in close coordination to reopen the economy in their regions. The governors for Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky have formed a partnership to work together on restarting the economies in their states, they said in a statement.
(Reuters, 4/17/20)
2020 Apr 25, The Tyson plant in Logansport, Indiana, was closed after nearly 900 employees tested positive; it resumed limited operations on May 7.
{Indiana, USA, COVID-19}
(AP, 5/11/20)
2020 May 7, In Indiana protesters crowded the streets of Indianapolis to voice concerns about police treatment after officers shot and killed two men and fatally struck a pregnant pedestrian in three separate incidents just hours apart. Dreasjon Reed "21" was one of the two men killed.
(AP, 5/7/20)(SSFC, 5/10/20, p.A5)
2020 May 31, In Indiana overnight shootings in Indianapolis left two people dead.
(AP, 5/31/20)
2020 Jun 16, In Indiana a psychiatric patient disarmed and fatally shot a retired police officer at the Community Hospital in Munster early today before another retired officer working security at the hospital fatally shot the patient.
(AP, 6/16/20)
2020 Jul 13, A US district judge ordered a new delay in federal executions, hours before the first lethal injection was scheduled to be carried out at a federal prison in Indiana. Daniel Lewis Lee (47) had been scheduled to die today by lethal injection for the 1996 killing in Arkansas of gun dealer William Mueller, his wife and her daughter (8). The Trump administration immediately appealed to a higher court, asking that the executions move forward.
(AP, 7/13/20)(SFC, 7/13/20, p.A4)
2020 Jul 14, In Indiana, the US federal government carried out its first execution in almost two decades, killing by lethal injection Daniel Lewis Lee (47), a man convicted of murdering an Arkansas family in 1996 as part of a plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest. His final words were: "You’re killing an innocent man." Lee’s co-defendant and the reputed ringleader, Chevie Kehoe, received a life sentence.
(AP, 7/14/20)
2020 Jul 14, The FBI arrested an Indiana woman (19) they say was torturing and graphically killing cats and dogs. Private citizens helped identify Krystal Cherika Scott using social media and providing the information to law enforcement.
(Insider, 7/17/20)
2020 Jul 15, A US judge halted the execution of Wesley Ira Purkey (68), a man said to be suffering from dementia, who had been set to die by lethal injection in the federal government’s second execution after a 17-year hiatus. Purkey, convicted of a gruesome 1998 kidnapping and killing, was scheduled for execution this evening at the US Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.
(AP, 7/15/20)
2020 Jul 16, The United States carried out its second federal execution in three days following a hiatus of nearly two decades, killing by lethal injection Wesley Ira Purkey, a Kansas man, whose lawyers contended he had dementia and was unfit to be executed. Purkey was put to death at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was sentenced to be executed for kidnapping and killing Jennifer Long (16), before dismembering, burning and dumping her body in a septic pond. He was also convicted in a state court in Kansas of using a claw hammer to kill an 80-year-old woman who had polio.
(AP, 7/16/20)
2020 Jul 17, The US government executed Dustin Lee Honken (52), a convicted murderer, at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Honken was a dealer in illegal methamphetamine when he and his girlfriend murdered five people in Iowa in 1993.
(Reuters, 7/17/20)
2020 Aug 26, The Justice Department executed Lezmond Mitchell (38) at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. He was the only Native American man on federal death row and was executed against the wishes of Navajo leaders. He had been sentenced to death for the 2001 murder of a grandmother, Alyce Slim, and her 9-year-old granddaughter, Tiffany Lee. Mitchell was the fourth person to be executed since the Trump administration resumed federal capital punishment last year.
(NY Times, 8/27/20)
2020 Aug 28, In Indiana Keith Nelson (45), the killer of a Kansas girl, became the fifth federal inmate put to death this year, an execution that went forward only after a higher court tossed a ruling that would have required the government to get a prescription for the drug used to kill him. In 1999 Nelson raped and strangled Pamela Butler (10) with a wire.
(AP, 8/29/20)
2020 Sep 22, The US government executed William Emmett LeCroy (50) in Terre Haute, Indiana. The former soldier said an obsession with witchcraft led him to kill a Georgia nurse he believed had put a spell on him in 2001.
(AP, 9/23/20)
2020 Sep 23, Gale Sayers (77), Chicago Bears running back, died in Indiana, from complications of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. His short but brilliant career left opponents, as they used to say, clutching at air.
(AP, 9/24/20)
2020 Sep 24, In Indiana Christopher Vialva (40), a Black man, was executed by the federal government for a crime he committed at age 19, even though his attorney said prosecutors used inflammatory racial stereotypes during the trial 20 years ago to land her client on death row.
(NBC News, 9/24/20)
2020 Oct 24, In Indiana, a vehicle struck three Univ. of Notre Dame students in South Bend, killing two of them.
(SSFC, 10/25/20, p.A8)
2020 Nov 10, An Indianapolis police officer who fatally shot a Black man after a high-speed chase earlier this year was cleared by a grand jury. The group, which was empaneled to investigate the May 6 killing of Dreasjon Reed, 21, returned a “no bill," concluding that officer Dejoure Mercer should not face criminal charges.
(NBC News, 11/10/20)
2020 Nov 19, The US Justice Department executed Orlando Cordia Hall late today for his role in the 1994 kidnapping and killing of a 16-year-old girl, after the Supreme Court cleared the way earlier in the night. His execution, by lethal injection at the penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., was the eighth by the Trump administration since this summer.
(NY Times, 11/20/20)
2020 Dec 10, In Indiana Brandon Bernard (40) was put to death for his part in a 1999 killing of a religious couple from Iowa after he and other teenage members of a street gang abducted and robbed Todd and Stacie Bagley in Texas. Bernard, who was 18 at the time of the killings, was a rare execution of a person who was in his teens when his crime was committed.
(AP, 12/11/20)
2020 Dec 11, The Trump administration continued its unprecedented series of post-election federal executions by putting to death in Indiana Alfred Bourgeois (56), a Louisiana truck driver who severely abused his 2-year-old daughter for weeks in 2002, then killed her by slamming her head repeatedly against a truck’s windows and dashboard.
(AP, 12/11/20)
2020 Dec 28, In Indiana Winston Corbett (25) was sentenced to 115 years in prison for fatally stabbing college professor James Miller (58) and leaving the man's wife with nearly two dozen stab wounds during a home invasion in 2011.
(AP, 12/29/20)
2021 Jan 13, The Trump administration executed Lisa Montgomery (52) early today in Terre Haute, Ind., the only woman on federal death row. Montgomery had been sentenced to death for murdering a pregnant woman in 2004 and abducting the unborn child.
(AP, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 14, Convicted murderer Corey Johnson was executed in an Indiana prison for his role in a 1992 Virginia gang violence rampage that ended with 11 people killed in 45 days.
(TheGrio, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 16, Dustin Higgs (48) was executed early today at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind. He was sentenced to death for the 1996 killings of three women in a Maryland wildlife refuge, a crime that led to a life sentence for the man who fired the fatal shots. This was the 13th federal death row inmate to be executed since the Justice Department resumed federal capital punishment in July 2019 after a 17- year gap.
(SSFC, 1/17/21, p.A7)
2021 Jan 24, In Indiana five people and an unborn child were shot and killed in Indianapolis. A juvenile suspect was arrested the following day. Raymond Ronald Lee Childs III (17) was soon charged as an adult with six counts of murder.
(AP, 1/25/21)(AP, 1/28/21)
2021 Feb 2, The US Senate confirmed former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (39) as President Biden's transportation secretary. Buttigieg is the first openly gay Cabinet member in US history to win Senate confirmation. Cuban-born Alejandro Mayorkas as Homeland Security secretary.
(ABC News, 2/2/21)(SFC, 2/3/21, p.A3)
2021 Feb 5, It was reported that federal executions in the last months of the Trump administration likely served as a COVID superspreader. Employees at the Indiana prison complex where the 13 executions were carried out over six months had contact with inmates and other people infected with the coronavirus.
(AP, 2/6/21)
2021 Mar 28, In Indiana serial killer Joseph Edward Duncan III (58) died in US prison, having admitted to slaughtering seven people — including five children — in Idaho, Washington state, Montana and California.
(AP, 3/31/21)
2021 Apr 15, A gunman killed at least eight people at a FedEx warehouse on the grounds of the Indianapolis International Airport late today. Police said the gunman killed himself. At least five other people had been hospitalized with injuries, including one in critical condition. The suspected shooter was soon identified as Brandon Scott Hole (19).
(NY Times, 4/16/21)(AP, 4/17/21)
2021 Jun 30, A US federal judge on blocked a new Indiana law that would require doctors to tell women undergoing drug-induced abortions about a disputed treatment for potentially stopping the abortion process.
(AP, 6/30/21)
2021 Jul 19, A federal judge upheld Indiana University’s requirement that students and staff members on campus be vaccinated against the coronavirus this fall, but the ruling is unlikely to be the last chapter in the culture wars over vaccine mandates.
(NY Times, 7/19/21)
2021 Aug 10, A US federal judge ruled that several of Indiana's laws restricting abortion are unconstitutional.
(SFC, 8/11/21, p.A4)
2021 Sep 26, Indiana Dunes National Park closed its beaches and a northwest Indiana water utility shut down an intake facility after an orange substance apparently spilled from a US Steel plant into a Lake Michigan tributary.
(AP, 9/27/21)
2021 Oct 7, A second spill in less than two weeks at a US Steel plant in northwest Indiana sent an oily sheen onto a Lake Michigan tributary, prompting officials to close some nearby lake access as a precaution.
(AP, 10/8/21)
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Subject = Indiana
End of file.
