Indiana
Santa Claus, Indiana
Santa Claus, Indiana, receives more than one-half million letters and requests at Christmas time.
Stolen Profits
In June 1972, Lowell Elliot of Peru, Indiana, was said to have found $500,000 in cash on his farm. It appeared as if the money had fallen from the sky. And in fact, it did. A skyjacker parachuting out of a plane had dropped his stolen profits over Elliot’s farm. Elliot returned the money to the authorities.
Goldfish Farm
The first successful goldfish farm in the United States was opened in Martinsville, Indiana, in 1899.
Corn
In a typical year, almost half of all cropland in Indiana is planted in corn.
Slippery Noodle Inn
During Prohibition, the Al Brady and John Dillinger gangs were patrons of the Slippery Noodle Inn, one of Indiana's oldest bars. Established in 1850, the Inn considered itself Indiana's oldest bar. The gangs used the building in the rear (originally a horse stable for the Inn) for target practice. Today, several bullets remain embedded in the lower east wall.
Indiana Dunes
The Indiana Dunes region provides habitat for many unusual plants, including prickly pear cactus, lichen mosses, bearberry, and more than 20 varieties of orchids.
Vice Presidents
There have been five men from Indiana who have been elected
vice president: Schuyler Colfax, Thomas A. Hendricks, Charles W. Fairbanks, Thomas Marshall and Dan Quayle. They have earned Indiana the nickname "Mother of Vice Presidents."