Happy Birthday, Indiana!

200 Years Ago Today (December, 11th, 1816) Indiana was admitted to the Union as the 19th state! Happy Birthday, Indiana!

It’s Indiana’s Bicentennial!

Indianan Facts!

• The 1800 census counted 5,640 people in the Indiana Territory. Today, our population is around 6.5 million people!

• Indiana was the name given to the Indiana Territory by the United States Congress when Indiana was created from the Northwest Territory in 1800. Indiana means Land of Indians.

• Our first capital was Corydon!

• Why are we called Indianapolis? Jeremiah Sullivan, a judge of the Indiana Supreme Court, invented the name Indianapolis. He joined Indiana with polis. “Polis” is the Greek word for city; technically we are called “Indiana City” if you think about it lol.

• Nickname(s) of Indianapolis: Naptown, 317, Crossroads of America, Racing Capital of the World, and Amateur Sports Capital of the World.

• Our area code has been 317. Now we are adding 463 because we have so many numbers!

• Indiana is 270 miles long and 140 miles wide.

• Longitude: 84° 49' W to 88° 4' W Latitude: 37° 47' N to 41° 46' N

• The Indiana state quarter was officially unveiled on August 8, 2002 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Hoosier State’s quarter is centered around a modern “Indy” car calling attention to the world-famous Indianapolis 500 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

• Our teams? Indianapolis Colts, Indiana Pacers, Indianapolis Indians, and Indy Eleven.

• If you go to this link, they have present Indiana/past Indiana side by side.

Originally posted on Medium.

Follow Alesha Peterson on Twitter: https://twitter.com/aleshapeterson