Born in West Baden Springs, Indiana, Larry Bird grew up in both West Baden and the adjoining town of French Lick. A strong basketball player, Bird enrolled at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana, and led the Sycamores to the NCAA championship game in 1979. He went on to pursue a 13-year career in the NBA with the Boston Celtics. From 1997 to 2000, Bird served as the coach of the Indiana Pacers for the following three years and is currently the Pacers' President of Basketball Operations.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Carmichael attended Indiana University and maintained a lifelong affiliation with Indiana University. In 1937 he wrote the song "Chimes of Indiana" which was presented to the school as a gift by the class of 1935. It was made Indiana University's official co-alma mater in 1978. Carmichael was a star performer on records, radio and stage with a signature style, and appeared in several movies, most memorably in "To Have and Have Not" and "The Best Years of Our Lives". In 1951 he won an Oscar for "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening."

Photo Credit: Bloomington/Monroe County CVB

Born in Marion, Indiana, James Dean spent much of his adolescent life with his aunt and uncle in Fairmount, Indiana. After graduating from Fairmount High School, he went on to study drama at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is most famous for his role as Jim Stark in the film Rebel Without a Cause, which many consider to be the first film to seriously address the phenomena of teen angst.

Photo Credit: Marion/Grant County CVB

Born in Mitchell, Indiana, Grissom received a mechanical engineering B.S. from Purdue University in 1950 and then enlisted in the United States Air Force. Grissom was the second American in space as one of the original NASA Project Mercury astronauts. In 1967, Grissom was killed during an Apollo 1 mission pre-launch test at the Kennedy Space Center. The Grissom Memorial at Spring Mill State Park honors Grissom’s work in space exploration.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Born in Dale, Indiana, Florence Henderson was one of 10 children and the daughter of a tobacco farmer. She is an actress and singer best known for her role as Carol Brady in the television program The Brady Bunch.


Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Born in Wabash on Dec. 29, 1874, Mark C. Honeywell attended Eastman Business College in New York – where he graduated in 1891. As a young engineer, Honeywell developed a hot water heating system and formed Honeywell Heating Specialties Co. based in Wabash and began making thermostats in 1906. Honeywell later merged his company with Minneapolis Heat Regulator Co. in 1927 to form Minneapolis Honeywell Regulator Company with Mark Honeywell as its president. The company eventually dropped the word "Minneapolis" and became known as Honeywell, Inc. Today, Honeywell Inc. is a Fortune 500, multi-national company based in New Jersey.
Photo Credit: Honeywell Center

The Jackson Five was an American popular music quintet from Gary, Indiana. The group, fully active from 1966 to 1990, regularly played from a repertoire of R&B, soul, funk, and later disco. The Jackson Five was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. The group is also notable for launching the careers of their lead singers’ pop icon Michael Jackson and Jermaine Jackson.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

A graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, David Letterman began his career in broadcasting in his native Indianapolis, Indiana. He worked in radio as a talk-show host and also worked in television as an announcer and weekend weatherman. He now hosts The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Abraham Lincoln, America's 16th president, moved to Indiana at the age of 7 and spent 14 years in what is now Spencer County in Southern Indiana. It was in Indiana that Abraham Lincoln formed his early ideas about character and honesty and developed a love of learning that stayed with him the rest of his life. This man of humble Hoosier Heritage will long be remembered for his presidency and for his leadership in ending slavery in the United States.

Photo Credit: Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis (P0420)

Born in Beech Grove, Indiana, he was the ultra-cool male film star of the 1960s, and rose from a troubled youth spent in reform schools to being the world's most popular actor. Over 25 years after his untimely death from cancer in 1980, Steve McQueen is still considered hip and cool, and he endures as an icon of popular culture. McQueen was an avid motorcycle and racecar enthusiast.

A native of Seymour, Indiana, John Mellencamp is a seasoned musician. With 36 gold, platinum and multi-platinum records and a Grammy for best Rock Vocal Performance in 1982, Mellencamp has had continued success in the music industry. He continues to call Indiana his home, currently residing in Bloomington.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Margaret Jane Pauley was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, with a bachelor's degree in political science. At the age of 21, she worked as a daytime and weekend newscaster at WISH-TV in Indianapolis. Pauley has had continued success in broadcast media and is best known for her role as a morning correspondent on NBC's The Today Show.

Photo Credit: MBC Archives Department

Pyle was born on a tenant farm near Dana, Indiana, and briefly attended Indiana University. He became an American journalist who wrote as a roving correspondent. His articles, about the out-of-the-way places he visited and the people who lived there, were told in a folksy style much like a personal letter to a friend. He enjoyed a loyal following in as many as 200 newspapers. Pyle won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for his wartime writings during World War II.

Photo Credit: From the collection of the Indiana State Museum and Historical Sites

Born in Indianapolis and raised in Huntington, Indiana, Dan Quayle received his bachelor's degree in political science from DePauw University. He later became the youngest person ever elected to the U.S. Senate from the state of Indiana. Quayle went on to become the 44th vice president of the United States. In 1933 the Dan Quayle Center and Museum opened in Huntington. Today it is named the United States Vice Presidential Museum and Quayle Center and houses exhibits for all 46 U.S. Vice Presidents.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Orville was born on a farm in Brazil, Indiana and spent most of his life in the agriculture industry, serving as a Vigo County Farm Bureau Extension agent in Terre Haute, Indiana, and at Princeton Farms in Princeton, Indiana. He perfected his popcorn hybrid in 1965 and to this day it is considered by some to be the best-selling brand of popcorn. He is still celebrated in his Indiana hometown with the annual Popcorn Festival of Clay County.

Photo Credit: From the collection of the Popcorn Festival of Clay County Association

Richard Bernard Skelton was born to humble circumstances in Vincennes, Indiana but went on to become one of the best known comedian-entertainers of the twentieth century. Early in his career, Red traveled and performed in a Vaudeville show across the nation and in Canada. In 1952 Skelton won an Emmy and tried to give it to Lucille Ball, his supporting actress. The Red Skelton Museum of American Comedy is under way and will be located next to the Red Skelton Performing Arts Center at Vincennes University.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Vincennes University Archives

Stewart is a Columbus, Indiana native who grew up with dreams of racing at Indianapolis. Stewart's racing career began at age seven behind the wheel of a go-kart, with his father, Nelson, serving as car owner and crew chief. In 2005, Stewart won the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship, and in doing so, joined an elite group of 14 drivers who have scored multiple Cup Series titles. Stewart still calls Columbus home, where he lives in the house he grew up.

Photo Credit: NASCAR Media

Montgomery was born in Indianapolis, Indiana to a musical family. Today he is often considered the greatest of modern Jazz guitarists. While many Jazz players are regarded as virtuosos, Montgomery was unique in his wide influence on other virtuosos who followed him, and in the respect he earned from his contemporaries. Montgomery's home town of Indianapolis has named a park in his honor.

Photo Credit: Indianapolis Recorder Collection, Indiana Historical Society