Traditional Hoosier Autumn Activities Have Statehood 200th Birthday Spin.
The harvest, high school football, and the changing colors of Indiana’s lush foliage – it’s time for fall in our home 
state. Here’s what fall 2016 brings for Indianapolis’s 200th birthday celebration.
- Kicking off the fall Bicentennial celebrations, the massive 92-county, 3,200 mile Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay began this week in Corydon – Indiana’s first capital city. Follow the progress of the bicentennial torch with the free mobile app!
- The Torch Relay concludes on Saturday, October 15 in Bicentennial Plaza, on the western grounds of the State House in downtown Indianapolis. Celebrate Hoosier Homecoming with a gathering not seen since Indiana’s Centennial celebration in 1916! Tour the Indiana State House and Indiana State Library, celebrate with music, food, children’s activities, re-enactments, and special Hoosier guests.
- At the Indiana State Museum, explore 200 Years of Indiana Art and Indiana in 200 Objects: A Bicentennial Celebration, which “explores and celebrates the history, science and culture of the Hoosier state through 200 iconic and interesting objects.”
- The 31st year of the popular Apple Store at Conner Prairie is going on now. The store will be open Tuesdays through Sundays through Oct. 31. Or visit October’s Headless Horseman for Halloween, where the shop is open until 9. The store is highlighting a “Bicentennial Gourmet Apple,” which will be available all season, and Bicentennial Hand-Dipped Chocolate Caramels.
- The Indianapolis Museum of Art continues hosting 19 Stars of Indiana Art through the new year, which “celebrates the artistic achievements of men and women who were born, raised, or worked in Indiana.”
- Remember the Bicentennial Bucket List? Now would be a great time for a “fall colors” road trip to see the changing leaves in Brown County and surrounding areas.
EXTRA: As you’re checking out Indiana in 200 Objects at the Indiana State Museum…did you know that the first
transistor radio has Indiana roots? It’s true! Regency Electronics, at 7900 Pendleton Pike on Indianapolis’ east side, collaborated with Texas Instruments to build the world’s first portable electronic device – the 1954 transistor radio.
The Indianapolis Star notes the important timing of the Indy-based invention. “The TR-1, as the first transistor radio was known, was 5 inches high, shorter than your smartphone, though fatter. It landed just as rock ‘n’ roll was landing. Elvis Presley recorded his first single, ‘That’s All Right’, in July 1954.”
It signaled a time of new electronic freedom and portability, even at its high cost. (At $59.95 in 1954, that’s the equivalent of a $500 device today.) Regency rode the success of its invention for a little while. But the transistor radio business ultimately succumbed to a new competitor in the market, a Japanese company that had recently changed its name to be more appealing to Americans: Sony.
See the TR-1 at the Indiana State Museum through January 2017.
Explore the Indiana Bicentennial Celebration’s events calendar and keep up with Indiana Bicentennial events on Facebook and Twitter.