On This Day: Wednesday August 10, 2005 This is the 222nd day of the year, with 143 days remaining in 2005. Fact of the Day: Indiana State Fair In 1851, the Indiana General Assembly passed an act "to encourage agriculture," which also included the formation of a State Board of Agriculture. The primary goal of the Board was to create the first Indiana State Fair. In 1852, Indiana became the 6th state to begin holding a state agricultural fair. The first Fair, held in what is now Military Park in downtown Indianapolis, was an amazing success. The Fair was held in response to the aspirations of Governor J.A. Wright and others who believed that, "to make two blades of grass grow where one had formerly grown, to increase the crop yields, to preserve the soil fertility was a very worthy thing and almost a sacred duty." The State Fair has been located in Indianapolis for the majority of its 145-year existence, but other Indiana cities hosted the event in the 1800s. Lafayette (1853), Madison (1854), New Albany (1859), Fort Wayne (1865), and Terre Haute (1867) hosted the Fair before it was moved to Voss Farm in Indianapolis. The gates opened at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on East 38th Street for the first time on September 19, 1892. Holidays Ecuador: National Day / Independence Day. Feast day of St. Lawrence of Rome. Events 1821 - Missouri became the 24th state, and the first located entirely west of the Mississippi River. 1833 - The city of Chicago was incorporated as a village. 1846 - Congress chartered the Smithsonian Institution, named after English scientist James Smithson, whose bequest had made it possible. 1921 - Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with polio at his summer home on the Canadian island of Campobello. 1948 - "Candid Camera" premiered on TV. 1949 - The National Military Establishment was renamed the Department of Defense. 1969 - Leno LaBianca and Rosemary LaBianca were murdered in their Los Angeles home by members of Charles Manson's cult, one day after actress Sharon Tate and four other people were slain. 1993 - Ruth Bader Ginsburg was sworn in as the second female justice on the Supreme Court. Births 1874 - Herbert Clark Hoover, 31st President of the United States of America (1929-1933). 1928 - Jimmy Dean (Seth Ward), American Grammy Award-winning singer; sausage maker. 1928 - Eddie Fisher, American singer. Deaths 1896 - Otto Lilienthal, German aeronautical pioneer.