Indianapolis

About The Indianapolis

The city is home to Indy Jazz Festival, 500 festival, The Circle City Classic, Gen Con, Indiana State Fair, Bands of America, Drum Corps International, The Indy International Wine Competition, and headquarters to all three international Jewish fraternities, Zeta Beta Tau, Alpha Epsilon Pi and Sigma Alpha Mu. The 500 festival is a month of events leading up to the Indianapolis 500 which is an American automobile race held annually over Memorial Day weekend featuring open wheeled cars. The Circle City Classic is an annual American football game featuring two historically black colleges/universities and is sponsored by Coca-Cola. Bands of America is a nonprofit organization that promotes high school music education in the US. It organizes many marching band competitions and the largest is held in Indianapolis with close to 100 high school bands from around the country.

Indianapolis is the home to the first Union Station in the United States. The city is known as The Crossroads of America because it connects as a major hub to Chicago, Louisville, Cincinnati, Columbus, Detroit, Cleveland and St. Louis. Indianapolis was the only major city which rioting did not occur on the night that Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. A five block plaza surrounds a large memorial dedicated to Hoosiers who have fought in American Wars.

Indianapolis is home to the Super Bowl XLI Champion Indianapolis Colts of the NFL, the Indiana Pacers of the NBA, the Indiana Fever of the WNBA, the Indianapolis Indians of the IL and the Indiana Ice of the USHL. The Colts originated in Baltimore and moved to Indianapolis in 1984. They currently play at the RCA Dome but a new Dome will be finished in 2008 called Lucas Oil Stadium which is where the Colts will play starting their 2008 season.

Indianapolis is the international headquarters of the pharmaceutical corporation Eli Lilly and Company, health insurance provider Wellpoint, insurance company American United Life, ATA Airlines, and real estate companies Simon Property Group, Hunt Construction Group, Finish Line, Inc., Duke Realty Corp. and Teleservices Direct. The U.S. headquarters of Roche Diagnostics, Thomson SA, Conseco, Interactive Intelligence, First Internet Bank of Indiana, Peerless Pump Company and Dow AgroSciences are also located in Indianapolis. Other major Indianapolis area employers include Clarian Health, Sallie Mae, Cook Group, Rolls Royce, and General Motors.