Fun Facts

The University of Notre Dame's Main Building has 1,250 thin strips of 8 oz. 23-karat gold, 3 microns thick.

Notre Dame's Dome has been gilded five times in the past 120 years. It was last regilded in 1989 at a cost of $286,000.

The Basilica includes a museum, which displays many artifacts from the history of the Congregation of Holy Cross and the University. Located in the Sacristy, it is open to the public and contains many of Father Sorin's memorabilia.

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the University of Notre Dame campus is home to North America's oldest Carillon which includes 23 bells and a seven ton great bell named St. Anthony.

In the Basilica are seven Apsidal chapels. In the Reliquary Chapel. Found here are the relics of each of the 12 Apostles; a piece of the manger at Bethlehem; pieces of the veil and girdle of the Blessed Virgin; and relics of all of the saints in the church calendar. The large wood cross contains a relic of the True Cross. The wax figure is that of Saint Severa, a martyr in the third century; the cloth covered lead boxes at the head and feet of the sarcophagus contain her bones. Above the relic repository is a copy of a portion of Raphael's fresco Disputa. On the opposite wall is an exact replica of the Miraculous Madonna of Czestochowa.

The Basilica's organ has four divisions, three manuals, 54 ranks of pipes, 40 stops and 2,929 pipes.

In the Basilica's museum, there is a challis, which was given to a newly ordained priest in 1929. 2,850 people donated diamonds and gold to make this challis. The priest had all 2,850 names put on a tiny scroll and placed in the stem of the challis.

At 230 feet the cross atop the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the University of Notre Dame campus is the highest point on campus.

The first Notre Dame football game was played against the University of Michigan in 1887.

The University of Notre Dame has the oldest continuously existing college band in the nation. When Notre Dame played football for the first time against Michigan in 1887, the Notre Dame Marching Band was already celebrating its 41st birthday.

The "Fighting Irish" became the official nickname of the University of Notre Dame in 1927. The original mascot was an Irish Terrier. The current mascot, the leprechaun, was inspired by a caricature by artist Ted Drake in 1964.

The most valuable piece of memorabilia in the College Football Hall of Fame's Collection is Red Grane's jersey. He played for the University of Illinois and was known as the "Galloping Ghost." In the 1924 dedication game at the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium. He scored four touchdowns in the first 12 minutes of play. His jersey is appraised in the high five figures.

The South Bend Chocolate Company produces more than 3,000 pounds of chocolate daily at its South Bend, Ind. factory.

Copshaholm, the Oliver Mansion, was the first house in South Bend to have electricity.

Leaded glass windows from Tiffany Glass Company can be found throughout Copshaholm, the Oliver Mansion.

South Bend's East Race Waterway was the first artificial whitewater course built in North America and opened in 1984.

The Studebaker National Museum's collection includes a 1835 Conestoga Wagon, made by the Studebaker family and the last vehicle produced by the former Studebaker Corporation, a 1966 Crusier.

The Northern Indiana Center for History is the repository for the artifacts from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Shioji Kanakoa, the Japanese landscape architect who designed Mishawaka's Shiojiri Niwa Friendship Gardens, also designed the Japanese Gardens in Epcot Center.

Tippecanoe Place Restaurant, former resident of Studebaker President Clement Studebaker, was completed in 1889 at a cost of a little more than $300 thousand.

Saint Mary's consistently ranks at the top of its category in the U.S. News and World Report's annual survey of American college's and universities. Saint Mary's ranks #1 in the "Midwest Comprehensive Colleges - Bachelor's" category.

On loan to the Studebaker National Museum is a 1935 Commander Roadster, which was used in the 1985 film, The Color Purple.

Over 10,000 trout and salmon migrate through the South Bend Fish Ladder annually.

The Bodine State Fish Hatchery produces more than 400,000 trout and salmon for the Lake Michigan fishery.

The St. Joseph River Trout and Salmon program generates more than six million dollars annually to the surrounding communities along the river.

The Bodine State Fish Hatchery is the primary producer of skamania strain steelhead trout, which is one of the most popular salmonid species in the Lake Michigan basin.

A Studebaker Commander out ran both trains and automobiles in a 1927 coast-to-coast race.

During the 1982 Cal vs. Sanford game, the Stanford band came onto the field during the final play of the game. Cal scored a touchdown by racing through the Stanford Band. When Kevin Moen scored the touchdown, he ran into Stanford Band trombone player Gary Tyrell. The College Football Hall of Fame has this trombone in its collection.

The College Football Hall of Fame's collection includes family heirlooms of Jay Berwanger - the first Heisman Trophy winner who played for the University of Chicago in 1935.

During the 1979 Cotton Bowl Game, the University of Notre Dame was trailing the University of Houston. Joe Montana (famed quarterback for the Fighting Irish) became hypothermic and was fed chicken soup. His soup bowl and spoon are in the College Football Hall of Fame's collection.

The Century Center Convention Complex was designed by noted architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee. Some of their other designs include the Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City, New York, the Crystal Cathedral at Garden Grove, California, the Boston Public Library in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Studio Theatre at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. to name a few.

Frank Herring, a South Bend resident, was called the "Father of Mother's Day" because he gave the first public speech asking that a special day be set aside to honor all mothers. Herring first mentioned this during a Fraternal Order of Eagles meeting in 1904. Congress officially declared Mother's Day as the second Sunday in May in 1914.

The South Bend Regional Airport is the only transportation center that houses air, rail and bus service in one location.