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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY
Kentucky Trivia

June 5, 1869, Fenian won the 3rd Belmont Stakes over seven others in a 1 5/8 miles test in 3:04 ¼, and earned $3,350.  Fenian never raced again due to “bad legs.  The Derby and Preakness did not exist yet.

June 5, 1869, Lexington finally accepted Standard Time over Solar Time at 12:40 p.m.  Madame Bell by MaryJean Wall pg: 108

June 5, 1887, Andrew Cowan wrote a 2,500-word essay titled “Public Parks: A Plan to Promote the Pleasure, Happiness, and Prosperity of the People.”  Mr. Cowan outlined a proposal for Louisville’s public parks system, including a large park in each of the city’s “Ends,” connected by grand boulevards, lined with expensive homes.  This proposal would become Cherokee, Iroquois, and Shawnee Parks and the parkways that connect them.

June 5, 1899, Garrard County Carrie Nation said she received a vision from God, telling her to smash saloons in Kiowa, Kansas.

June 5, 1910, Patrolman William C. Sube of the Louisville Police Department, died after contracting tetanus as a result of wound received while on patrol.

June 5, 1916, the U.S. Supreme Court swore in Louisville native Louis Dembitz Brandeis.  Born to Jewish immigrant parents from Bohemia, the People’s Attorney became the 1st person of the Jewish faith to serve on the nation’s high court.  As a young man, he enrolled at Harvard Law School and graduated at age 22; his academic record remains the highest of any law graduate.

At noon on May 5, 1924, at the Dix River dam, 43 tons of blasting powder coached in chambers 400 feet from the face of a cliff exploded, producing an eruption that sent 50,000 cubic yards of stones into the valley.  Engineers needed 1,600,000 cubic yards of stone to complete the job.  The project employed 900 men.

June 5, 1939, the log house of Col. Robert Patterson, founder of Lexington and Cincinnati, returned to Transylvania Campus after being removed from Kentucky in 1901.  The one room cabin is thought to be one of the 1st to be erected in Lexington.   The Squire’s Sketches of Lexington by J. Winston Coleman, Jr.; pg: 17

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Lexington native Mark F. Jarmon, born in 1952.

June 5, 1953, Mount Victory native Vermont Garrison earned the Medal of Honor while fighting in the Korean War.

June 5, 1955, Dean Martin sang Kentucky Babe on the Colgate Comedy Hour.

June 5, 1960, Rudell Stitch, a professional boxer from Louisville, died trying to save his friend’s life in the Ohio River.  He died the day before he was to sign for a rematch with Luis Manuel Rodriguez.  The fight would have taken place on July 24, 1960.

June 5, 1966, Air Force A1C Jerry D. Olds from Elizabethtown in Hardin County died in the Vietnam War.

June 5, 1967, Army PFC James W. Ramage from Burna in Livingston County died in the Vietnam War.

June 5, 1968, Army SP4 Dennis O. Akers from Louisville, Army SGT Larry D. Maggard from Isom in Letcher County, and Marine Corps LCPL Michael W. Simon from Owensboro died in the Vietnam War.

June 5, 1969, Marine Corps PFC Hank Sally from Covington died in the Vietnam War.

On June 5, 1971, 75 students from UK’s College of Medicine received doctor of medicine degrees in Memorial Coliseum.  The special program marked the college’s 8th graduating class.

June 5, 1971, Pass Catcher at 34-1 won the 103rd Belmont Stakes in 2:30 3/5 and earned $97,710.  The race drew a record crowd of over 80,000, swelled by thousands from the New York City Latino community.  They came to cheer for Canonero II, the Venezuelan colt, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.

On June 5, 1974, Salyersville’s mayor fired all four police officers.  The policemen say they refused to comply with the mayor’s request not to ticket or arrest any of his friends; the mayor says he fired them for insubordination.  The 42-year-old mayor took office five months earlier but the feud exploded in a courtroom after the police refused to back down.

On June 5, 1980, Troublesome Creek Times newspaper began.  The colorful weekly paper, published in Hindman, serves Knott County and beyond.  By 1990, the Times’s aggressive and investigative reporting had won 220 state and national press awards for excellence.  In addition, the National Newspaper Foundation named it a national blue-ribbon newspaper.  Noted for its sense of humor, the Times publishes an annual April Fool news edition on its front page.

June 5, 1982, watch Stanton (Powell County) native Woodford Cefis Stephens win the 109th Belmont Stakes, his 1st of five Belmont’s in a row.

June 5, 1985, Steve Cauthen won the Epsom Derby aboard Slip Anchor and became the only American jockey to win both the English Derby and Kentucky Derby.  Cauthen rode Affirmed in the 1978 Run for Roses.  An American jockey had not won the race since 1920.

On June 5, 1991, a train derailed just north of Cave City, causing the evacuation of 300 people because two carloads of chemicals spilled and the possible leak of 34,000 gallons of propane.

On June 5, 1991, the 11th launch of Space Shuttle Columbia occurred.  They dedicated this journey solely to biology, including the 1st spaceflight with three women crew members.

June 5, 1993, Colonial Affair won the Belmont Stakes in 2:29.97 over 12 others.  Sea Hero, the Derby winner, finished 7th and Prairie Bayou, the Preakness winner, finished last.  The Virginia bred paid $29.80 to win.  Keeneland graduates finished 2nd and 3rd.

June 5, 1997, Governor P. Patton, in a telephone interview from Japan, said the Cincinnati Reds could not use Kentucky as a bargaining chip in their negotiations for a new baseball stadium.  “Kentucky would never allow itself to be used as a lever to get more concessions out of Cincinnati or Hamilton County.”

June 5, 1999, Lemon Drop Kid, a Keeneland graduate, won the 131st Belmont Stakes in 2:27.88 to win $600,000 from a million-dollar purse.  The longshot paid $61.50 and ended Charismatic’s bid for the Triple Crown.  The official attendance came in at 85,818.

June 5, 2000, a man shot and killed a Kentucky prosecutor at his home in Cumberland County.  The murder took place hours before the man was to appear in court for child molestation charges.  Prosecuting Attorney Fred Capps killed his assailant in his home before he died of his injuries while protecting his family.

On June 5, 2004, Birdstone denied Smarty Jones the Triple Crown, making it a 26-year drought.  Marylou Whitney owned and bred the colt in Kentucky who earned $600,000.  Over half the field were Keeneland graduates.

June 5, 2007, Army PFC Timothy R. Vimoto, 19, of Fort Campbell, died in Afghanistan, fighting in Operation Enduring Freedom.

On June 5, 2009, Louisville native Dan Uggla reached 100 career home runs in his 502nd game, faster than any other second baseman in MLB history.

June 5, 2010, watch the 142nd Belmont Stakes.  Keeneland graduates finished 1st and 2nd.

On June 5, 2013, the Guardian published the first revelations from Edward Snowden’s documents regarding the National Security Agency (NSA) and its collection of data from ordinary U.S. citizens during President Obama’s administration.  It was revealed that Verizon assisted the government in collecting emails and telephone metadata.  Subsequently, it became clear that the government’s data collection efforts were even broader than initially believed.

June 5, 2015, a Louisville businessman described by federal prosecutors as a “serial fraudster” received a 12-year sentence for a massive scheme that a federal judge described as “truly staggering” and “eye-popping.”  Anthony Huff got his start in 1996 when he illegally provided cars to Cardinal basketball player Samaki Walker.

On June 5, 2017, Lexington native Pamela Brown married Adam Wright, her longtime love, on the property of her childhood home in Cave Hill.  Brown, 33, and Wright, 37, welcomed close to 250 guests.  The couple paid homage to Kentucky roots by offering a Woodford Reserve bourbon-tasting to guests. ice cream crafted by Lexington’s parlor Crank & Boom, and a “Call to Post” delivered by Kentucky Derby bugler Steve Buttleman.

On June 5, 2018, the U.S. Senate confirmed Harlan County native Robert E. Wier as a Federal District Judge for Eastern Kentucky.  Wier joined four other Eastern District judges.  Kentucky has two federal judicial districts: the Western District of Kentucky, headquartered in Louisville, and the Eastern District of Kentucky, headquartered in Lexington.

On June 5, 2019, UK announced that for the 1st time in 15 years, the school would charge all students the same price.  Previously it cost Juniors and Seniors more than 1st or 2nd year students.  The total price for in-state students was $12,360 for two semesters.  Out-of-state students paid $30,680.

June 5, 2020, UK President Eli Capilouto announced the removal of Ashland native Ann Rice O’Hanlon’s mural, which troubled Black students for its depiction of slavery.  The reaction was swift.  Wendell Berry accused Capilouto of “overcooked political correctness.”  He suggested that to depict slavery in a painting in 1934 had to have taken some courage.  “Ann was a liberal; I never heard her utter one racist word,” he wrote.

Kentucky Trivia:  Born Ann Louise Rice in Ashland, she became a UK art graduate, studied more in California, married, and moved back to Kentucky.  Ann Louise Rice O’Hanlon, the 20th-century American visual artist, is best known for a fresco painted on the wall of Memorial Hall in 1934 for the Treasury Relief Art Project.  The fresco repeatedly attracted negative attention for what many viewed as its romanticized depiction of enslaved African Americans.

Ann Rice O’Hanlon’s UK Mural

June 5, 2021, Godolphin’s Essential Quality beat seven others to win the GI $1,500,000 Belmont Stakes, 153rd edition.  On May 17, NYRA banned Bob Baffert from racing in New York.  The ban had not been lifted by June 5, so Medina Spirit or Concert Tour did not run.  June 2nd Churchill confirmed the split sample and banned him from their tracks for two years and disqualified Medina Spirit, the Derby winner.

On June 5, 2022, Russia launched cruise missiles at Kyiv, targeting a rail car repair facility in the eastern outskirts of the city. This was the first time Russia had attacked Kyiv with cruise missiles in several weeks.  This exchange came days after the U.S. gave Ukraine $700 million.  America’s endless wars continued.

Monday, June 5, 2023, a record 6,796 fans watched as Nick Mignione’s Bat Cats clinched their second super regional appearance in program history with a 4-2 win over Indiana at Kentucky Proud Park.  Mignione went to his 1st super regional in 2017 at Cliff Hagan Stadium in his 2nd year as coach.

On June 5, 2024, the governor spent the day in Pikeville.

Kentucky Headlines

June 5, 1925

The Boone Family Leaves Lexington For Special Trip To Boonesboro

Lexington Celebrates 1775 to 1925; 150 Years

June 5, 1975

Anwar Sadat Reopens Suez Canal For Peace; Not Been Open For 8 Years

3 In Family Murdered in Berea

June 5, 2000

Clinton and Putin Agree To Disagree

Eastern Kentucky’s Settlement Schools Seek To Reinforce Their Regional Role

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