March 26, 1866, with the formal duel well into decline and strict Kentucky laws forbidding the practice, Joseph Desha (32) and Alexander Kimbrough (27) meet at the familiar dueling grounds on the Fayette/Scott border a little before 6:00 a.m., to settle their differences.  Both men were childhood classmates in Harrison County who never cared for each other.  Both came from respected families; both men were wounded Civil War Veterans, Desha, a Confederate, and Kimbrough, a Union man.  The Desha – Kimbrough Duel by Coleman, Jr., J. Winston.

One of the pistols used once belonged to Henry Clay.  In the 1^st round, both men missed.  In the 2^nd round, Kimbrough fell to the ground, bleeding from the hip; Desha narrowly missed a bullet as it went through his coat.  This was the last important affair of honor fought in Kentucky under the strict code of the duello.  Desha and his second traveled to Canada for several years until granted a pardon by an ex-Confederate, then-current Kentucky Governor James B. McCreary.  Kimbrough recovered at his parents’ Harrison County farm and eventually moved west.  He walked with a severe limp his entire life.  Famous Kentucky Duels by J. Winston Coleman, Jr.; pg: 123.

March 26, 1932, a group of Columbia University students from NYC set out on a bus ride to Bell and Hardin Counties to the scene of fatal clashes between coal miners and officers.  Kentucky’s “border patrol” stopped their 1^st attempt to enter the state.  Meanwhile, America hunted for the Lindbergh baby kidnappers.

March 26, 1932, members of the Iroquois Hunt Club held their semi-final Fox Hunt for the 1931-32 calendar year in the wet, cold rain in the Boonsboro section of Fayette County.

March 26, 1992, Henryk de Kwiatkowski arrived in his private plane at Bluegrass airport half an hour before the “absolute auction” of Calumet Farm.  His bid of $17 million bought America’s most famous horse farm, all the horses, and 760 acres.  The bidding came down to Henryk and Issam Fares, who owned the adjacent farm.  They bid against each other for about 20 minutes.

Kentucky Trivia:  Calumet, initially based in Libertyville, Illinois, operated as a Standardbred breeding farm.  This was at a time in American history when harness racing was the most popular type of horse racing.  In 1931, the farm’s trotter, “Calumet Butler,” won the most prestigious event of the day, the Hambletonian.

March 26, 1983, in the 1^st meeting between the schools in 24 years, Louisville defeated UK 80-68 in overtime to earn a trip to the Final Four.

Kentucky Trivia:  Between 1960 and 1982, Kentucky and Louisville did not play basketball.  In 1959, the two teams met in Evanston, IL, for the NCAA Mideast Regional Semifinals.  In 1983, they met in Knoxville for the NCAA Mideast Regional Finals.  Kentucky lost them both.

Thursday morning, March 26, 2020, Rep. T. Massie, on a radio show, hinted he might object to a voice vote CARES Act the senate passed the previous evening.  A voice vote meant members did not have to be present; they only needed to say “aye” or “nay.”  However, only one lawmaker needs to ask for a recorded vote, which requires members to be present.  Rep. Massie wanted to discuss where the $2.2 trillion would go, “This stimulus should go straight to the people rather than being funneled through banks and corporations like this bill is doing.”  His radio statement put President Trump and D.C. insiders on edge.  He also made many of his colleagues upset, knowing they had fly to Washington to cast a vote at the last second.

On the afternoon of March 26, 2020, the governor reported 50 new cases, the most reported in one day.  However, the death toll stayed at five.  Around 11,000 Kentuckians had taken the coronavirus test.  Morehead’s St. Claire Healthcare laid off 300 workers—an oddity during a medical pandemic.  The government shutdowns already placed 50,000 Kentuckians on unemployment.  The U.S. led the world in confirmed cases with 81,321 and more than 1,000 deaths.

Kentucky Trivia:  President Trump called Massie four times, back to back, before Massie answered.  Trump wanted to convince the Congressman not to rock the boat on the CARES Act.  Massie finally called: Trump: “I’m coming at you like you have never seen.  Never in your life before have you seen the way in which I will come at you.   I am more popular than you in Kentucky, and you know it.  I am going to back your primary opponent, and you are going loose.”  Massie: “Mr. President, this is a constitutional issue, and you can’t spend $2 trillion with nobody here.  It’s gonna pass anyway.”  According to Massie, Trump started screaming for three solid minutes.