TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

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February 15, 1842, Ballard County was created from Hickman County and McCracken County and was named in honor of Bland Ballard, hero of the Battle of Fallen Timbers and Battle of River Raisin.  Wickliffe is the county seat.  Other localities include: Barlow, Blandville, Kevil, LaCenter, Bandana, Lovelaceville, Monkey’s Eyebrow and New York.  Ballard County was the 94th county created and covers 274 square miles.

KY 1842

February 15, 1842, Boyle County was created from Lincoln County and Mercer County and was named in honor of John Boyle, Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals.  Danville is the county seat.  Other localities include: Aliceton, Alum Springs, (area between Parksville and Junction City) Atoka, Brumfield, Forkland, Junction City, Little Needmore, Mitchellsburg, Needmore, Parksville, Perryville and Shelby City. (annexed by Junction City) Boyle County was the 91st county created in Kentucky and covers 183 square miles.

February 15, 1882, marks the dedication and occupation of the first three State College buildings, as A&M was popularly called, on the present campus.  The Administration Building, completed in 1882, is the first of three to be built.

Feb 15 UK

Kentucky Trivia:  Bowling Green native Benjamin F. Shobe, Thurgood Marshall and other African-American jurists represented Lyman T. Johnson.   In March 1949, Federal Judge H. Church Ford ruled in Johnson’s favor, and that summer, nearly 30 black students entered UK graduate and professional programs.  Undergraduate classes desegregated in 1954.

February 15, 1893, William Lindsay became Kentucky’s 21st Class II U.S. Senator.

February 15, 1896, Policeman Henry Brown, Frankfort Police Department, was shot and killed in Kagan’s Saloon by a drunkard whom he attempted to arrest for causing a disturbance.

February 15, 1915, the Louisville basketball team travels to Lexington to play State College to play in Buell Armory Gymnasium.  Kentucky, coached by John Tigert, wins 34-10 over the cardinals coached by Von Walther.

Localtonians wishes a Happy Birthday to Lexington native William T. Young born in 1918.

February 15, 1949, Policeman John Yelenosky, Lynch Police Department, was killed as he and another officer attempted to break-up a fight between union organizers and local workers.  As the two policemen attempted to separate the groups, shots were fired and Policeman Yelenosky was killed.  The 24-year-old suspect served two years in prison.

February 15, 1951, Army PVT Paul Stamper from Knox County died in the Korean War.

Kentucky Trivia:  The Rev. William E. Summers III made history in 1967 as the first African American in the United States to manage a radio station.  In 1971, he became the first African American radio station owner in Kentucky when he purchased WLOU, one of five original R&B stations in the Commonwealth.

February 15, 1967, Army SP4, Louis R. Soward from Covington in Kenton County died in the Vietnam War.

February 15, 1968, Air Force SGT James H. Bennett from Cynthiana in Harrison County and Air Force SSGT Warren M. Dixon from Catlettsburg in Boyd County, both died in the Vietnam War.

February 15, 1969, Army SFC Clarence W. Dunbar, Army SGT Thomas S. Hamilton and Army SP4 Lewis W. Warner Jr., all from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.

Localtonians wishes a Happy Birthday to Kentucky bred Seattle Slew born in 1974 at White Horse Acres near Lexington.

Localtonians wishes a Happy Birthday to Kentucky bred Genuine Risk born in 1977.  Bred in Kentucky by Sally Humphrey, Genuine Risk was bought by the Firestones’ son, Matthew, for $32,000 at the 1978 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky summer yearling sale.

Horse Racing Trivia:  Genuine Risk produced only two foals, both unraced colts.  The elder of the two, Genuine Reward (by Rahy), became a sire of polo ponies in Wyoming, while the younger, Count Our Blessing (by Chief Honcho), was gelded and became a show horse.

February 15, 1978, 36-year-old Muhammad Ali (55-3), loses his Heavyweight title by split decision after 15 rounds to Leon Spinks (6-0-1) in Las Vegas Hilton Pavilion.  The 25-year-old pulled off one of the great upsets in boxing after only seven professional fights and a Gold Medal.  Ali had beaten all the other Olympic gold medalists of his era, and he expected to trounce Spinks.  But Ali trained very little for the fight and lay on the ropes as Spinks built a lead.  For the first time, however, Ali could not rally and lost a split decision in Vegas.

On February 15, 1994, trailing by 31 points with 15:34 remaining in the LSU game, the Wildcats pull off a Mardi Gras miracle.  Connecting on 11 three-pointers and outscoring the Bayou Bengals 62-27 during the final 15:34, UK storms back to a 99-95 victory, the most incredible comeback in UK history.

February 15, 1997, John DeMoisey #00 from Walton, Johnny Cox #24 from Hazard and Kyle Macy #4 had their jerseys retired by the University of Kentucky.

February 15, 2003, at approximately 10:30 PM, radial ice approximately 2 inches thick was deposited along the path shown below.

Feb 15 arrow

February 15, 2007, Marine CPL Timothy D. Lewis, 20, of Lawrenceburg, died as a result of non-hostile action in the Philippines during Operation Enduring Freedom.

February 15, 2009, Rachel Alexandra begins her three-year-old campaign with an easy mile victory at Oaklawn’s 9th race, the Martha Washington.

February 15, 2014, Marine Master SGT Aaron C. Torian, 36, of Paducah, died in Afghanistan of wounds caused by enemy action, fighting in Operation Enduring Freedom.

February 15, 2014, Kentuckians learn about the Prisoner Rehabilitation Of Untrained Dogs (PROUD) program between the Kentucky Department of Corrections and the Kentucky Humane Society.  In less than a year, 197 dogs have gone through the program and have found permanent homes.

Monday, February 15, 2016, Nyquist, Exaggerator and four others faced off in the $200,000 San Vicente (GII).

February 15, 2020, methamphetamine (meth) seizures in Louisville more than tripled in the last three years, from 237 pounds to 770 pounds.  Jefferson County had 5,613 persons charged with meth, Fayette County 1,422, Warren County 1,067 and Kenton County with 1,067.