Skip to content

TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Lucy (Virgin) Downs, thought to be the 1st white child born west of the Allegheny Mountains.  Lucy was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in 1769.  In 1790, the family moved to Maysville, and in 1792 she relocated with a brother to Cincinnati.  She married there in 1800 to John Downs and died in 1847.  Her family buried her in Oldtown near the Little Sandy River in Greenup County, where she had resided for forty years.

September 17, 1862, a clash occurred between Union and Confederate forces on the Florence streets.  The Confederates had travelled north from Lexington.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Eddyville native Forrest Carlisle Pogue, born in 1912.  A historian, he is best known as the biographer of General George C. Marshall.

On September 17, 1921, while anti-gambling forces joined together to take their fight to Frankfort, Latonia pulled seven “great racers” for the $30,000 Latonia Champion Stakes.  Two were Grey Lag, bred by John E. Madden and eventual winner of the Belmont, and Kentucky Derby winner Behave Yourself, owned by E.R. Bradley. Babe Ruth hit his 56 HR.

On Wednesday, September 17, 1924, McHenry Rhoads, Kentucky’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, urged every school, teacher, and student in the 120 counties to “take a new allegiance to the flag and recitation to the oath” to observe Constitution Day.  Meanwhile, the priest of Lexington’s Christ Church Cathedral prepared his sermon, The Church and War, due to the misunderstanding that arose from Saturday’s Defense Day.

On September 17, 1937, Mount Rushmore officially dedicated the Abraham Lincoln carving.  They dedicated George Washington’s likeness on Mount Rushmore in 1930, followed by Jefferson in 1936, Lincoln in 1937, and Roosevelt in 1939.

September 17, 1939, Night Policeman Roscoe Halcomb, Cumberland Police Department, died from a gunshot while attempting to arrest a hitchhiker who had threatened a motorist with a handgun.

September 17, 1942, Kentucky newspapers announced a campaign from October 12 to 31 to help raise 284,562,700 pounds of scrap metal to donate for war.

September 17, 1950, Army PFC Kenneth H. Murphy from Casey County died while fighting in the Korean War.

September 17, 1953, the good-natured Governor L. Weatherby donned green and white racing silks and climbed into a sulky to guide the ostrich, Calamity, to victory.  The 7,000 spectators in the grandstand at the Kentucky State Fair loved every minute of the unscheduled event.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Louisville native Jim Cornette, born in 1961.  Jim’s fascination with wrestling began when he was a child; by his early teens, he announced live wrestling matches.  He owned Smoky Mountain Wrestling during the 1990s and worked for World Wrestling Entertainment and World Championship Wrestling.

September 17, 1967, Navy P03 Joseph Anthony Coomes from Owensboro, died fighting in the Vietnam War.

September 17, 1968, Marine 1LT Stanley Garfield Lawson from Shelbyville, died fighting in the Vietnam War.

September 17, 1970, Trigg County cleared a 12-year-old boy, believed to be one of the youngest persons ever charged with a capital murder offense, in Kentucky.  They ruled the shooting accidental.

September 17, 1975, Jailer Jessie Keen Frost, Allen County Detention Center, succumbed to injuries sustained on August 3rd, when he was beaten by an inmate in the cafeteria.

September 17, 1978, the Kentucky Horse Park ended the World Three Day Event for the 1st time.  The international competition would later be known as the Rolex Three Day Event.

September 17, 1987, locals buried the Shelbyville U.S. Constitutional Bicentennial time capsule to commemorate the 1787 U.S. Constitution.

September 17, 1994, five went to post for the Grade I Ruffian Stakes at Belmont Park.  Four were Keeneland graduates.  The entries included; Sky Beauty, Dispute, Educated Risk, Link River, and You’d be Surprised.

On September 17, 2002, in Nashville, Tennessee, #43 gave us one of his best Bushisms, “There’s an old saying in Tennessee—I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, Fool me once, shame on…shame on you.  Fool me—you can’t get fooled again.”

September 17, 2004, Governor E. Fletcher called a special legislative session so lawmakers could resolve the “crisis” over the rising cost of healthcare for public employees and teachers.

September 17, 2005, director Cameron Crowe signed autographs at Freeman Lake in the morning.  Later, he signed more, outside the Elizabethtown Movie Palace, before screening his new film, Elizabethtown.

September 17, 2011, Louisville beat Kentucky in Lexington 24-17 to win the 24th Governor’s Cup.  It was the 3rd game of the season for both teams and a match between Joker Phillips and Charlie Strong.  Louisville later lost in the Belk Bowl against NC State with a young Teddy Bridgewater.  The series stood at 14-10, Kentucky’s favor.

September 17, 2016, an 1852 gold medal honoring Henry Clay sold for $346,000 at a Dallas auction; more than quadruple the required bid of $75,000.  The one-of-a-kind 30 ounce California gold had a portrait of Clay on it and came with an engraved silver case with a picture of his Ashland Estate.  Henry “Hank” Clay Anderson List, a fourth-generation grandson of Clay who lived in Lexington, consigned the piece.

September 17, 2016, a Kentucky bred won Woodbine’s GI $1,040,000 Woodbine Mile for three-year-olds and upward.

September 17, 2017, Helen Bates “Penny” Chenery died.

On September 17, 2019, tech giant Apple announced an award of $250 million to fuel more innovation for the scratch-resistant glass made in Kentucky for its iPhones.  The money expanded manufacturing and technology pioneered by Corning Inc., in their Harrodsburg plant, with nearly 400 high-paying jobs.

September 17, 2020, Governor A. Beshear’s administration argued before the Kentucky Supreme Court to make his coronavirus mandates constitutional.  Meanwhile, Fayette County announced six locations for in-person voting for the November election.

On September 17, 2021, without providing individual names, the Kentucky school teachers’ union announced 33 members had died from the coronavirus.  Meanwhile, TicTok motivated bathroom vandalism in middle and high schools throughout the state.

On September 17, 2022, Churchill Downs ran the Locust Grove Stakes, Iroquois Stakes, and the Pocahontas Stakes.  All three winners dropped in Kentucky.  The Iroquois provided the closest race when the $23.66 longshot won by a length.

On September 17, 2022, UK President Eli Capilouto announced that 6,120 first-year students set the record for the largest freshmen class in school history.  UK also recorded the highest six-year graduation rate (69%) for the institution.  The milestones came when national college enrollment declined due to the coronavirus lockdowns.

On September 17, 2023, UK revealed in its continued success.  Two days earlier, Eli Capilouto announced UK reached a historic milestone of a 70%, six-year graduation rate, among the best in the country.  The enrollment report included a record first-year class of almost 6,500 students and more than 34,000 students enrolled on the campus for the first time.  Returning students for their second year of college reached a record level of 87%.  UK also had more than 24,000 undergraduates for the first time.