Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Captain Abraham Lincoln, President Lincoln’s grandfather, born in 1774.
On May 13, 1871, to calm down a city in turmoil, the mayor and railway officials met over Robert Fox’s lawsuit in Louisville. Robert Fox and other African Americans refused to accept their offer of segregated street cars and faced with economic and political issues, the rail company agreed to integrate.
Wednesday, May 13, 1891, Kingman won the 17th Kentucky Derby for owner Jacobin Stables and trainer Dudley Allen and earned $4,550. Isaac Burns Murphy won his last of three Derbies. The Tennessee bred covered the 1 1/2 miles in 2:52 ¼, for the slowest Derby.
Meridian with R.F. Carman & George Archibald at the 1911 Kentucky DerbyOn May 13, 1916, Harrodsburg bred George Smith won the 42nd Kentucky Derby. Owner John Sanford, an ex-member of the U.S. House and prominent horse breeder, along with U.S. Hall of Fame trainer Hollie Hughes, secured their only Derby. Hall of Fame jockey Johnny Loftus won his 1st of two Derbies. The winning connections won $9,750.
Johnny Loftus aboard George Smith at the 1916 Kentucky Derby Photo By Churchill DownsOn May 13, 1922, the 48th Kentucky Derby and 47th Preakness Stakes ran on the same day. California bred Morvich won the Derby and $53,000 for owner Ben Block and trainer Fred Burlew. Jockey Albert Johnson won his 1st of two. Greentree Stable’s Pillory won the Preakness Stakes and $51,000. Pillory also won the Belmont over three others in June.
May 13, 1923, Patrolman David B. Rogers, Covington Police Department, died when a speeding car struck his police motorcycle on the Madison Pike.
May 13, 1926, Chief of Police George S. Smiddy, Jellico Police Department, died from a gunshot while arresting a man shooting guns involved in a domestic dispute.
On May 13, 1931, State Senator A.B. Chandler from Woodford County won the nomination for Lt. Gov. at the State Democratic Convention held in Lexington’s Woodlawn Auditorium. The delegates also chose Madisonville Judge Ruby Laffoon to run for governor. Fred M. Vinson worked hard to defeat Chandler.
May 13, 1953, Dr. N.S. Noland, Superintendent of Eastern State Hospital in Lexington, claimed the elderly that clogged Kentucky’s mental hospitals should not be there. He stated ”these displaced persons have been falsely labeled insane and placed in hospitals to spend their waning years waiting to die because they have nowhere else to go.”
May 13, 1965, Buckpasser ran his 1st race; the only time he did not place.
May 13, 1969, Investigator William Lee Jones, Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, died after two suspects in Bardstown beat him while investigating the theft of several cases of beer and whiskey from a local event.
May 13, 1969, Army SP4 Ira J. Sturgeon from Freeburn in Pike County died in the Vietnam War.
May 13, 1970, Army SSG Rhea M. Kidd from Munfordville in Hart County died in the Vietnam War.
May 13, 1975, Air Force SGT Tommy R. Nealis from Mt. Sterling died in the Vietnam War.
May 13, 1979, Dr. Donald Zacharian, a 43 year-old Texas University executive, became Western Kentucky University’s President.
May 13, 1982, about 4,000 workers at General Electric’s Appliance Park in Louisville walked off the job to show support for 200 striking maintenance workers.
May 13, 1988, the spotlight shined in Hazard on the life-changing stories provided by the Kentucky River Regions Learn to Read Program. Meanwhile, in Lexington, the FBI began an investigation into one of their own. The bureau implicated Agent Long, head of the Lexington office, for car parts theft.
On May 13, 1992, Kentucky Senator David LaMaster announced his resignation during a Special Session. Federal authorities indicted him on corruption charges the day before. Governor B. Jones called a special session to work on Healthcare in the Commonwealth.
May 13, 1996, a child killed another child with a handgun in Louisville for the 2nd time in a week. The 1st death was intentional, the 2nd accidental.
On May 13, 2002, victims filed eleven more lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Louisville for sexual abuse, bringing the total to 49.
May 13, 2007, Kentucky governor candidates; Steve Beshear, Gatewood Galbraith, Stephen Henry, Bullman Hensley, William Lunsford, Jody Richards, Ernie Fletcher, Billy Harper, and Ann Northrup stated their intentions to the locals.
On May 13, 2007, Habitat for Humanity began building a home in Louisville dedicated to Pat Smith. Mr. Smith devoted many volunteer hours and was a member of the group’s international board of directors. Pat died in Lexington on Comair flight 5191.
May 13, 2011, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway accused Marathon Petroleum Company of gasoline gauging while Kentuckians faced massive flooding. Conway claimed Speedway’s gas prices jumped $.30 cents overnight after Governor S. Beshear declared an emergency.
May 13, 2014, Kentucky and the FTC made a Danville native return $7.7 million to his customers after he allegedly ran a Ponzi scheme named Fortune HiTech Marketing.
On May 13, 2015, the federal government released an education report. From 2000 to 2009, Kentucky ranked 1st in the nation for the pace of growth in four-year graduation rates. Six years and cuts of $178 million later, Kentucky ranked 41st. In 2014, Kentucky had the largest per-student funding cut in the nation.
May 13, 2016, President B. Obama instructed U.S. public Schools to let transgender students use bathrooms and locker rooms based on their gender identity. Hours later Governor M. Bevin issued his statement. It is difficult to imagine a more absurd federal overreach into a local issue.
On May 13, 2019, Swedish prosecutors reopened their 2017 investigation and sought Assange’s extradition after the Ecuadorean embassy revoked his political asylum and kicked him out. As he sat in a London jail, the U.S. also asked Britain to extradite him to face charges that he conspired to hack U.S. government computers. Unfortunately, journalism is dying in America.
On May 13, 2020, the security firm CrowdStrike, which the DNC called in to investigate the alleged Russian hack of DNC servers in 2016, admitted they had no proof the Russians, or anyone else, hacked their servers. Two years later, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) fined the DNC $105,000 and the Clinton campaign $8,000 for creating the Steel Dossier, which accelerated Russiagate. It had to be hard to lose a presidential election to a game show host who conned adults in an illegitimate college.
On May 13, 2021, Andy announced that fully vaccinated Kentuckians may take off their masks in most indoor and outdoor settings on the same day the CDC advised the same thing. Meanwhile, a Lexington girl was among the 1st adolescents to receive the vaccine. She stated, “Getting the vaccine will let me get out of the house, go to camp, school next year, and see my friends.” Zero Kentucky children died from the virus, and very few got sick. In 2023, Kentucky ranked 54th in children’s vaccination rates.