TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

January 1, 1795, John Bradford, John Breckinridge, Dr. Frederick Ridgely, and several other gentlemen “Resolve to organize a Transylvania Library.” Almost a year passed before they placed books in the Transylvania Seminary Building.” The Squire’s Sketches of Lexington by J. Winston Coleman, Jr.; pg: 23

January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the 2^nd and final Emancipation Proclamation, which declared “that all persons held as slaves within the rebel states are, and henceforward shall be free.” The proclamation also established and recruited colored military units for the Union forces.

January 1, 1896, Lexington native James Hilary Mulligan resigned his post as Consul-General to Samoa that President Cleveland appointed him to. Cleveland wanted him as Consul-General to Cape Town, Africa, but he declined. James accepted a position with the treasury department.

January 1, 1900, immediately after Republican Governor William S. Taylor took office, Attorney General Clifton J. Pratt filed suit in the name of the Commonwealth against the Democratic-controlled Election Board Committee. The historic fight for the governor’s mansion was underway.

On January 1, 1900, the Mamre Baptist College opened its doors in Clay County with 100 boys, girls, men, and women with three teachers. Classes ranged from grades one through eight with tuition of $1 a month. Only a few could pay cash; others brought farm animals, produce, or coal dug on the family farm.

On January 1, 1902, Nathan Stubblefield demonstrated his wireless telephone, assisted by his 14-year-old son Bernard. Hundreds of people attended in Murray, which attracted national attention.

January 1, 1918, the U.S. Coal and Coke Company completed their railroad to Lynch. Construction of the town and railroad began less than a half year earlier. As a result, the new community already had 1,500 men on the payroll.

January, 1, 1919, the Kentucky River rose 10 feet in ten hours in and around Frankfort, destroying sawmills and flooding many small communities. Ford may have got the worst. The Kentucky River by William E. Ellis, pg: 109

January 1, 1924, Simpson County native Emma Guy Cromwell became Secretary of State in Governor W.J. Fields’s administration. Earlier, Cromwell became the 1^st woman to hold a statewide office when the Senate elected her state librarian in 1896. Her remarkable career continued as State Treasurer, State Park Director, State Bond Commissioner, and Director of Archives.

January 1, 1939, Robert Penn Warren published Night Rider. He is the only person to have won Pulitzer Prizes for both fiction and poetry.

January 1, 1951, Army CPL John Payne from Henry County died in the Korean War.

On January 1, 1951, the Secretary of the Army granted 2,791 acres of land to the Commonwealth for a state park recreation area, later known as Lake Cumberland State Resort Park.

January 1, 1951, Bear Bryant’s #7 Wildcats defeated #1 Sooners, 13-7, in the 17^th Sugar Bowl. Tulane University hosted 82,000 in one of the biggest upsets in college football. Oklahoma’s regular-season record was 10-0; Kentucky’s was 10-1. Oklahoma averaged 34.5 points per game and entered the game with a 31-game winning streak. Only one team had scored more than twice in a game against Kentucky that season. Walt Yowarsky, UK’s defensive tackle, who recovered a fumble on the Oklahoma 22-yard line, leading to Kentucky’s 1^st score, earned the MVP award. He had played less than five minutes on defense during the regular season.