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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

On January 19, 1809, Henry Clay and Humphrey Marshall held their famous duel across the Ohio River from Shippingport.  Marshall missed the 1st shot, and Clay lightly grazed Marshall’s stomach.  On the 2nd shot, Marshall missed again, and Clay’s pistol misfired.  Marshall’s 3rd shot lightly wounded Clay in the thigh, while Clay missed Marshall entirely.  Clay insisted that they both take another shot, but Marshall declined because Clay’s injury put him on unequal footing with his adversary, and the matter ended.  The dispute came from one of Clay’s political resolutions.

January 19, 1820, Kentucky created Monroe County from Barren County and Cumberland County and named it in honor of President James Monroe.  The county seat is Tompkinsville.  Other cities and towns include: Fountain Run, Gamaliel, Akersville, Alexander, Bugtussle, Center Point, Emberton, Flippin, Gum Tree, Hestand, Jeffrey, Lamb, Mount Hermon, Mud Lick, Persimmon, Rockbridge, Stringtown, Sulphur Lick, and Vernon.  The 65th county created, Monroe County covers 332 square miles.

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640px Map of Kentucky highlighting Monroe County.svg
By David Benbennick

January 19, 1822, James Garrard died.  The farmer, Baptist minister, and Kentucky’s 2nd governor from 1796-1804 was so popular; our founding fathers imposed term limits in the 1799 state constitution; however they exempted him.  Not until a 1992 amendment could governors serve two consecutive terms.

January 19, 1856, Kentucky created Rowan County from Fleming County and Morgan County and named it in honor of John Rowan, a Kentucky Congressman.  Morehead is the county seat.  Other localities include: Lakeview Heights, Farmers, Clearfield, Cranston, Elliottville, Gates, Haldeman, Hayes Crossing, Hilda, Paragon, Pelfrey, Rodburn, Sharkey, Smile, Triplett, and Wagner Corner.  The 104th county created, Rowan County covers 286 square miles.

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640px Map of Kentucky highlighting Rowan County.svg
By David Benbennick

January 19, 1862, the Battle of Mill Springs took place in Wayne and Pulaski counties, near current Nancy.  A rare January battle gave the Union their 1st significant victory, much celebrated in the popular press.  Union General George H. Thomas, still under a cloud of suspicion because of his southern birth, did not receive as much credit as he should have.  However, he later had Fort Thomas in Northern Kentucky named for him.  Confederate Brig. General Zollicoffer died in the battle.  The Union lost 39 men and 207 wounded, Confederates lost 125 with 404 wounded or missing.

On January 19, 1906, the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky (UK) and Central University (Centre) played basketball against each other for the 1st time.  “The Cadet lads of State College defeated the plucky team from Danville 16-15,” from the Lexington Leader.

January 19, 1907, in their 2nd game of the season, the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky (UK) defeated Georgetown College in the State College Gymnasium.  “Wilson, of Local Team, Made a Star Play by Throwing Field Goal.  Georgetown Men Are Disappointed,” from the Lexington Leader.  In the nine-game season, UK played four different teams.

January 19, 1927, Lieutenant J. J. Estes, Lexington Police Department, died from a gunshot while chasing a bootlegger on Kenton Street.  Locals sentenced the man to life and then paroled him in 1944.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Augustus Owsley Stanley III, born in 1935.  The famous Deadhead’s grandfather was Augustus Owsley Stanley, our 38th governor and then U.S. Senator.

January 19, 1959, President “Ike” Eisenhower recommended Congress appropriate $1,172,500 for Mammoth Cave National Park construction, including reconstruction of the entrance and headquarters roads.

Saturday, January 19, 1963, Louisville’s city and county police announced they would begin to enforce the Sunday-closing Law.  Enforcement began with warnings and then a summons.

January 19, 1966, Army SGT Claude W. Tharp from Bedford in Trimble County died in the Vietnam War.

January 19, 1968, Army CPL Bert D. Lefler from Eubank in Lincoln County and Army PFC Johnny W. Lindsey from Fredonia in Caldwell County died in the Vietnam War.

January 19, 1971, Army SP4 Glenn Ethington from Lexington died in the Vietnam War.

On January 19, 1979, the Kentucky Department of Human Resources paid the $105,000 in outstanding bills for Hopkinsville’s Pennyrile Manor Nursing Home so the could continue to provide heat, water, and food for their residents.

On January 19, 1982, the Supreme Court upheld independent political-action committees’ right to raise and spend money in presidential elections.  Common Cause, the group that brought the suit, claimed that campaign spending limits were necessary to protect the presidency from “corrosive effects of large aggregations of financial power.”

January 19, 1987, Kentucky celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

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MLK, Jr.

January 19, 1994, the coldest temperature ever recorded in Kentucky happened when Shelbyville hit -37 Fahrenheit.

January 19, 1996, Jamie Walz, a Highlands female basketball player, set the Kentucky career scoring record by reaching 4,386 points.  Jamie surpassed Geri Grigsby of McDowell High School (74-77).

January 19, 1998, Kentucky celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  For the 1st year, the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq Stock Market, and the bond market closed in observance of the federal holiday.

On January 19, 2004, Coach Tubby Smith and Dell Computers teamed up and provided computers to hundreds of disadvantaged children in Lexington.  They had a goal of providing 2,000 computers to children who needed them.

January 19, 2004, Western Kentucky leaders announced their intentions to attract more doctors.  Three counties in the region only had one doctor each; Carlisle, Hickman, and Ballard.

January 19, 2004, Kentucky celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  In Lexington, marchers braved 20-degree temperatures to pay their respects to the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

January 19, 2006, Wilson Pickett died.  His family laid him to rest in in a mausoleum at Evergreen Cemetery in Louisville.  Pickett spent many years in the city.

January 19, 2009, Kentucky celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  King was born Michael King, Jr.  However, in 1934, his father traveled to Germany and became inspired by the Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther.  As a result, King Sr. changed his name as well as that of his five-year-old son.

On January 19, 2010, ignoring many leading lawmakers’ advice, Governor Steve L. Beshear unveiled a two-year budget that depended on $780 million in revenue from slot machines at racetracks.

January 19, 2013, Gulfstream Park hosted the 42nd annual Eclipse Awards.  Wise Dan won champion older male, champion turf male, and took home Horse of the Year for 2012, the 1st horse since John Henry in 1981 to sweep the three categories.

January 19, 2015, Kentucky celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  In 1958, a man approached Dr. King at a Harlem book signing and plunged a 7-inch letter opener into his chest, nearly puncturing his aorta.  He needed surgery to remove it.  If King had so much as sneezed on the way to the hospital, the wound would have been fatal.

January 19, 2018, three people died, and six were injured when a tug boat exploded on the Tennessee River in Marshall County on a dock near Calvert City.

January 19, 2019, a Kentucky bred and Keeneland graduate won Santa Anita’s GII $200,351 Palos Verdes Stakes for four-year-olds and upward.

January 19, 2020, Kentucky celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, as Kentucky teachers promised to attend General Assembly sessions during school days to maintain their activism.  Kentucky Senate Bill 89 wanted to give police new powers that stopped people on the street and demanded identification; if anyone refused, they could be detained for two hours; the bill never passed.  Lastly, the U.S. Census began.

On January 19, 2021, Trump spent his last full day as president.  Mitch returned to D.C. for the 1st time since the Capitol riots and opened U.S. Senate proceedings by explicitly blaming Donald for the deadly day.  In Frankfort, Governor A. Beshear vetoed a bill that limited the Kentucky governor’s power.  Later in the day, he provided his daily briefing on the coronavirus numbers as the vaccine rollout began in full swing.

On January 19, 2021, for the 1st day, UK’s football field hosted medical personnel to provide coronavirus vaccines.  Citizens had to pre-register; however, Groups 1A and 1B had priority.  After one day, 50,000 people registered for the experimental vaccine.

January 19, 2022, the Biden Administration announced they would begin to give away 400 million N95 masks for free after acknowledging the issues with cloth masks.  Earlier in the week, they began shipping four free rapid test kits to everyone’s home that requested them.  Meanwhile, in Nicholasville, a movie theater offered vaccine-required shows for concerned patrons, while Frankfort announced over 1 million had tested positive for the coronavirus.