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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

February 1, 1785, the 1st college west of the Allegheny Mountains and the 16th in America, Transylvania Seminary, held their 1st class in the cabin of Father David Rice, a Presbyterian minister, on Harrod’s Run between Danville and Fort Harrod.

February 1, 1860, Kentucky created Metcalfe County from Barren County, Monroe County, Adair County, Cumberland County, and Green County and named it in honor of Thomas Metcalfe, 10th Kentucky governor.  Edmonton is the county seat.  Other localities include Summer Shade, Beaumont, Center, Knob Lick, Randolph, Savoyard, Sulphur Well, and Wisdom.  The 108th county created, Metcalfe County, covers 291 square miles.

By David Benbennick

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Whitley County native, Caleb Powers, born in 1869.  The U.S. representative from Kentucky is the only Secretary of State of Kentucky convicted as an accessory to murder.  Supposedly, he helped shoot Governor William Goebel in 1900.

February 1, 1898, William Goebel sponsored a measure later called the Goebel Election Law.  The law created a Board of Election Commissioners appointed by the General Assembly to choose election commissioners in all Kentucky counties and empowered them to decide disputed elections.  The heavily Democratic Assembly made the law blatantly partisan and self-served Goebel, so much so that some Democrats opposed it.

Thursday, February 1, 1900, Kentucky had two governors.  The Republican lay dying in the Frankfort hotel, and the Democrat fortified in the executive building.

Kentucky Headline
Governor William Taylor – R
Governor William Goebel – D

February 1, 1901, Night Patrolman Clifton Hopkins Slaton, Madisonville Police Department, died after giving the suspect a break for carrying a pistol.  The suspect and an acquaintance had agreed to leave town because they were both drunk.  After riding a short distance, they both returned to commit murder.

February 1, 1916, Louisville native John Colgan, inventor of flavored chewing gum died.  The Cogan Chewing Gum Company prospered, then sold out in 1911.

February 1, 1933, Nat Sewell, State Inspector and Examiner, submitted a report to Governor Laffoon that recommended the 1934 legislature abolish Clay County.  Mr. Sewell wanted to end what he termed “clan contest which has made the county notorious for nearly half a century.”

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Brownie native Isaac Donald “Don” Everly, born in 1937 in Muhlenberg County.  He was one year, eleven months and eighteen days older than his brother Phil.  

February 1, 1939, Gulfstream Park opened for the 1st day with 18,000 people attending the four day meet.

On February 1, 1941, Golden Gate Fields opened its inaugural meet to become the only major racetrack in Northern California.  With the onset of World War II, the U.S. Navy took over the property as the “Albany Naval Landing Force Equipment Depot” for storing hundreds of landing craft destined for use in the Pacific theater.  After the war, Golden Gate Fields resumed horse racing.  Foreign car importer and horseman Kjell Qvale owned and managed the facility for 25 years.  Magna Entertainment Corporation subsequently acquired it.

February 1, 1943, the Navy Department reported five Kentucky sailors missing in Europe and Africa.  Three men resided in Louisville, and the other lived in Wheelwright and Danville.

February 1, 1950, hundreds of Kentuckians fled their homes as flooded streams rose in unrelenting rains.  Evacuations took place in Frankfort, Paintsville, Barbourville, Falmouth, Catlettsburg, and Campbell County.

February 1, 1953, Army CPL Norman F. Barr from Jefferson County died in the Korean War.

February 1, 1960, President J.F. Kennedy announced Eastern Kentucky would be one of five economically distressed areas to be part of a pilot program dispensing food stamps. Governor Bert Combs gleamed.

February 1, 1966, Army SP4 Douglas M. Wetmore from Williamsburg in Whitley County died in the Vietnam War.

February 1, 1968, Army SSG Istvan Molnar from Hopkinsville in Christian County and Army PFC Roger D. Puckett from Bowling Green in Warren County, died in the Vietnam War.

February 1, 1970, General Electric ended its longest and costliest strike.  Employees stopped working over wages and cost of living issues, affecting many Louisville families.  The strike lasted 101 days.

February 1, 1975, Silly Dilly, with Mike Morgan up, won the final thoroughbred race at Louisville’s historic Miles Park race track.

Miles Park

February 1, 1983, McCreary County voters turned down the legal sale of alcoholic beverages by a 3-to-1 margin in the 1st wet/dry election since going dry in 1941.  February In Western Kentucky, the city of Russellville narrowly legalized the sale of alcohol for the 1st time since 1940.

By David Benbennick

February 1, 1988, Deputy Sheriff James Marshall Richardson, Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department, suffered a fatal heart attack while undergoing training at the Criminal Justice Academy.

February 1, 1990, Governor W. Wilkinson addressed the joint General Assembly.  “I know I could be easier to get along with and you know it to,” he said in his 30-minute speech.  “But I wasn’t sent here to get along.  I was sent here to get Kentucky moving again.  Sometimes progress is painful.”

February 1, 1991, smoke from about 90 fires burned 11,000 acres in Eastern Kentucky and the smoke spread over much of the state, setting off smoke detectors as far west as Lexington. 

February 1, 1995, the Kentucky Racing Commission reported the new majority owner of Dueling Grounds was H. Earl Sinks.  The 30-year veteran of the country music industry turned it into a multifaceted entertainment facility.

February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle program suffered its 2nd tragedy when Columbia (OV-102) disintegrated as it reentered the atmosphere, killing all seven crew members.  The Challenger broke up soon after the liftoff in 1986.

Sunday, February 1, 2009, Kenny Perry won his 13thof 14 PGA events in a playoff at the FBR Open in Scottsdale AZ.

February 1, 2010, voting 93-1, House Bill 100 directed the state Transportation Cabinet to develop an “In God We Trust” license plate.  The plates became available in early 2011.

February 1, 2015, Keeneland acquired Turf Catering.  Turf Catering has been Keeneland’s exclusive food and beverage company since the track opened in 1936.  The new operation is now Keeneland Hospitality.

On February 1, 2016, the Commonwealth released a report stating that Kentucky coal production plunged in 2015 to a level not seen since the 1932 Great Depression.  Kentucky produced 61.4 million tons of coal in 2015, with 28 million tons coming from Eastern Kentucky.  The decline cost 2,000 Kentuckians their job from 2015-16.

February 1, 2016, federal authorities subpoenaed records from Alison Lundergan Grimes’s U.S. Senate and Kentucky Secretary of State campaigns.  Grimes was not the target; her father was, and he went to prison in 2020.

February. 1, 2020, Dr. A Fauci and his boss, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins, were warned by 11 other scientists that the coronavirus may have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and may have been intentionally genetically manipulated.  For the 1st time Alex Azar, U.S. Department of Health declared the coronavirus presented a public health emergency in the U.S., while Dr. Faucci stood beside him.

On February 1, 2021, courts released records showing the FBI arrested two Lexington men involved in the January 6 U.S. Capitol riots.  Dalton Crase and Troy Williams faced abetting, entering a restricted building, and disorderly conduct charges.  Meanwhile, in D.C., Senator McConnell stated Marjorie Taylor Greene had “loony lies and conspiracy theories,” calling her views as a “cancer for the Republican party.”  He then praised Senator Liz Cheny.

February 1, 2022, Frankfort legislatures introduced a bill/gift that made it easier for Kentucky utility companies to raise their rates by reducing public scrutiny and outside interventions.  Local utility watchdogs called the bill a “one-sided gift to the utility industry.”  Meanwhile, Lexington police placed cameras throughout the city to capture license plate numbers.  However, authorities stated the cameras were for criminal investigations, not for convicting red-light violators.

On February 1, 2023, locals learned that employees at Lexington’s jail would receive a starting salary of $50,000.  Many demanded a living wage after COVID-19 lockdowns.  Some institutions paid the piper, while some keep rolling as usual.