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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Elisha Warfield, Jr., born in 1781.  When Elisha was nine years old, his family moved to Lexington from Maryland.  Warfield became a successful medical practitioner in Lexington after graduating from Transylvania Medical School and later became the first Professor of Surgery and Obstetrics at his alma mater.  The doctor was essential in Lexington’s development and became a prominent politician and abolitionist in Kentucky.  In 1809 he was a founding member of the Lexington Jockey Club.  In 1821 he decided to devote his energies to breeding, training, and racing thoroughbreds full-time.  In 1826, he was a founding member of the Kentucky Association, (today is the east end of 5th Street at Race Street in Lexington) which built a horse racetrack on land adjacent to his stud farm, Meadow Lane.  This was where he bred Lexington, considered one of the greatest stallions in U.S. history.

February 5, 1801, John Curd, Jr. died in Mercer County.

February 5, 1817, the General Assembly passed a bill “to establish a Hospital in the town of Louisville.”  Many travelers on the Ohio River languished in Louisville with fatigue and sickness, making the hospital a priority.

February 5, 1838, the General Assembly passed “an act to incorporate the Kentucky Historical Society” because “the collection and preservation of the antiquities of our country, and of memorials and documents serving to illustrate its history and institutions . . . have a tendency to enlarge the sphere of human knowledge and the advancement of science, to perpetuate the history of moral and political events and to improve and interest posterity.”

February 5, 1861, Eminence College, one of Kentucky’s first coeducational colleges, became official with the Kentucky General Assembly.  Located in Henry County, they offered courses in Latin, Greek, mathematics, physics, and chemistry.

Feb 5 college

February 5, 1875, Benjamin G. Bruce published the first issue of a weekly magazine he called the Kentucky Live Stock Record in a house at 17 Jordan’s row, now Upper Street.  The magazine would later be known as The Thoroughbred Record.

February 5, 1895, several decades after his heroic acts of saving lives, in the Civil War, Maysville native John Samuel Darrough received the Medal of Honor.

Kentucky Trivia:  Seventeen Kentuckians received the Medal of Honor fighting in the Civil War.

February 5, 1905, Deputy Sheriff Henry Day, Letcher County Sheriff’s Office, suffered a fatal heart attack while visiting a man he had wounded the previous week.  He was attempting to serve a peace warrant on the man when a violent struggle ensued.  The suspect was seriously injured and Deputy Day had visited the man regularly since wounding him.  As he again saw him, he suddenly collapsed with grief over the wounds and passed away.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Artemus native Sarah Kathern “Kitten” Ramsey, born in 1939.

February 5, 1940, Deputy Sheriff Jerry Combs, Breathitt County Sheriff’s Office, was shot and killed while attempting to arrest two men who were creating a disturbance at the Federal Surplus Commodities Office.  Both men were arrested and charged with murder.  The 26-year-old shooter received life in prison.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Owensboro native Darrell Lee Waltrip, born in 1947.

February 5, 1951, Army CPL Rush F. Crum from Floyd County died in the Korean War.

February 5, 1951, the Kefauver Committee subpoenaed many gamblers in Northern Kentucky who represented a national gambling syndicate.  Although no names were released, one gambler admitted, “They summoned a handful of our boys.”  The feds were investigating interstate commerce in handbooks, slots, and white slavery.

February 5, 1962, a meeting took place in Standiford Motel, room 118.  Present were ex-U.S. senator/governor Earl Clements, ex-U.S. senator/governor Happy Chandler, State Treasurer Thelma Stovall, and several Frankfort attorneys.  These long-antagonistic fractional democratic leaders had one goal, to stop the current Republican U.S. Senator Thurston Morton from winning re-election.  They were unsuccessful.

February 5, 1969, Army WO1 Willard H. Burkhart from Helton in Leslie County died in the Vietnam War.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Louisville native Adrienne Johnson, born in 1974.  Adrienne is in her 16th year at UofL with the women’s basketball program.  She played for eight seasons in the WNBA, beginning during the league’s inaugural year with the Cleveland Rockers in 1997.

February 5, 1980, the Democratic legislatures ended their honeymoon with Governor John Y. Brown when they told him to balance the budget without raising taxes.  Brown wanted it on the table, but the body would rather cut services than raise taxes.

February 5, 1980, restoration on the Hunt-Morgan House came to a halt.  The Blue Grass Trust needed to locate the correct bricks to properly restore the home.  The restoration project started in late 1978.

Feb 5 Hunt Morgan
Photo by Sydney and Russell Poore

February 5, 1989, Darrin Van Horn a 2-1 underdog, defeated Robert Hines by a 12-round unanimous decision to win the IBF Junior Middleweight Championship.

February 5, 1990, State Police began an investigation into the Hodgenville Police Department after the mayor had destroyed speeding tickets and delayed the prosecution of drunk-driving cases.  Mayor Keith also served as acting Police Chief after the chief died unexpectedly.  

February 5, 1991, the state senate prepared to hold its first impeachment trial in 75 years for Agriculture Commissioner Ward “Butch” Burnette.  However, he resigned at the last second before proceedings got underway.  He supposedly placed a friend on the payroll three weeks before she started working.

On February 5, 2001, Wallace Wilkinson’s creditors filed suit to have his companies seized.  Wilkinson admitted that his liabilities exceeded his assets by $300 million, had been financially insolvent since 1992, and was operating a Ponzi scheme.  He hadn’t paid federal income taxes since 1991.

February 5, 2006, J. B. Holmes wins his 1st PGA title by taking the FBR Open by seven shots to win $936,000.

February 5, 2011, a roan Kentucky bred and Keeneland graduate takes Santa Anita’s GI $250,000 Las Virgenes Stakes for three-year-old fillies.

February 5, 2019, Enerblu, the battery manufacturing plant that promised hundreds of jobs for Eastern Kentucky, announced it would not build in Pikeville.  In late 2017, the California-based company said it would build a $372 million plant creating 875 jobs.

February 5, 2020, the 1st impeachment trial of President Trump ended in an acquittal after a 20 day trial.  It was the 3rd impeachment trial of a U.S. president, preceded by those of Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton.

February 5, 2021, the Kentucky House Impeachment Committee dismissed two petitions to impeach Governor A. Beasher.  It did not act on three other petitions; another against Beshear, one against AG Daniel Cameron, and one against Rep. Robert Goforth R-East Bernstadt.