Skip to content

TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Localtonians wish a Happy Anniversary to Lewis Loder and Julia Goodridge Hayden, who wed in 1849.  They moved into a two-story home known as White Hall on the corner of Tanner and Front Streets, where they ran a tavern and inn.  In 1857, Loder became Justice of the Peace and kept his daily diaries until 1904.  He documented almost 50 years of operations at the Petersburg Distillery and daily life in Petersburg (Boone County).  He recorded the temperature and weather conditions, births, marriages, deaths, happenings at the distillery, and everyday events such as picnics or other gatherings.

March 2, 1863, the Kentucky Legislatures adopted a resolution that condemned their native son’s Emancipation Proclamation.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Franklin native Thomas Obadiah Chisholm, born in 1966.  As a young man, he converted to Christianity during a revival by Dr. Henry Clay Morrison, the well-known Methodist evangelist, president of Asbury University, and founder of Asbury Theological Seminary.

In the March 2, 1889 issue of The Woman’s Journal, Mary Barr Clay stated her mother had the largest influence on how she approached the issues with which she dealt.  Her mother, Mary Jane, had been born to wealthy slave owners in Lexington and as a result, grew up in a pro-slavery household.  Mary Jane would go on to marry Cassius Clay, who, after going off to college, took up a staunch anti-slavery stance.  While living in a Southern, conservative state, being an abolitionist was a dangerous choice, and Mary stated that her mother was her father’s only sympathizer.

March 2, 1917, Kentucky played Tennessee in the Knoxville Central Y.M.C.A. and lost 25-27For the 3rd consecutive time, the Vols nosed out the Kentucky State quintet Friday night.  La Grange native Robert Ireland scored 12 points.

March 2, 1918, Lexington High School Basketball Five won the “first” Sweet 16 High School Basketball Tournament over the Somerset Basketeers at Centre College in Danville 16-15.  The high schools played tournaments in 1917 and 1916, but the KHSAA did not sanction them.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Denny Crum, born in 1937.

March 2, 1939, Night Policeman Henry Cleman “Dick” Fowler, Franklin Police Department, died in a motorcycle crash.

March 2, 1948, Margaret Mink’s prize hen laid a double shelled egg weighing over a half pound.

March 2, 1950, Frankfort proclaimed 1950 as “Homecoming Year” on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Walker’s entry into the Kentucky wilderness.  It Happened Today in Kentucky History by Robert A. Powell pg: 25

March 2, 1951, Army PFC W.D. Powell from Livingston County died in the Korean War.

March 2, 1960, Kentucky declared all roads dangerous and hazardous after 10 inches of snow fell in many counties.

March 2, 1968, Army SP4 Alvin L. Cayson from Lexington died in the Vietnam War.

March 2, 1973, while Spindletop faced an uncertain financial future after rejecting a state takeover, George H.W. Bush, ex-head spook and current National Republican Party Chairman, spoke at the annual Lincoln Day dinner in Lexington.

March 2, 1974, the U.S. postal service began charging 10 cents for a stamp instead of 8.

March 2, 1977, many Cynthiana residents retreated to their roofs from severe flooding.  

March 2, 1980, Governor John Y. Brown, Jr. called higher education the state’s “biggest crybaby” on budget cuts.  The governor made the statement in an effort to balance the budget without increasing taxes.

March 2, 1988, former Governor A.B. “Happy” Chandler sang My Old Kentucky Home on Senior Night at Rupp Arena.  Tom Hammond described the scene as “one of the most emotional moments in sport.”  Wildcat seniors included: Ed Davender, Winston Bennett, Rob Lock, Cedric Jenkins, and Richard Madison.  It was also Rex Chapman’s final game in Lexington; he entered the NBA draft after the 1987-1988 season.

March 2, 1991, before the then-largest crowd in Rupp arena history, the Wildcats closed out the 1990-91 season with a 22-6 overall record.  Although ineligible for the SEC title because of probation, the Cats secured the best record in the league (14-4) with the win over Auburn.  A ceremony and parade followed.

March 2, 1995, workers installed the last bolt on Kentucky Kingdom’s (KK) new T2 rollercoaster after arriving from the Netherlands by sea.  Unfortunately, T2 suffered a reputation for not delivering a smooth, comfortable ride.  Today, KK has the T3, the 1st Vekoma Suspended Looping Coaster to open in North America.

March 2, 1996, with a 101-63 victory over Vanderbilt in Rupp Arena on Senior Day, UK became the 1st team in 40 years to finish with a perfect record in the SEC, a 16-0 sweep.  It was the Wildcats’ 25th win in a row, tying the school record for consecutive wins in a season.  They won two games in the SEC Tournament to set the new record at 27 games.  They lost in the SEC finals but won the NCAA Championship.

March 2, 2005, McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky went before the U.S. Supreme Court.  Lawyers asked if public buildings could display the 10 Commandments.  On the same day they ruled no, the Justices released another judgment that gave the opposite opinion.

March 2, 2009, WikiLeaks dropped the major November 2008 RAND Corporation study on intelligence operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.  America went from appreciating journalism to prosecuting it; from Watergate to WikiLeaks.

March 2, 2010, retiring Senator Jim Bunning, after five days, relented and ended his protest in the U.S. Senate.  He objected to the federal government spending money they didn’t have.  He stood angry and alone until the pressure from his peers made him break.  He finally voted yes so Congress could spend, spend, spend….

On March 2, 2012, eighteen tornadoes touched down across the state, impacting 27 counties.  Twenty-six people died, while 200 received injuries.  West Liberty in Morgan County got hit especially hard when six people died.  An EF-3 tornado, a mile wide, decimated much of the downtown area.  It first touched down near Mariba in Menifee County at 5:39 p.m.  Nineteen minutes later, it slammed into downtown West Liberty. 

March 2, 2014, days after the popular elected Ukrainian government fell to pro-western leaders, Ukraine claimed they were “on the brink of disaster” a day after Russia overtook the Crimean Peninsula in Eastern Ukraine.  The U.S. demanded Putin retreat.  Meanwhile, high potency heroin continued to circulate in Kentucky, causing more O.D.s and deaths.

March 2, 2015, Senate President Robert Stivers and Governor Steve Beshear approved another corporate gift, this time with the controversial phone deregulation bill.  Opponents of the law said the land lines would no longer be maintained, forcing people to go mobile.  Meanwhile, the Harlan County Sherriff spent $27,000, some on a dating website, and the state auditor took notice.

March 2, 2018, Police Officer Rodney Scott Smith, Hickman Police Department, drowned when flood waters washed his patrol car into a field off of Bernal Avenue.

On March 2, 2021, the DEA claimed more Americans died from overdose than ever before in 12 months: more than 83,000.  Some blame the Trump-era coronavirus policies that shut down American society on the increase.  The President’s policies not only paid people to stay home, but he pushed the experimental vaccines and flooded the economy with $4 trillion to create the 2024 consumer inflation.

On March 2, 2022, Kentucky part-time legislators earned an average of $65,339 for 2020.  Meanwhile, these same people advanced a bill to cut jobless benefits, calling it “tough love,” while the detractors called it “a very cruel bill.”  Later that night, the Senate’s top man, Robert Stivers, cohosted a fundraiser for a Franklin Circuit Court judge candidate.  It’s not illegal but done in questionable taste.