Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Lewis Loder married Julia Goodridge Hayden, 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 began keeping his daily diaries that would continue until 1904.  He gave a great deal of information about the people who lived in Petersburg and the surrounding areas.  He recorded the temperature and weather conditions, births, marriages and deaths, happenings at the distillery, and everyday events such as picnics or other events.

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

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 25-27.  For the 3^rd consecutive time, the Vols nosed out the Kentucky State quintet Friday night.  La Grange native Robert Ireland scored 12 points.

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 legislators proclaimed 1950 as “Homecoming Year” for Kentucky on the 200^th anniversary of Thomas Walker’s entry into the wilderness in1750.  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 Bush, the National Republican Party Chairman, spoke at the annual Lincoln Day dinner in a Lexington hotel.

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 Wildcats 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 new T2 rollercoaster after arriving from the Netherlands by sea.  The ride opened to the public a month later.  Today, the T3 excites the fans.

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

March 2, 2005, McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky went before the U.S. Court.  They argued if the 10 Commandments could be displayed in public buildings. 

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….

March 2, 2012, eighteen tornadoes touched down across the state, impacting 27 different counties.  Twenty-six people died and more than 200 injured.  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 1^st 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 A. 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.

March 2, 2021, coronavirus in Kentucky continued to trend downward with a 4.76% positivity rate.  Meanwhile, floodwaters began to recede in many Eastern Kentucky counties, where one official said the high water was, “unlike anything he had ever seen.”  There were 49 local declarations of disaster.

March 2, 2022, Kentucky legislators, who worked part-time, earned $65,339 on average for 2020.  Meanwhile, they 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.