TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

February 8, 1837, the U.S. Senate elected Louisville native Richard Mentor Johnson the 9th U.S. Vice President.  His selection marked the first and only time the Senate exercised its prerogative under the U.S. Constitution’s Twelfth Amendment, which provides, “if no person has a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President.”

February 8, 1839, Breathitt County was created from Clay County, Estill County, and Perry County and named in honor of John Breathitt, Kentucky’s 11th governor.  Jackson is the county seat.  Other localities include: Altro, Bays, Caney, Canoe, Chenowee, Clayhole, Cockrell Fork, (on line between Breathitt and Perry Counties) Crockettsville, Elkatawa, Evanston, Fishtrap, Flintville, Frozen/Frozen Creek, Fugates Fork, Gauge, Haddix, Hardshell Caney, Hayes Branch, Leatherwood, Lost Creek, Morris Fork, Ned, Nix Branch, Noble, Noctor, Oakdale, Portsmouth, Quicksand, River Caney, Riverside, Rose Branch, Rousseau, Rowdy, Saldee, Sebastians Branch, Shoulder Blade/Shoulderblade, Smith Branch, South Fork, Stevenson, Troublesome Creek, Turners Creek, Vancleve, War Creek, Watts, Whick, Wilstacy and Wolf Coal.  Breathitt County was the 89th county created in Kentucky and covers 495 square miles.

1280px Map of Kentucky highlighting Breathitt County.svg
By David Benbennick

February 8, 1893, Kentucky philanthropist, social reformer, school founder, and letter writer, “Miss Jennie Casseday, dies.

Feb 8 Cassiday

February 8, 1900, Governor Goebel’s body returned to Frankfort from Covington for his official funeral.  Six thousand strong turned out for the event, despite a miserable rainy day.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Millersburg native Mae Street Kidd, born in 1904.  Mae was born to a black mother and a white father who refused to acknowledge her existence.  Nevertheless, she rose to be a pioneering business leader, politician, and civil rights activist who broke ground for women and African Americans. 

February 8, 1908, Kentucky State College Cadets (UK) hosted and defeated the Louisville Coliseum Club, 29-28.  The winners hosted in State College Gymnasium.

February 8, 1915, La Grange native D.W. Griffith premiered his Birth of a Nation in Clune’s Auditorium in Los Angeles.

February 8, 1915, Constable W. W. Tartt, Graves County Constable’s Office, was killed at Melber by a man that he and another constable attempted to arrest for breaking into a house. The suspect was arrested minutes later.  Three nights later, a mob of more than 50 men seized the suspect from the county jail at Maysville, hanged him from a tree on the courthouse lawn, and riddled his body with bullets.

February 8, 1930, James Grayson received a life sentence by a Warren County jury.  He murdered Mr. Kirby, a Smiths Grove banker, who died while pursuing three bandits after they robbed the Bank of Oakland for $1,753.

February 8, 1942, officials announced token fares on Louisville street cars and buses increased from 3-for-20 cents to 2-for-15 cents.  The cash fare remained at 10 cents.

February 8, 1946, Patrolman Cleophus John “Clay” Eifert, Covington Police Department, died from a gunshot after responding to a domestic disturbance at a rooming house downtown.  Patrolman Eifert was shot in the chest while climbing a staircase.  Before collapsing, the officer fired six shots, striking the gunman in the leg.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Louisville native John Richard Gott III, born in 1947.  John is a professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University.  He is known for his work on time travel and the Doomsday argument.

February 8, 1950, in a 6.5-hour session, the House killed a proposal to allow $12,200,000 a year more to education.  The decision was a resounding triumph for Governor E. Clements.  It was the worst defeat suffered in recent years for the Kentucky Education Association. (KEA)  

February 8, 1960, Kentucky lawmakers, by a vote of 58 to 18, increased their daily expense allowance from $10 to $25 a day.  Twelve members did not vote and eleven were absent.   

February 8, 1968, Army SP4 Larry J. McCubbins from Fairdale in Jefferson County, Marine Corps PFC Ronald L. Pembleton in Nicholasville in Jessamine County and Army PFC Joseph B. Robinson from Ashland in Boyd County died in the Vietnam War.

February 8, 1969, Army SP4 Robert H. Parcher from Louisville and Army SP4 Henry L. Palmer from Madisonville in Hopkins, died in the Vietnam War.

February 8, 1971, Army SGT Joseph W. Miley from Covington in Kenton County died in the Vietnam War.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Fort Campbell native and MLB player Aaron Lane Cook, born in 1979.

February 8, 1981, the Boston Celtics retired Newport native Dave Cowens’s #18 jersey.

February 8, 1989, Springfield native Georgia Davis Powers known as Montgomery was included in the photographic exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C.: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America.

Kentucky Trivia:  In 1968, Georgia Davis Powers was the first African-American and woman elected to the Kentucky State Senate, 33 years after the first African-American male became a Kentucky Senator.

On February 8, 1992, Humana Inc. set up Dr. Rich with a thriving practice after Kansas took his medical license.  During his brief Commonwealth tenure, he was sued for malpractice and received two shoplifting charges.

February 8, 2000, Louisville announced that they were investing $60 million into turning human waste into pellets of fertilizer.   The project would divert 250 million tons of sludge from landfills.

February 8, 2011, Kindred Healthcare of Louisville announced they were buying St. Louis based RehabCare for $940 million.  With this deal, Kindred become the nation’s largest provider of rehabilitation and long-term hospital care.   In 2017, Humana bought Kindred for $4 billion and Kindred is no longer a publicly-traded company.

February 8, 2019, the Commissioner and Operations Director of the Kentucky Department of Corrections received a pink slip, part of the Justice Cabinet’s desire to change leadership.

February 8, 2020, a Keeneland graduate exacta and Kentucky bred wins the Tampa Bay Downs’s GIII $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes for Kentucky Derby points.  The winner ran in the Derby.

February 8, 2020, Kentucky Lt. Governor Jacqueline Coleman became the first Lt. Governor in Kentucky history to give birth while in office.  Evelynne Jeanette Coleman-O’Bryan became a Kentuckian at 9:40 a.m.

February 8, 2021, an international copper company, Wieland North America, Inc., announced Louisville as their headquarters.  They promised 75 jobs at an average pay of $95.00 per hour over the next decade.