TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORYMarch 12, 2023March 12, 2023Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky TweetsMarch 12, 1827, Gideon Shryock, a 25-year-old Lexington architect, received a $150 prize for the winning design of a new Capitol, and the legislators awarded him the contract. The Greek Revival became known as The Old Statehouse.Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Mays Lick native Charles Young, born in 1864. He was the 1st black U.S. national park superintendent, 1st black military attaché, 1st black man to become a colonel in the U.S. Army, and the highest-ranking black officer in the regular army until he died in 1922.On March 12, 1865, the Union captured Jerome Clarke, a well-known Confederate guerrilla claimed by some as Sue Munday, near the Breckinridge–Meade County line. They hung him three days later in Louisville. Afterward, his trial drew heavy criticism.March 12, 1869, Frankfort rejected the 15th Amendment one month after Washington D.C. approved it. Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware refused to ratify it due to opposition to expanding the black vote. The Commonwealth finally approved the Amendment in 1976.Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Gradyville native Edgar Allen Diddle, born in 1895. The Western Kentucky basketball coach became the 1st individual to coach 1,000 games at one university. Diddle was an early pioneer of the fast break, who liked waving a red towel along the sidelines.Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Gradyville native Edgar Allen Diddle, born in 1895. The Western Kentucky basketball coach became the 1st individual to coach 1,000 games at one university. Diddle was an early pioneer of the fast break, who liked waving a red towel along the sidelines.March 12, 1911, Deputy Sheriff H. M. Holloway and Deputy Sheriff J. T. Lovett Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department died in an ambush while guarding railroad coal chutes in Stearns. The shooting may have been the result of a strike by railroad firefighters.March 12, 1912, Kentucky created its last county, McCreary County from parts of Wayne County, Pulaski County, and Whitley County and named it in honor of James McCreary, 37th Kentucky governor during his 2nd term. The county seat is Whitley City. Other localities include Pine Knot and Stearns. The 120th county created, is the only one formed in the 20th century. It covers 431 square miles.By David BenbennickMarch 12, 1917, Policeman Floyd Little, Weeksbury Police Department, died from a gunshot while attempting to arrest several drunken miners firing guns in the town.March 12, 1938, the General Assembly passed a law that required all executions to be performed privately and by electrocution at Eddyville’s Kentucky State Penitentiary. The new law responded to the last public hanging of Rainey Bethea, which drew 10,000 spectators in 1936.March 12, 1938, Frankfort “banned the possession or sale of the narcotic drug marihuana, sometimes called ‘loco weed’ or any derivative of the drug cannibus americanus.” This did not apply to “duly licensed wholesale druggists, registered pharmacists, legally qualified physicians, dentists, and veterinary surgeons.”March 12, 1940, Keeneland Race Course elected Louis Lee Haggin II as president, a position he held until 1956.March 12, 1949, publishers released Harriette Simpson Arnow’s novel Hunter’s Horn. She was born Harriette Louisa Simpson in Monticello, Wayne County and grew up in neighboring Pulaski County. In 1954, she released her most famous work, The Dollmaker.March 12, 1951, Army SGT Wallace Alexander from Adair County and Marine Corps PFC James A. Gregory from Louisville, both died in the Korean War.March 12, 1952, as a lingering indication of Kentucky’s post-Civil War sentiments, the General Assembly provided $50-a-month pensions for all Confederate veterans who had received an honorable discharge from the Confederate Army and who had resided in Kentucky as a “bona fide resident” since January 1, 1915.March 12, 1967, Lexington native Isaac Scott Hathaway passed away. The artist and educator created masks and busts of influential African American leaders. He also designed the 1st two U.S. coins to feature black Americans.March 12, 1968, Army SGT Charles W. Graham from Richardsville in Warren County and Army SSG George F. Hayes Busy in Perry County.March 12, 1969, Army SP4 Gary L. Moore from Union in Boone County and Army SSG Kyle Waldrop from High Bridge in Jessamine County, both died in the Vietnam War.Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Fort Knox native Monique Jones, born in 1979. As a top ten Pro Women’s Bodybuilder; her accomplishments included 1st-place finishes at the North American Championships and the Wings of Strength Chicago Pro-Am Extravaganza.On March 12, 1983, 20-year-old Tamara McKinney became the 1st American to win the Women’s World Cup Championship.March 12, 1985, Union County native Earle Chester Clements died in his hometown of Morganfield. The U.S. senator and 47th governor led a faction of the state’s Democratic Party that stood in opposition to the section headed by the two-time governor and senator “Happy” Chandler.March 12, 1991, the U.S. government released a report stating that Americans killed, raped, and robbed one another at a furious rate, surpassing every other country that kept crime statistics. In 1990, the nation recorded a record 23,300 killings, three an hour, and a record number of rapes, robberies, and assaults.March 12, 2004, Rafael Bejarano won seven races on a single race card at Turfway Park, and not all were favorites. The next day, he came back and won five races. Rafael ended the meet with a track-record of 196 wins. Also, in 2004, Bejarano won the most races of any jockey with 455.March 12, 2010, Klint Thaxton caught a Kentucky state record Yellow Perch, in Cozy Cove Lodge, Kentucky Lake, weighing 1 lb. 7 ozs.Shown Above is a World Record PerchKentucky Trivia: Kentucky maintains 10 State Forests located in 12 counties comprising over 48,829 acres.March 12, 2011, Augustus Owsley Stanley III, the grandson of the 38th Kentucky governor, passed over.March 12, 2016, Tampa Bay Downs ran the GII $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby Stakes. A Keeneland graduate took home $210,000 and Kentucky Derby points.March 12, 2017, Coach Calipari’s Cats won the SEC Tournament by beating Arkansas 82-65 in the finals. Kentucky won its 3rd tournament in a row for a total of 30 titles.On Monday, March 11, 2018, while Central Kentucky received 8” of snow, several Kentucky High Schools prepared to participate in a national walkout to protest school violence. Meanwhile, the Estill County Engineers made their Sweet 16 debut.March 12, 2019, President Donald Trump signed a law that designated the Mill Springs Battlefield a National Monument.On March 12, 2020, Governor A. Beshear recommended that all school superintendents consider ceasing in-person classes for an unidentified period beginning Monday, March 16, to help control the coronavirus. There were ten confirmed cases at the time.March 12, 2020, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association cancelled both girls’ and boys’ Sweet 16 Basketball Tournaments and Keeneland stated they would run without spectators.March 12, 2021, new coronavirus cases, deaths, and the positivity rate all continued to decline in the state. Kentucky also announced that indoor visitation could resume in nursing homes; however, facilities across the state were already allowing visitors.As of March 12, 2022, four women held the title of County Judge Executive for 120 Kentucky counties. They included Tina Teegarden of Bracken County, Stephanie Holbrook of Robertson County, Queenie Averette of Jefferson County, and Gale Cowan of Adair County.Kentucky Trivia: Three of the four women were strong judge executives, while the Jefferson County position holds no power; however, Queenie Averette was the only black individual in the state to hold the position. At the time, there were more women jailers, six, than judge executives.March 12, 2022, a Kentucky bred won Oaklawn Park’s GII $350,000 Azeri Stakes for fillies and mares four-year olds and upward.
