March 14, 1804, Thomas Reed and John Carr, both Lexingtonians, met on the Field of Honor for an unknown reason. Reed received a wound in the foot and Carr in the thigh after three rounds; however, none of their injuries caused alarm. The Squire’s Sketches of Lexington by J. Winston Coleman, Jr.; pg: 26
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Casey native John Luther “Casey” Jones , born in 1863. He sacrificed his life when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train in Mississippi to save others’ lives.
March 14, 1876, Belle Brezing gave birth to a daughter , Daisy May Kenney. In May of that year, Belle’s mother died of cancer. While at the funeral, her mother’s landlord padlocked the house, leaving mother and baby homeless.
March 14, 1888, Kentucky’s longtime state treasurer, James William “Honest Dick” Tate, boarded a train in Frankfort. He carried a secret plan and two large bags of silver and gold coins, later estimated at $100,000. Whatever the plan was, it worked; no one saw him again. Kentucky’s 4th constitutional convention frequently cited his thievery as a reason to impose term limits. Tate was born in Franklin County, and his place of death is unknown.
March 14, 1890, locals incorporated Middlesboro in Bell County , the city built in a meteor crater. Scottish-born Canadian Alexander Alan Arthur and a group of British sponsors founded the community two years earlier. Arthur’s group purchased 80,000 acres they believed rich in iron ore deposits.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Lamb native Cynthia May Carver , born in 1903 in Barren County. Known professionally as Cousin Emmy, she played the banjo and fiddle and became a pioneering female star in the country music industry.
March 14, 1938, Patrolman Mose Hurt Littrell, Kentucky Highway Patrol , died near Short Creek in Grayson County. Patrolman Littrell was off duty when he observed the car with several men drinking. As he approached, one of them opened fire without saying a word.
On March 14, 1941, the Kentucky Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (KSDAR) dedicated Duncan Tavern before it was completely built. It is now a historic museum and venue for parties and meetings. The John Fox, Jr. Genealogical Library is on the ground floor.
March 14, 1945, two Kentucky Highway Patrol officers posed with some confiscated moonshine after federal agents raided a still at Fox Gap, Franklin County.
March 14, 1946, Kentucky declared Old State House a public park . It Happened Today in Kentucky History by Robert A. Powell pg: 30
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Henderson native Darrell Addison Posey , born in 1947. An obituary described him as an “anthropologist who gave up scholarly detachment to fight for the rights of native peoples.
March 14, 1948, the legislature declared Jefferson Davis Day and Confederate Memorial Day a holiday to be observed on June 3. It Happened Today in Kentucky History by Robert A. Powell, pg: 30
March 14, 1961, Louisville police arrested 177 out of 300 protestors in one of the “liveliest” days of protesting Kentucky had ever seen . Many arrested included civil-rights movement leaders. Police Chief Binder pulled Frank Stanley, Jr. from a protest outside a movie theater and took him to a police wagon.
Sunday, March 14, 1965, Governor Ned Breathitt and 3,000 people marched in Louisville . The gathering was one of many held throughout America to protest the murder of a white Unitarian minister in Selma, Alabama, on Bloody Sunday, a week earlier.
March 14, 1967, Army CPL William F. Hogan, Jr. from Lexington died in the Vietnam War.
March 14, 1968, Army SP4 Donald E. Kidd from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.
March 14, 1969, Navy PO1 Alvin T. Stahl from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.
On March 14, 1973, the National Register of Historic Places accepted the Hunt–Morgan House, historically known as Hopemont .
March 14, 1975, Covington native Haven Gillespie died in Las Vegas . In 1985, George Strait covered his “Right or Wrong ” (written in 1921), scoring the ASCAP Country Music Award in the process. Haven is best known for Santa Claus is Coming to Town .
March 14, 1976, Jockey Bill Shoemaker won his 7,000th race .
March 14, 1978, Barbra Thornhill became the 165th victim of the Beverly Hills fire when she died nine months after the tragic night.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Paducah native George Wilson , born in 1981. As the safety for the Buffalo Bills from 2004 to 2012; he won the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 2009 and 2011.
On March 14, 2008, the Federal Reserve held its 1st emergency weekend meeting in 30 years . They announced they would guarantee Bear Stearns’ bad loans three days later. Ideally, they wanted JP Morgan to purchase Bear and prevent bankruptcy.
March 14, 2009, Rachel Alexandra won her 1st graded stakes of the year in the $400,000 Fairgrounds Oaks (GII), in the slop, effortlessly.
March 14, 2010, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins helped UK defeat Mississippi State, 75-74, in overtime for Kentucky’s 26th SEC Tournament title.
March 14, 2013, the 7th horse under the care of Bob Baffert died suddenly, this time at Hollywood Park. Shortly after case #7, the equine medical director advised the CHRB to conduct an official investigation.
March 14, 2015, the GII $750,000 Rebel Stakes ran at Oaklawn Park . The winner won the Roses in May.
March 14, 2018, Governor M. Bevin ignited fresh outrage against teachers . During an interview on Campbellsville’s WVLC radio station, the governor called teachers who opposed Senate Bill 1 “selfish and “ignorant,” he didn’t stop there.
March 14, 2019, the Toyota Georgetown plant announced they would start producing the Rav4 Crossover SUV Hybrid and the Lexus ES Hybrid.
March 14, 2022, public library advocates declared their opposition to Kentucky Senate Bill 167 , which the Senate passed and sent to the House. The bill included spending cuts and possible censoring by handing control of the library boards to county judge executives. However, the Senate at least removed a section that abolished all library boards across the state.
March 14, 2023, Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, Georgetown, who had been a prominent opponent of medical marijuana, voted to pass a bill through a committee to legalize medically under a very narrow framework. Regardless of Damon, the Senate passed it two days later, and the governor signed it 14 days later. The lawmakers rewrote the bill in 2024 to make it more available.
The end of an era happened on March 14, 2024, when the Louisville Zoo announced that its two remaining elephants, African elephant Mikki, 37, and Asian elephant Punch, 53, would retire to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.