Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

March 3, 1807, was Thomas Todd’s last day Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals.  His new job started the next day as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

March 3, 1817, the first commercial steamboat route from Louisville to New Orleans opened.  The Washington set records for unprecedentedly rapid travel between New Orleans and the Falls of the Ohio.

March 3, 1820, Lexington’s historical Postlethwaite Traven burned for the first time.  Started by Capt. John Postlethwaite, ownership shifted to Joshua Wilson, then to Sanford Keene when the fire occurred.  Capt. John Postlethwaite took over operations after the fire until he died in 1833.  It burned for the second time in 1879 when it was rebuilt and named The Phoenix Hotel.
History Of Fayette County, Kentucky Edited By William Henry Perrin; Pg: 281

March 3, 1828, John Carpenter Bucklin became Louisville’s first mayor, one month after the state legislature passed Louisville’s city charter.  Bucklin would serve six, one-year terms.  The mayor’s powers were somewhat limited in the early charter.  A Unitarian; his pastor called him: “so complete a skeptic that he will believe nothing he has not seen or touched.  He thinks the sciences of chemistry, geology, anatomy, geology, etc., are all humbug.”

March 3, 1842, Letcher County was created from Perry County and Harlan County, named in honor of Robert P. Letcher, Kentucky’s 15^th governor.  The county seat is Whitesburg.  Other localities include: Blackey, Fleming-Neon, Jenkins, Mayking, McRoberts, Millstone, Payne Gap, Beefhide, (partial) Burdine, Deane, Dunham, Eolia, Ermine, Gaskill, Gilley, Hemphill, Isom, Jeremiah, Letcher, and Seco.  Letcher County was the 93^rd county created and covers 339 square miles.

March 3, 1863, John J. Crittenden served his last day as Kentucky’s U.S. Senator.  He died three months later.  Crittenden served as a U.S. representative, U.S. senator, Kentucky governor, Kentucky secretary of state and U.S. attorney general.

March 3, 1876, “flakes of meat” fell from the sky around Mrs. Allen Crouch as she made soap in her garden in Bath County.  An art professor at Transylvania University, Kurt Gohde, had studied the story and claims there are many theories but no definite answers.

Saturday, March 3, 1877, Rutherford Birchard Hayes became the 19^th U.S. President in the Red Room of the White House, the first president to take the oath in the White House.  March 4 was Sunday; therefore, the public ceremony was on Monday, March 5.

March 3, 1908, State University, Lexington (UK) hosted and defeated Georgetown College 18-13 in the State College Gymnasium.  “Early in the second half the Cadet lads took the lead and held their opponents down during the remainder of the contest.”  Kentucky had an unknown coach.

March 3, 1911, State University, Lexington (UK) ended their season by hosting and defeating Transylvania University in the Buell Armory Gymnasium.  More than 500 watched the 3^rd game of a new rivalry.  Kentucky Coach Harold J. Iddings’s high scorer was Louisville native Frank Marx.

March 3, 1914, State University, Lexington (UK) played Louisville on the Tharp University campus and wins 26-13.  Alpha Brumage coached Kentucky and the Louisville players coached themselves.

March 3, 1932, thousands of anti-tax store owners rallied in the rain on the Capitol lawn in Frankfort.  They also raided the governor’s mansion, scaring the staff, trashing the floors, and slightly damaging some furnishings.   The raid made headlines across the states.

March 3, 1933, Chief of Police Orville Gross, Wallins Creek Police Department, succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained the previous day while investigating a domestic disturbance.

March 3, 1944, Mt. Victory native and ACE Vermont Garrison was shot down and taken Prisoner of War by the Germans.  The Russians liberated him on May 1, 1945, and he remained in Europe as part of the Army of Occupation until 1946.  He is one of only seven men to become an ACE in both World War II and Korea.

March 3, 1967, Army PFC Ronald L. Mikesell from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.

March 3, 1969, Army SGT William O. Walters from Melber in McCracken County died in the Vietnam War.

Kentucky Trivia:  Today is the birthday of two Medal of Honor recipients, Newport native William H. Horsfall, born in 1847 and Henderson native Luther Skaggs Jr., born in 1943.  

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Beaver Dam native Jason Crabb, born in 1977.  Jason is the front man for The Crabb Family Christian music group.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Winchester native Yeremiah Bell born in 1978.  After playing football for EKU from 1999-2001 and several NFL teams, Yeremiah retired in 2014.

March 3, 1985, Bill Shoemaker became the first jockey whose mounts surpassed $100 million in career earnings.  He rode Lord at War to a one and three-quarters-length victory in the $500,600 Santa Anita Handicap before a record crowd at Santa Anita Park.  Shoemaker, 53 years old, went into the day needing $82,977 to top $100 million.

On March 3, 1992, a state senator said, “By God….I need a little Gubstake,” one of many quotes from BOBTROT.   He was conspiring with others in the Capital to get what he considered an overdue payoff for helping pass the 1984 banking legislation.

March 3, 2001, Denny Crum coaches his last regular season game at home.  The win came against the Memphis Tigers coached by John Calipari in Freedom Hall.

March 3, 2011, Governor Steve Beshear’s Communications Office released a press statement headed, “Beshear signs landmark corrections reform bill into law.”  The bill decriminalized the personal use of marijuana, up to eight ounces, reducing it to a minor offense.

March 3, 2018, Gulfstream Park’s GII $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes finishes with Keeneland graduates placing 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th.

March 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a report stating Kentucky continues to lead the nation in child abuse and neglect.

March 3, 2020, William Shatner’s divorce settled in Los Angles.  William received two horses, all horse seamen, and all horse equipment, while his horse trainer wife Elizabeth received two horses, a farm in Versailles, and a home in Malibu.  Elizabeth did receive visiting rights to William’s horses with advanced notice.

March 3, 2020, Kentucky officials understand the coronavirus will land in Kentucky and begin discussing if entertainment and other venues should remain open and or limited.  Government officials in Washington informed the American public, “The average American doesn’t need to go out and buy a mask.”  Meanwhile, a Kentucky legislative committee approved a bill to establish the Kentucky Center for Cannabis Research at UK to advance cannabis for medical treatment.

March 3, 2021, Kentucky continues declining infections with a 4.6% positivity rate.  Governor A. Beshear, “Let’s remember as we work defeating this virus, we can’t quit,” he said, reiterating the importance of keeping in place a state-wide mask mandate and rules limiting in-person interactions.