TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

March 4, 1780, Captain Abraham Lincoln was given a land grant for his service in the Revolutionary War. The land was along the Green River along what is now Lincoln County.

March 4, 1795, Virginian Humphrey Marshall became Kentucky’s 2^nd Class III U.S. Senator.

March 4 Senator Humphrey Marshall — ^{Unknown Author}

March 4, 1797, John Adams is sworn in as America’s 2^nd President.

March 4, 1801, President Thomas Jefferson is sworn in as the 3^rd U.S. president along with Lexington native John Breckinridge as Kentucky’s 3^rd Class III U.S. Senator.

357px John C Breckinridge 04775 restored — ^{By Mathew Benjamin Brady}

March 4, 1805, Virginian Buckner Thurston becomes Kentucky’s 2^nd Class II U.S. Senator.

March 4, 1807, Virginian John Pope becomes Kentucky’s 6^th Class III Senator.

March 4, 1809, James Madison becomes the 4^th U.S. President.

March 4, 1811, on Henry Clay’s first day as a member of the U.S. Congress, he was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives. Clay would spend a majority of his career in the House even though he had several terms as Senator. Virginian George M. Bibb takes Henry Clay’s Senate seat.

March 4, 1813, Virginian Jesse Bledsoe becomes Kentucky’s 7^th Class III Senator.

March 4, 1815, Henry Clay remains the U.S. Speaker of the House.

March 4, 1817, James Monroe becomes the 5^th U.S. President. John Jordan Crittenden, from Versailles, Virginia (now Kentucky) became a U.S. Senator for the first time as Kentucky’s 8^th Class II Senator.

March 4, 1819, Harrodsburg native William Logan becomes Kentucky’s 9^th Class III Senator. William was born within the walls of Fort Harrod but spent most of his childhood in St. Asaphs Fort.

March 4, 1823, Henry Clay remains the U.S. Speaker of the House.

March 4, 1825, John Quincy Adams becomes the 6^th U.S. President. Henry Clay becomes the 9^th U.S. Secretary of State and Pennsylvanian John Rowan becomes Kentucky’s 11^th Class III Senator.

March 4, 1829, Andrew Jackson becomes the 7^th U.S. President and George M. Bibb becomes Kentucky’s 4^th Class II U.S. Senator for his second and final time.

March 4, 1830, John Floyd became the 25^th governor of Virginia. John was born in Floyd’s Station, Virginia, which is now Jefferson County.

March 4, 1835, John Jordan Crittenden became Kentucky’s 11^th Class II Senator for the 2^nd time. He would go onto serve as a Class III Senator as well.

March 4, 1837, Richard Mentor Johnson is sworn in as the 9^th Vice President of the U.S. President, Martin Van Buren is sworn in as President. Richard was born in Beargrass, Virginia, now Louisville.

March 4, 1841, Henry Harrison becomes the 9^th U.S. President and Bullitt County native James T. Morehead becomes Kentucky’s 12^th Class II Senator.

March 4, 1843, LaRue County was created from Hardin County and was named in honor of John Larue, one of the county’s original settlers and the grandfather of Governor John L. Helm. The county seat is Hodgenville. Other localities include: Upton, (partly in Hardin County) Buffalo, Magnolia, Athertonville, Lyons, Mount Sherman, and Tonieville. LaRue County was the 96^th county created and covers 263 square miles.

1280px Map of Kentucky highlighting LaRue County.svg

March 4, 1845, James K. Polk is sworn in as the 11^th President in at the East Portico of the D.C. Capitol. Bourbon County native Thomas Corwin became a U.S. Senator representing Ohio.

March 4, 1847, Virginian Joseph R. Underwood becomes a Kentucky’s 13^th Class II U.S. Senator.

Sunday, March 4, 1849, Henry Clay takes the U.S. Senator oath for the third and last time. President Zachary Taylor refused to be inaugurated on a Sunday for religious reasons. Without a vice president to fill the void, Kentucky native, President pro tem, Senator David Rice Atchison was U.S. President for a day, as David likes to claim. Although Atchison was not formally sworn in during his extremely brief tenure as president, he did sign some official papers during the day.

March 4, 1851, Danville native Henry Smith died. Henry was one of four governors born in Danville. Three were Kentucky governors and Henry was governor of Texas.

March 4, 1853, Franklin Pierce becomes the 14^th President and Harrodsburg native John B. Thompson becomes a Kentucky’s 14^th Class II U.S. Senator.

March 4, 1855, John Jordan Crittenden became the 18^th Class III U.S. Senator. This was his 4^th and final term.

March 4, 1857, Lexingtonian John C. Breckinridge became the 14^th Vice President of the U.S. He was and still is the youngest person to take the oath for this office. He served a full term under James Buchanan who was sworn in as the 15^th U.S. President.

March 4, 1859, Henderson County native Lazarus W. Powell becomes Kentucky’s 15^th Class II U.S. Senator.

March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was sworn in for his 1^st term as President. John C. Breckinridge also began as Kentucky’s 19^th Class III Senator; they would expel him by the end of the year. John Jordan Crittenden became a Representative from Kentucky’s 8^th district, the last time he held public office. Bath County native Henry Smith Lane became a U.S. Senator for Indiana.

March 4, 1865, President Lincoln gave his 2^nd inaugural address to a cold, wet crowd on the Capitol grounds. Victory was within days and slavery was near an end. Lincoln did not speak of happiness but of sadness. As he stood on the East Portico to take the executive oath, the newly completed Capitol dome over the President’s head was a physical reminder of his Administration’s resolve throughout the years of Civil War. Chief Justice Chase administered the oath of office.

Later that Saturday evening, Mrs. Lincoln’s assistant recalled the occasion when the President came in a while attending Mrs. Lincoln. “It was the first time I had seen him since inauguration, and I went up to him, proffering my hand with words of congratulation. He grasped my outstretched hand warmly and held it while he spoke: “Thank you. We do not know what we are destined to pass through. But God will be with us all. I put my trust in God.” He dropped my hand, and with a solemn face, walked across the room and took his seat on the sofa. I finished dressing Mrs. Lincoln, and she took the President’s arms and they went below.

It was one of the largest receptions ever held in Washington. Thousands crowded the White House’s halls and rooms, eager to shake Mr. Lincoln by his hand and receive a gracious smile from his wife. The jam was terrible, and the enthusiasm great.

March 4, 1865, Bardstown native James Guthrie becomes the 16^th Class II U.S. Senator from Kentucky. Warsaw native Richard Yates became a U.S. Senator for Illinois.

March 4, 1869, Ulysses S. Grant became the 18^th President.

March 4, 1871, Virginian John White Stevenson became Kentucky’s 18^th Class II Senator.

March 4, 1873, Owensboro native Thomas C. McCreery became Kentucky’s 22^nd Class III Senator. Floydsburg native Richard James Oglesby became a U.S. Senator for Illinois. Floydsburg is in Oldham County.

March 4, 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes becomes the 19^th President. Also sworn in is the European James B. Beck, as Kentucky’s 19^th Class II U.S. Senator. Fleming County native Alvin Saunders is sworn in as Nebraska’s U.S. Senator.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Paris native Garrett Morgan, born in 1877. He blazed a trail for African-American inventors with patents on gas masks and the traffic signal.

March 4, 1879, Mount Sterling native John Stuart Williams becomes Kentucky’s 23^rd Class III U.S. Senator.

March 4, 1881, James A. Garfield becomes the 20^th U.S. President.

March 4, 1883, Monticello native Shelby Moore Cullom became a U.S. Senator for Illinois.

March 4, 1885, Spring Station native Joseph Blackburn, from Woodford County, becomes Kentucky’s 24^th Class III Senator. Mr. Blackburn would later become a Class II Senator. Grover Cleveland was sworn in for the first time to be the 22^nd U.S. President.

March 4, 1889, Benjamin Harris was sworn in as the 23^rd U.S. President.

March 4, 1891, Eagle Creek native John McAuley Palmer became a U.S. Senator for Illinois. Eagle Creek is in Scott County.

March 4, 1893, Christian County native Adlai Ewing Stevenson was sworn in as the 23^rd Vice President. President Grover Cleveland enters his second term as the 24^th President.

March 4, 1897, William McKinley becomes the 25^th President. Crittenden County native William J. Deboe became Kentucky’s 25^th Class III Senator.

March 4, 1901, Joseph Blackburn became Kentucky’s 22^nd Class II U.S. Senator. He is one of a few from the Kentucky delegation to serve in both classes.

March 4, 1903, Richmond native James B. McCreary became Kentucky’s 26^th Class III Senator. Madison County native William Joel Stone became a U.S. Senator for Missouri.

March 4, 1907, Vanceburg native (Lewis County) Thomas H. Paynter became Kentucky’s 23^rd Class II U.S. Senator.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Murray native Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard, born in 1908. Dr. Howard was a civil rights leader, fraternal organization leader, entrepreneur and surgeon. He helped founded Mississippi’s leading civil rights organization in the 1950s. He was also president of the National Medical Association, chairman of the National Negro Business League board, and a leading national advocate of African-American businesses.

March 4, 1909, William Howard Taft became the 27^th president and Garrard County native William O. Bradley became Kentucky’s 27^th Class III Senator.

March 4, 1911, Williamsburg native Caleb Powers became a member of the U.S. House representing Kentucky’s 11^th district. He took his seat two years after Governor A. Willson pardoned him in 1908 for accessory to the murder of Governor Goebel. Powers had served eight years in jail. While in prison, Powers authored the 1905 book My Own Story.

March 4, 1913, Woodrow Wilson was sworn in as the 28^th president. Marion native (Crittenden County) Ollie M. James became Kentucky’s 24^th Class II U.S. Senator. Lowes native (Graves County) Alben Barkley took his first job representing Kentucky as U.S. Congressman from the 1^st District.

March 4, 1915, Wickland (Nelson County) John C. W. Beckham becomes the 29^th Class III Kentucky Senator.

March 4, 1916, Kentucky played its last basketball game in Woodland Park Auditorium. The Cats, coached by James Park, lost on their Senior Day game to Marietta 23-27. Kentucky played 22 games in Woodland, located on East High Street and Kentucky Avenue, over three years with a 15-7 record.

March 4, 1919, Governor Augustus Stanley, from Shelbyville, became Kentucky’s 26^th Class II U.S. Senator.

March 4, 1921, Warren G. Harding became the 29^th U.S. President and Covington native Richard Pretlow Ernst became Kentucky’s 30^th Class III Senator.

March 4, 1925, Fred M. Sackett, from Rhode Island, became Kentucky’s 27^th Class II U.S. Senator.

March 4, 1927, Alben W. Barkley becomes the 31^st Class III Kentucky Senator. This was his first of two inconsecutive terms, his second term he would be a Class II Senator.

March 4, 1929, Herbert Hoover became the 31^st U.S. President.

March 4, 1931, Brownsville native (Edmonson County) Marvel M. Logan became Kentucky’s 30^th Class II U.S. Senator.

March 4, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the 32^nd U.S. President.

March 4, 1942, Sheriff Ralph Ward Haycraft, Grayson County Sheriff’s Office, succumbed to injuries sustained four days earlier when he was struck in the face by a rock. The incident occurred after a group of soldiers who were visiting Caneyville were harassed and threatened by a group of civilians.

March 4, 1950, Deputy Sheriff Jerry Stamper, Perry County Sheriff’s Office, was shot and killed as he and several other deputies attempted to disarm a man who was involved in a bar fight. Deputy Stamper was shot and killed and two other deputies were wounded in the shooting.

March 4, 1952, Marine Corps PFC Joseph J. Meyer from Brooksville in Bracken County died in the Korean War.

March 4, 1979, Deputy Sheriff Claude E. Flinchum, Wolfe County Sheriff’s Office, was shot and killed while waiting for his backup units to arrive after responding to the scene of a disturbance call.

March 4, 1994, Bowling Green native William Natcher received the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Bill Clinton.

March 4, 1995, LSU scored 127 points in Rupp Arena, hitting 20 three-pointers. Both stats are arena records for an opponent.

March 4, 2011, Police Officer James Philip “Stumpy” Sticklen, Alexandria Police Department, suffered a fatal heart attack due to injuries he sustained earlier in the week after being kicked in the leg while restraining a juvenile.

March 4, 2011, at 10:09:43 UTC, Kentucky Space launched their KySat-1 Satellite. It was meant to operate for eighteen to twenty-four months but failed in the launch in March 2011 after the Taurus rocket carrying it was unable to achieve orbit.

March 4, 2012, Kentucky closed out the 2011-12 season with a 74-59 win at Florida capping a perfect 16-0 run through the SEC. It marked the third time a UK team went 16-0 in league play and the first time since the 2003 squad turned the trick.

March 4, 2017, the GII $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes was a Keeneland graduate exacta.

March 4, 2020, the Kentucky Department of Public Health announced they had the resources to test for the coronavirus. They tested three people, two were negative and one was still waiting for results. As of March 4, eleven U.S. citizens had died from the virus. The federal government continues to tell the pubic not to wear masks.

March 4, 2021, in his daily briefing, Governor A. Beshear tells Kentucky, the mask mandates won’t end soon, while governors in Mississippi and Texas repealed their mask mandates. Meanwhile, Roberta Mason received Kentucky’s 100,000^th covid-19 vaccine at Kroger Field.

TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

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