TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

March 5, 1841, John J. Crittenden began his first of two terms as U.S. Attorney General.  William Henry Harrison appointed Crittenden as Attorney General.  However, Harrison died in office and Crittenden resigned rather than continue his service under Harrison’s successor, John Tyler.

Monday, March 5, 1849, Zachary Taylor’s public inauguration as the 12th U.S. President took place in the East Portico of the D.C. Capitol.  This was the 2nd time a presidential inauguration fell on a Sunday, forcing a public ceremony on Monday.

March 5, 1850, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) was chartered by the General Assembly.  It was the first train that ran from Louisville and Nashville.  The first track was laid and operated in 1855 in downtown Louisville, and in 1858, the first passenger station became operational.  During the Civil War, the L&N was the West’s only North-South rail link, a vital part of the Union’s supply route.

March 5, 1860, Wolfe County was created from Owsley County, Breathitt County, Powell County and Morgan County and was named in honor of Nathaniel Wolfe, member of the Kentucky General Assembly.  Campton is the county seat.  Other localities include: Hazel Green, Baptist, Bear Pen, Bethany, FlatLee City, Olivia, Pence, Pine Ridge, and Trent.  Wolfe County was the 110th county created in Kentucky and covers 223 square miles.

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

March 5, 1872, the Kentucky General Assembly resolved to erect a monument over John Breathitt’s grave in Russellville.  In 1834, Kentucky’s 11th governor became the 2nd governor to die in office.

March 5, 1921, a Louisville Patrolman found a mail sack and several opened registered letters by a trashcan.  Proof that whoever had dynamited two safes in the Paris County Post Office, three days earlier, had escaped with $15,000-$20,000.  They possibly came to Louisville to riffle through the mail.  Today that Post Office is the Hopewell Museum.

March 5, 1921, Frankfort native Albert Bacon Fall became the 28th U.S. Secretary of the Interior. 

March 5, 1942, Kentucky’s General Assembly “declared an emergency” and approved daylight saving time throughout the Commonwealth.  Many Kentuckians vehemently resisted the change.

March 5, 1948, jockey Al Snider and two friends set off to fish near Sandy Key, FL.  One minute, Snider and his friends were fishing while sitting.  The next minute, under gusting winds and rolling waters, they were gone forever.

“A total mystery because there was never a trace of them found, not even a piece of clothing,” said Tommy Trotter, a Gulfstream Park and Keeneland steward whose father, Tobe, also disappeared on the boat.  Al Snider was going to be king of the racing world.  Just days earlier, the 28-year-old rider had won the Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah Park aboard Calumet Farm’s Citation.  Snider was the colt’s regular rider, and the day before he set off to go fishing, he had a contract to ride full time for the prestigious Calumet Farm.  Citation went on to win the Triple Crown.

March 5, 1953, Army CPL Marvin Temple from Jefferson County died in the Korean War.

March 5, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King and former baseballer Jackie Robinson led a march of 10,000 people to the Kentucky Capitol steps.  The men and women called for an end to legal segregation and enforce equal access and treatment in stores, restaurants, hotels, theaters, other businesses and public places.

Kentucky Trivia:  Kentucky became the first state in the South to pass legal segregation laws.  M.L. King called the Kentucky Civil Rights Act, “…the strongest and most comprehensive civil rights bill passed by a southern state.”

March 5, 1968, Marine Corps PFC Gary W. Litton from Ft. Mitchell in Kenton County died in the Vietnam War.

March 5, 1969, Marine Corps LCPL Boyd Lawrence Brake from Adairville in Logan County died in the Vietnam War.

March 5, 1971, Army SP4 Larry Patrick Johnson from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.

March 5, 1980, one man each from Mercer, Fayette, and Jessamine Counties received indictments on firearm violations in federal court.  The charges stemmed from a Lexington storage unit that contained stolen military weapons from California.  The book, The Bluegrass Conspiracy, provides further details.

March 5, 1980, Louisville hosted a celebrity bash for the release of Coal Miner’s Daughter.  Kentucky First Lady Phyllis George Brown, Oliver “Mooney” Lynn, Loretta Lynn, and Sissy Spacek were a few attendees.

On the March 5, 1982, in a Password Plus episode, Louisville brothers Jack Narz and Tom Kennedy appeared together.  Tom was the regular host and Jack was a celebrity guest.  During the show, Tom and Jack talked about how hard it is to play under pressure.  Unscripted, Jack offered to switch places with his brother and with the contestants’ permission, they did.

March 5, 1996, Governor Paul Edward Patton established the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission (KNAHC) as an advisory board attached to the Education, Arts, and Humanities Cabinet (EAHC).  First Lady, Judi Conway Patton, a person of native heritage, felt strongly Native Americans have a voice in state government.

March 5, 2015, Lieutenant Clifford Scott Travis, Bullitt County Detention Center, suffered a fatal heart attack while clearing snow from the walkways in front of the Bullitt County Detention Center.

March 5th, 2015, Lexington received 10” of snow.  The accumulation was a March record and ranked 5th all-time for the city. 

March 5, 2016, a Kentucky bred wins Aqueduct’s GIII $400,000 Gotham Stakes for three-year-olds.

March 5, 2020, the Wild Lights Asian Lantern Festival opened its doors in the Louisville Zoo for the nation’s largest Lantern festival.

March 5, 2020, the Kentucky Department of Health announced they could conduct 800-1,000 coronavirus tests if the need arose.  Meanwhile, Dr. D. Brix, sitting next to V.P. Pence, tells congress, “Wearing a mask as a healthy person will not protect you.”

March 5, 2021, Governor A. Beshear arrives at Beattyville in a National Guard helicopter.  He surveyed several hard hit counties in Eastern Kentucky.  Over 200 homes flooded in Breathitt and Lee Counties.  Meanwhile, covid-19 positives decline for the 10th straight day.  The vaccination count was 789,000.