TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Robert Patterson, born in 1753 in Pittsburg.  In 1775, Patterson traveled to Kentucky and claimed land on the North Fork of Cane Run, where he built a cabin.  Later, for the military, he donated land and helped build a fort nearby that would become the city of Lexington.

March 15, 1851, Beattyville was established as Beatty.  The city rest in a valley where the North Fork and South Fork rivers combine to create the Kentucky River’s headwaters.  Beattyville’s name was after a local landowner Sam Beatty in 1843.

March 15, 1870, Bellevue, in Campbell County, was incorporated.  Bellevue was originally land granted to General James Taylor, who had an estate that exceeded $4 million.  His mansion remains on East 3rd Street in Newport.  Bellevue translates from French as “beautiful view.”  The view James was referring to was his family’s plantation in Virginia.

March 15, 1888, Eli Nary, a black male, was lynched for a barn-burning in Fulton County.  There were 135 recorded lynchings in Kentucky from 1882 to 1921.

March 15, 1944, the 1944 General Assembly adjourned for the final time.  The sine die adjournment ended at 11:42 p.m.  Veteran legislators said it was the first time a session had ended so early in their memory.  It was typical for a session to go well into the morning.  One of the last bills created was a separate department for alcohol beverage control.

March 15, 1951, Army PVT Earl B. Stewart from Clinton County died in the Korean War.

March 15, 1955, programming began for WLEX channel 18 in Lexington.  For the premiere, a coonskin cap signifying Lexington’s “Pioneer Station” was presented to Governor Lawrence Wetherby.  Snooky Lanson, a star of NBC’s Your Hit Parade, was brought in for the premiere.  When he left the Campbell House for the premiere, his taxi driver knew nothing of the new station.  After convincing the driver that one existed, the cabbie took him to the WLAP transmitter site, where an engineer pointed them in the right direction.

March 15, 1961, UK took severe disciplinary actions against the K Club after a hazing incident.  Three baseball players received injuries after an unauthorized initiation ceremony on Old Frankfort Pike. The K Club was for athletes.   

March 15, 1965, Queen Elizabeth II ended 29 years of royal ostracism for the Duchess of Windsor when she met the American divorcee at the bedside of the ailing Duke of Windsor.

March 15, 1967, the 50th annual Kentucky High School Basketball Championship began in Louisville’s Freedom Hall with 17,200 fans.  Also, on this night, Kentucky Wesleyan won their 1st round in the NCAA Tournament.

March 15, 1967, Army SP4 Donnie R. Beasley from Versailles and Army PFC Stevie R. Gibson from Roxana in Letcher County, both died in the Vietnam War.

March 15, 1969, Army PFC Donald R. Bledsoe from East Bernstadt in Laurel County died in the Vietnam War.

“This day, March 15, 1972, The Ides of March, may go down in Kentucky history as a very historic day,” proclaimed Louisville Mayor Frank Burke shortly after the Senate passed “Home-rule legislation.”

March 15, 1979, Jefferson County announced they were ready to bus 1st graders to meet federal desegregation regulations.

On March 15, 1984, John Y. Brown, Jr., filed as a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat held by Walter “Dee” Huddleston just hours before the filing deadline.  Six weeks later, on April 27, he withdrew his candidacy, citing effects of his illness from the previous year.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Danville native Jacob Tamme, born in 1985.

March 15, 1992, Kentucky wins their 17th SEC Tournament in Birmingham over Alabama 80-54.  UK stopped the Tide’s three-year championship run as Coach Pitino’s get his 1st SEC Championship.  Jamal Mashburn was the tournament’s MVP.  Eligible for postseason play for the first time in three years, Kentucky would be eliminated in the NCAA tournament by “the Duke game.”

On March 15, 1996, Floracliff Nature Sanctuary’s dedication took place.  Established in 1989, it was the first nature Preserve for Fayette County.  It is a non-profit organization managed by an independent organization, board of directors, and the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission.

Kentucky Trivia:  Governor Ford’s administration created Kentucky’s environmental protection agency, known today as the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet.

March 15, 2000, Covington native Durward Kirby died.  With Alan Funt, Durward co-hosted the original Candid Camera show.

March 15, 2006, Jess Jackson sued Tom Van Meter and John Sikura in California, claiming they conspired against him to spend more money on horses than he needed to.  Additionally, Jackson claimed the two men paid his bloodstock agents to make it happen.  

March 15, 2010, twenty-six hundred Kentucky students participated in the 25th anniversary of the Governor’s Cup Academic competition held in the Galt House.  The Team Recall competition was won by Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington.

March 15, 2014, Oaklawn Park showcases the GII $600,000 Rebel Stakes.  A Keeneland graduate takes top spot.

March 15, 2015, Wyatt Hoefer from Louisville caught a Kentucky record Brook Trout weighting 3.65 lbs. in the Cumberland River tailwaters.

640px Brook trout in water
By Jay Fleming

March 15, 2020, six people test positive, and 150 are kept in quarantine in Cynthiana, Kentucky’s epicenter for coronavirus.  In Frankfort, Beshear tested negative after attending the Speed Art Museum fundraiser where some people passed the virus around.  With 21 cases, Kentucky canceled all significant events, after the C.D.C. recommended no gatherings of 50 or more people.

March 15, 2021, after nine weeks of declining covid-19 cases, the state reported 5,000 Kentuckians died from the flu strain, and one million people received their vaccinations.  Also, in Frankfort, the Senate wanted teachers to work 30 years instead of 27 to receive their full retirement benefits.