Kentucky Trivia and Tweets

March 18, 1777, Native Americans killed Hugh Wilson at Fort Harrod.
Historical Sketches of Kentucky: History of Kentucky, Volume 2 by Lewis Collins

On March 18, 1813, Rebecca Boone died and was laid to rest in the Boone Family Cemetery on a knoll along Tuque Creek on a farm owned by her cousin David Bryan in Missouri.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to William O’Connell Bradley, the 32^nd governor, born in 1847 in Garrard County.  Key Democrats backed him to become the first Republican governor.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Beverly native Edgar Cayce, born in 1877 in Christian County.

March 18, 1879, the Kentucky Association (a.k.a. “Kentucky Racing Association” or “Kentucky Association for the Improvement of the Breeds of Stock”) was put up for sale as they faced foreclosure.  Charles Green of St. Louis, Missouri, a trustee for the stockholders, purchased the track in 1901 for $1.00 plus other considerations.

March 18, 1934, the sale of liquor became legal in Kentucky when Governor Ruby Laffon signed the Control Act.

March 18, 1953, the 36^th annual Kentucky State Basketball Tournament opened in Memorial Coliseum between Caverna and Louisville Flaget.

March 18, 1966, Army PFC James S. Williams from Munfordville in Hart County died in the Vietnam War.

March 18, 1968, Army PVT William D. Price from Samuels in Nelson County, Army PFC Thomas R. Ramey from Tomahawk in Martin County and Army 2LT Jimmy L. Sherrill from Morgantown in Butler County, all died in the Vietnam War.

March 18, 1970, Army PVT Dorris W. Trainer from Hopkinsville in Christian County died in the Vietnam War.

March 18, 1971, the WKU Hilltoppers beat the Kentucky Wildcats in the NCAA Mideast Regional semi-finals 107-83 to advance to the Elite Eight.  Governor Nunn and 10,999 other fans filled the stands in Georgia.  WKU would place third in the tournament.

March 18, 1971, Army SSG John R. Champlin from Hebron in Boone County died in the Vietnam War.

March 18, 1972, Adolph Rupp coached his last game at UK, a 73-54 loss to Florida State in the NCAA Tournament.

March 18, 1976, Kentucky finally ratified the 14^th Amendment; 107 years after the U.S. Government ratified it and eight years after Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination.  It granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.”  The Amendment officially freed the former slaves after the Civil War.

Kentucky Trivia:  Rep. Mae Street Kidd (D-Louisville) was one of three blacks, then in the Kentucky legislature, who filed the resolution in 1976 to finally pass the 14^th Amendment.

March 18, 1980, one of Kentucky’s great scam artists gets four more years after talking his way out of jail in Christian County.

March 18, 1985, Capital City Communications buys ABC for $3.5 billion, while on the same day, Texaco announced they would close their gas stations in Kentucky due to severe competition.

March 18, 1989, Pleasure Ridge Park defeated Wayne County 75-73 in the KHSAA Boys’ High School Basketball Tournament at Rupp Arena with 16,650 people in the stands. 

March 18, 1992, Sheriff Cecil E. Cyrus, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, was shot and killed while attempting to arrest a suspect who had escaped during a rape trial.  The suspect attempted to commit suicide after murdering Sheriff Cyrus.  He was convicted of capital murder.

March 18, 1995, Breckinridge County defeated Pleasure Ridge Park 70-63 with 15,965 spectators to become state champions.  Rupp Arena hosted the KHSAA Sweet 16 Boys’ Basketball Tournament. 

March 18, 1996, Karen Binder, a tool for health insurance corporations, told Frankfort lawmakers the 1994 Health reform law was driving up insurance rates.

March 18, 1997, Gallatin County students gathered for a pep rally in the junior high gym to celebrate the high school ending a 38-year-old drought.  The Lady Cats returned as the girls’ Sweet Sixteen basketball tournament champions.  The only other Gallatin team, to become state champions, was Jock Sutherland’s boys’ team in 1959.

March 18, 2000, Elizabethtown won the 83^rd KHSAA Sweet 16 Basketball Tournament.  Ray Vencill’s Panthers beat Lexington Catholic 79-69 with 17,442 fans watching in Rupp Arena.

March 18, 2005, the average gas price in Kentucky reached $2.20 a gallon.

March 18, 2006, the Jeffersontown Chargers defeated the Apollo Eagles 61-48 at Rupp Arena with 16,263 spectators for the KHSAA Sweet 16 Basketball Tournament.

Scotty, an African elephant, born on March 18, 2007, at the Louisville Zoo, became the first elephant born in Kentucky.

March 18, 2013, the Kentucky Executive Branch’s Ethics Commission charged Richie Farmer with 42 state ethics violations, the most ever registered against a single individual; the previous high was 16.

March 18, 2017, Oaklawn’s GII $900,000 Rebel Stakes for three-year-olds was another Keeneland graduate trifecta.

March 18, 2020, Kentucky reported nine new coronavirus cases, one of whom was an infant, for a total of 35. Kentucky screeches to a halt with zero deaths reported.

March 18, 2020, Dr. Alexandra Gerassimides, the wife of Louisville’s Mayor Greg Fischer, tested positive for the coronavirus.  It was reported she contracted the virus at the March 6^th Speed Art Museum fundraiser attended by many Kentucky dignitaries.

March 18, 2021, Governor A. Beshear told all Kentuckians over 16 years of age, they would be eligible for the vaccine by April 12.  He also announced that, “The state would dramatically ramp up its vaccine rollout in the coming weeks, in time to immunize all willing adults by the end of May.”