Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets
On April 27, 1805, Presley Neville O’Bannon became the 1st person to raise a U.S. flag over foreign soil during war . The Marine and future Russellville resident served in the Kentucky House of Representatives and the Kentucky Senate from 1824 to 1826.
On April 27, 1818, Kentucky’s 3rd governor, Christopher Greenup, passed over . He also served in the 1st Kentucky Senate, the U.S. House, and as Kentucky’s 9th Secretary of State. Accusations marred Greenup’s gubernatorial term that he participated in the Burr Conspiracy.
April 27, 1867, Isaac Hamilton challenged Noah Alexander, both of Paris, with pistols at ten paces . They met on an island in the South Licking River at Townsend Bridge between the Bourbon and Harrison County lines. On the 5th round, Hanson’s hip received a severe wound. Said the local press, “They both shook hands afterward and laughed as if they had been to a corn-shucking or attending a circus.” Famous Kentucky Duels by J. Winston Coleman, Jr.; pg: 146
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Russellville native Alice Allison Dunnigan , born in 1906. The 1st African-American female correspondent to receive White House Press Credentials was also the 1st black female member of the Congress Press Galleries .
April 27, 1907, Lexington native Thomas Satterwhite Noble passed away. Over 70 exhibits have displayed his work, both during his life and after. Most of his well-known works are historical presentations painted to make vital political and moral commentary.
Margaret Garner/The Modern Medea April 27, 1919, Deputy Sheriff Timothy McQuinn, Lee County Sheriff’s Office , died by gunshot while attempting to arrest two men at Poplar Signboard near Torrent .
April 27, 1929, the Kentucky and Tennessee Thoroughbred Association purchased the famous Old Mile Track at Guthrie . Willoughby Park would be the new name of the remolded track and fairgrounds in memory of Willoughby St. Clair Williams. The planned community enterprise included four counties, including one in Tennessee.
On April 27, 1931, coal miners striking the Black Mountain Coal Company started shooting at nonunion workers in Harlan County near Evarts.
April 27, 1935, Harrodsburg entered the float Westward Ho in the “Derby Week Festival Parade ” in downtown Louisville. The float displayed the many 1sts claimed by the West’s 1st permanent white settlement, including the 1st circular race track that ran counterclockwise.
April 27, 1953, Army PVT Prentice S. Chandler from Bath County died in the Korean War.
April 27, 1962, the Kentucky Derby Festival crowned Miss Jane Helm, a radiant 19-year-old who “loves the races.” She declined to divulge any Kentucky Derby tips.
April 27, 1965, Air Force SSGT, George H. Kirby Jr. from Lynch in Harlan County died in the Vietnam War.
April 27, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson flew to Pikeville and dedicated Fishtrap Dam. He returned to D.C. after the 3:00 p.m. ceremony.
April 27, 1969, Army 1LT Jimmy D. Johnson from Ashland in Boyd County died in the Vietnam War.
April 27, 1970, Army PFC Randall W. Love from Cecilia in Hardin County died in the Vietnam War.
April 27, 1974, Officer Armond VanCleave, Shively Police Department , died in an automobile accident. Officer VanCleave was riding in the rear of an ambulance while transporting a heart attack victim to a local hospital. A vehicle struck the ambulance broadside.
April 27, 1978, Alydar, with Jorge Valasquez up, won the Bluegrass Stakes by 13 lengths, he finished 2nd to Affirmed nine days later in Louisville.
By William G. Johnson April 27, 1991, the 19th annual Kentucky Derby Festival Great Balloon Race took off. Contestants included a penguin, clown, paint can, chicken, battery, champagne, sneaker, 1/5 of bourbon, and 39 other conventional balloons. Around 35,000 people gathered at the Kentucky Fair and Exhibition Center to watch them inflate and take off.
April 27, 1995, the federal government announced four of Kentucky’s eight public universities, including UK, made so little progress on desegregation goals last year that they wouldn’t be allowed to start new degree programs during 1995. The other schools were Morehead, Western, and Kentucky State.
April 27, 2001, the state’s top environmental official blocked a coal company’s controversial plan to open a surface mine near the historic Pine Mountain Settlement School in Harlan County.
April 27, 2004, Kentucky’s 1st smoke-free law began. The law prohibited smoking in most public places, including, but not limited to, restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, bingo halls, convenience stores, and laundromats.
April 27, 2013, Air Force SGT Daniel N. Fannin 30, of Morehead, died in a plane crash in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.
April 27, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court heard Kentucky and several other states defend their decisions to ban same-sex marriages . Two months later, the high court established same-sex marriage throughout the U.S. and its territories.
April 27, 2016, former Governor Steve Beshear held a news conference to address allegations made by Governor M. Bevin and claimed the sitting governor had declared war on himself and the Beshear family. Meanwhile, on a lighter note, the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event opened at the Kentucky Horse Park.
April 27, 2019, Santa Anita ran their GII $200,702 Santa Margarita Stakes for fillies and mares four-years-old and upward. A Kentucky bred romped by 10 lengths.
April 27, 2020, more than 100 UK student employees and community members sent a letter to state and university officials asking President Eli Capilouto and other top-earning administrators to take pay cuts to make up for an expected $70 million shortfall due to coronavirus.
April 27, 2021, the governor announced 716 new cases and 17 virus-related deaths . Seven of those deaths came from an ongoing audit looking for previously unaccounted Kentuckians who may have died from coronavirus in recent months. Over 1,000 Fayette County High School students received vaccination shots in the cities six major schools.
April 27, 2022, SOC Investment Group, a shareholder of Yum Brands, told other shareholders to vote against a pay package for the corporation’s top executives . CEO David Gibbs’s earned $27,578,659 for 2021; however, the company had an embarrassing median workers-to-CEO pay ratio of 2,108:1. The median wage for a Yum Brand employee was $13,082.
