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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

April 6, 1842, Charles Dickens arrives in Louisville on the steamboat Pike and spends the night in the Galt House as part of his travels through the Midwest.

April 6, 1862, Washington native Albert Sidney Johnston died in the Battle of Shiloh.  Johnston was the highest-ranking officer, Union or Confederate, killed during the entire war.  President Davis believed the loss of General Johnston “was the turning point of our fate.”

April 6, 1865, Louisville native John Hughey, while serving as a Corporal at the Battle of Sayler’s Creek in Virginia, captured the Confederate States Army’s 38th Virginia Infantry’s battle flag, for this received the Medal of Honor.

April 6, 1908, the Carnegie Corporation of New York granted Lawrenceburg $5,800 to build a new public library.  Today it is the Anderson County History Museum.

Kentucky Trivia:  The Carnegie Corporation of New York gave 27 grants for Kentucky libraries.  Twenty-three were public and four were academic libraries totaling $101,500.  

April 6 library

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Burkesville native William Marrion Branham, born in 1909.

April 6, 1917, America entered into World War I.

April 6, 1919, Deputy Sheriff Richard Johnson, Harlan County Sheriff’s Office, died after responding to reports of a domestic disturbance in the Wisconsin Steel Company camp at Benham.

On April 6, 1920, the 6th Kentucky bank robbery of the year took place in Cave City, and it was a dramatic one.  At noon, two persons stole $8,500 after overpowering the bank’s president and shoving him into the vault.  The president stayed there until a teller returned from lunch a half-hour later.  The thieves escaped in an automobile.  A posse in motor cars gave chase toward Glasgow Junction, caught up to them but lost them after they abandoned the vehicle and took off on foot in Mammoth Cave National Park.  They later stole a horse and buggy from a farm in Hart County. 

April 6, 1938, Mr. Peter Bruner passed away.  In 1845, he was born into slavery in Winchester and, at the age of 19, successfully escaped from his master/father after many attempts.  He traveled 41 miles to join the Union Army at Camp Nelson, making him a free man.  His escape to freedom, his life as a slave and soldier, are detailed in his memoirs written with the assistance of his daughter, “A Slave’s Adventures Toward Freedom; Not Fiction, but the True Story of a Struggle.” 

April 6, 1942, Louisville’s two-mile-long Army Day Parade took place downtown.  The event showcased the newest fighting vehicles from Fort Knox.  The stars of the show were two brand new M-4 tanks.  A war rally took place later that night, attended by Generals and civilian notables.

April 6, 1950, Louisville set a new cold record when the temperature hit 28.3 degrees.  The old record set in 1898 was 28.4.

April 6, 1953, Marine Corps PFC Kenneth L. Beasley from Fordsville in Ohio County died in the Korean War.

March 6, 1963, Edward T. “Ned” Breathitt held a $25.00 dinner for his campaign workers in Freedom Hall called the “Bucks For Breathitt Rally.”  Between 11,000 and 12,000 people attended to hear Ned claim the 1st place lead in the Democratic primary.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Florida bred Dr. Fager, born in 1964.

March 6, 1971, Igor Stravinsky died, the most influential composer of the 20th Century.

On March 6, 1972, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew visited Fort Knox and stated that the U.S. involvement in Vietnam may be “the most moral act the United States ever performed.”

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Danville native Josh Teater, born in 1979.  The Morehead graduate is a professional golfer.

April 6, 1989, Pikeville native John Paul Riddle died.  John was a pilot and aviation pioneer, best known for training Allied air crews in WW2 and co-founding Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU).

April 6, 1993, Shelbyville native Lee Owen Tinsley made his MLB debut with the Seattle Mariners.

April 6, 1999, two volunteer firefighters, Kenneth Nickell (28) and Kevin Smith (30), were killed while battling a blaze at the Daniel Boone National Forest in Rowen County.

April 6, 2007, Billy Gillispie is named Kentucky’s new head basketball coach and introduced to a crowd of more than 4,000 fans at a Rupp Arena pep rally.  Gillispie replaced Tubby Smith, who left after 10 seasons to become the head coach at Minnesota.

April 6, 2007, Navy Chief Explosive Diver Gregory J. Billiter, 36, of Villa Hills, died while fighting in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

April 6, 2015, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced Kentucky coach John Calipari and Louie Dampier as members of the 2015 class. 

April 6, 2015, Powderly native Jewel Franklin Guy died.  Jewel was better known as Roscoe Tanner on the Dukes of Hazzard.  Powderly is located in Muhlenberg County. 

April 6, 2016, Stopover native Donald Leon Blankenship was sentenced to one year in federal prison for his role in the deadliest U.S. mine explosion in four decades.  At sentencing the judge told the coal executive he was part of a “deadly conspiracy.”  Stopover is in Pike County.  

April 6, 2019, a Keeneland graduate and Kentucky bred wins the GII $1,000,000 Bluegrass Stakes.

April 6, 2019, eleven go to post in Aqueduct’s GII $750,000 Wood Memorial and a Kentucky bred takes home $400,000 for first place.

April 6, 2019, Santa Anita Park holds the GI $1,000,351 Santa Anita Derby and finishes with a Keeneland graduate exacta.

April 6, 2019, Paintsville native John Leslie Pelphrey was named Tennessee Tech’s 13th basketball coach.

April 6, 2020, the streets, downtowns, highways, and airways remain silent as Kentucky announces 54 new cases and 14 new “covid related deaths.”  One hundred sixty-three people beat the virus, and about 70 were currently hospitalized, with 19,955 Kentuckians tested.

April 6, 2021, the Capitol Police unsealed, superseding indictments against a Kentucky man connected to the U.S. Capitol riots on January 6.  Clayton Mullins of Benton had already been charged with attacking one officer; however, these new indictments entailed several other charges.

April 6, 2021, Alice Headley Chandler died at age 95.  Mrs. Chandler was the oldest of three children born to Keeneland co-founder Hal Price Headley and Genevieve Molloy Headley.  She built Mill Ridge Farm, part of the original Headley Farm, into a major Kentucky breeding farm respected worldwide.