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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

On May 15, 1780, 672 inhabitants presented the Continental Congress a signed memorial of the “Counties of Kaintuckey and Illinois” for each to be a “Separate State.”  Kentucky in Retrospect by Lila Jones Kingston pg: 15

May 15, 1790, Masterson’s Station hosted the 1st Methodist Conference west of the Allegheny Mountains.   The conference took place where the federal prison is now in Lexington and lasted three days.   Historians erected a granite marker where the plain two-story log cabin stood.  The Squire’s Sketches of Lexington by J. Winston Coleman, Jr.; pg: 21

On May 15, 1792, Kentucky electors from different parts of the state selected Isaac Shelby to be the 1st governor.  On June 4, he took the oath of office.  Governors of Kentucky 1792 – 1942 by G. Glen Clift

May 15, 1841, Cassius Clay dueled Robert Wickliff on Locust Grove Farm in Jefferson County.  They chose pistols at thirty feet and fired two rounds, but no one received injuries.  Wickliffe made derogatory remarks about Mrs. Clay during a political speech.  Both parties ate and drank after the duel.

May 15, 1853, Flemingsburg native Willis Arnold Gorman became the 2nd Territorial governor of Minnesota.

May 15, 1861, Fleming County native Alvin Saunders became the 10th governor of Nebraska Territory.

Monday, May 15, 1876, Vagrant won the 2nd Kentucky Derby in 2:38 4/5 over a fast track and earned $2,950.  The 11-horse field went in good order for the 1 ½ mile race.  Owner William Backhouse Astor Jr., trainer James Williams, and jockey Robert Swim completed the winning connections.

On May 15, 1876, a Lexington fire destroyed 17 buildings downtown, including the Phoenix Hotel.  The hotel was full of people attending the popular Kentucky Association Track.   Madam Belle by Maryjean Wall; pg: 37

May 15, 1884, ten prominent history buffs formed The Filson Club of Louisville to properly conserve Kentucky’s past.

Tuesday, May 15, 1894, Chant won the 20th Kentucky Derby going a mile and half in 2:41.  There is a dispute on the winning margin, five through ten, but regardless it was a Derby record.  Winning jockey Frank Goodale, passed away a few days later when his mount stumbled and rolled on top of him.  Owners H. Eugene Leigh & Robert L. Rose and trainer H. Eugene Leigh completed the winning connections that earned $4,020.

On May 15, 1900, the U.S. Navy commissioned the BB-6 USS Kentucky.  At the launch, they described her as the most powerful battleship in the U.S. Fleet.  From bow to stern, Kentucky could fire a thirteen-inch gun simultaneously.  No European vessell came close.  Her 1st active service lasted from 1900-04, sailing between the U.S. and the Far East via the Suez Canal.

On May 15, 1925, Nursery Stud made elaborate arrangements, including a sales ring on a slight slope with 500 seats to sell their “thorobreds.”  Click for a picture.  The late Major August Belmont, who died in 1890, had owned the historic farm between Georgetown and Lexington.  Joseph P. Widener bought the crop from Belmont’s estate after he died.

May 15, 1926, Bubbling Over won the 52nd Kentucky Derby in 2:03 4/5 over a fast track.  Some called the winner the 2nd Man o’ War.  However, he bowed a tendon in the race and retired with a 10-for-13 record.  He went on to a successful stallion career, including siring Edward Bradley’s 1932 Derby winner Burgoo King.  The winning trainer, Herbert J. Thompson, won his 2nd of four Derbies.  Idle Hour Stock Farm Stable and jockey Albert Johnson round out the winning connections, that earned $50,075.

May 15, 1932, Deputy Constable James S. “Sol” Saylor, Harlan County Constable’s Office, died from a gunshot arresting a man in the Wallins Creek community.

May 15, 1935, The United States Narcotic Farm, sitting on 1,000 acres, opened in Lexington.  The population comprised of volunteer patients and inmates subject to the nation’s 1st attempts at treating addiction as a disease rather than a moral failing.  They were among the 1st to use methadone during that process.  The facility pioneered vocational training; making all patients learn a trade, ideally preparing them to enter the workforce upon release.

Kentucky Trivia:  For 40 years the Lexington institution hosted famous jazz musicians, drug-abusing MDs, street hustlers, and drugstore cowboys.  Early on, the institution recruited hundreds of prisoners to volunteer as human guinea pigs for groundbreaking drug experiments and rewarded them with bonus doses of heroin for their efforts.

On May 15, 1954, African Americans Andrew and Charlotte Wade moved to Rone Court, a racially segregated neighborhood in Louisville.  The move occurred two days before the Supreme Court condemned school segregation.  Neighbors burned a cross and shot out windows, and the Wades endured harassment until June 27, when vandals dynamited the house.

May 15, 1966, Air Force CMSGT William L. Madison from Lexington died in the Vietnam War.

May 15, 1970, Marine Corps LCPL Douglas Carroll from Anneta in Grayson County died in the Vietnam War.

On May 15, 1971, two U.S. Congressmen, one from Kentucky and one from Utah, held a free throw contest at the half-time of the Kentucky Colonels and Utah Stars ABA game in Freedom Hall.  The Colonels made an exciting comeback to tie the Championship series 3-3.  

On May 15, 1971, Kathleen Mulligan, a pioneer in Kentucky law, passed over at age 81.  She attained many firsts in her professional career: the 1st woman to sit as a judge in Kentucky, 1st woman vice president of the Kentucky Bar Association, 1st woman on the Kentucky membership committee of the ABA, and 1st woman secretary of the Fayette County Democratic Committee.

May 15, 1971, watch Canonero II go for the second leg in the 96th running of the Preakness Stakes.

May 15, 1975, Marine Corps PFC Gary L. Hall from Covington died in the Vietnam War.

May 15, 1975, the U.S. National Register of Historic Places added the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge.  Connecting Cincinnati and Covington, the 1st pedestrians crossed on December 1, 1866.

1906 – By Detroit Publishing Company
By Wholtone

May 15, 1979, Deputy Sheriff Earl Smith, Pike County Sheriff’s Office, died while serving a warrant.  The suspect shot him six times; he pled not guilty by reason of insanity and locals acquitted him.

On Friday, May 15, 1981, U.S. Rep. Carroll Hubbard tried to blame his staff for his corruption.  Carroll pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance laws and served two years in prison from 1995 to 1997.  He died in 2022 at 85.  The feds also convicted his wife, Carol.

May 15, 1981, Ft. Knox native Len Barker, as a member of the Cleveland Indians, pitched the 10th official perfect game in baseball history.

Downtown Richmond, looking east down Main Street on May 15, 1989.

May 15, 1992, federal authorities transferred The Queen of Mean from Lexington’s Federal Medical Center to a prison in Connecticut.  Leona Hemsley received four years in prison for not paying taxes.  She stayed 30 days in Lexington and 621 days in CT.

On May 15, 1998, as Washington tried to tax cigarettes at a whopping $1.50 per pack, Kentucky farmers filed a federal lawsuit to force the legalization of industrial hemp.  Tobacco farmer Andrew Graves, “You can go into many stores today and find hemp products, but as a farmer, I am not allowed to participate in that part of the economy.  I want a judge to explain that.”

Click to see a picture of the May 15, 2001, fire that severely damaged UK’s oldest building, the Administration Building.

May 15, 2003, Louisville native Todd Wellemeyer made his MLB debut with the Chicago Cubs.

May 15, 2004, watch the 129th Preakness Stakes.

On May 15, 2008, a federal court convicted Lexington native Charles “Junior” Johnson, who became a billionaire before he turned 40, for scheming to topple PurchasePro.  Many Kentuckians had stock in the internet company when it went public in 1999.  Those who sold soon after did well; the ones who hung on to it lost.  The court convicted him of conspiracy, securities fraud, witness tampering, and obstruction, and he got nine years and a $9.7 million restitution fine.

Kentucky Trivia:  The feds released “Junior” Johnson in 2015 after 7 years.  In 2019, he received a 10-month sentence for failing to disclose casino losses.  In 2023, he received 15 months for making false financial statements.  Junior, who loves to gamble, led Lafayette High School to the Kentucky boys’ basketball championship in 1979.

On May 15, 2012, the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission convicted, former President “Cheerleader” Bush, V.P. Dick “The Brains” Cheney, Defense Secretary D. Rumsfeld, Deputy AGs John Yoo and Bybee, AG Alberto Gonzales, and former counselors David Addington and William Haynes II, of being international war criminals.

May 15, 2012, Angela W. Common died from multiple blunt forces after a trucking accident in a Northern Kentucky limestone underground mine in Verona, Gallatin County.

May 15, 2017, for the 1st time, Frankfort mandated students learn cursive writing, signaling an end to Common Core Standards and a new overhaul of SOP.  Meanwhile, a former member of S. Beshear’s Cabinet admitted to violating three counts of Kentucky ethics laws.  Governor M. Bevin hired an Indiana law firm to investigate the S. Beshear administration a year earlier.  The bitter, public feud continued.

On May 15, 2018, Kentucky ceremonially awarded Jessica Dueñas, a 10-year teaching veteran who has taught special education classes for three years at Oldham County Middle School, the 2019 Kentucky Teacher of the Year.  Tiffany Marsh of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School won for High Schools, and NyRee Clayton-Taylor of Phillis Wheatley for elementary schools.

Andy’s May 15, 2020, daily update, where he took off a mask to talk, announced the plan to open state parks by June 1.   He told Kentuckians that anyone who wanted a test could get one and that if the economy were to reopen, getting tested would be an “absolute requirement.”  A significant goal for Andy was to have school open by next Fall.  Kentucky reported 252 people died with coronavirus since March 16.

On May 15, 2020, President Trump and Dr. Fauci started Operation Warp Speed with $10 billion from Trump’s $2.2 trillion CARES Act.  The program promoted the mass production of multiple vaccines and different vaccine technologies.  Seven months later, the first American took the experimental vaccine.

May 15, 2021, Hawesville native Navy Fireman Martin Young, who died on the USS Oklahoma during the attack on Pearl Harbor, was laid to rest in Lewisport after his DNA identified him in 2015.  Both communities reside in Hancock County.

On May 15, 2021, the Herald-Leader followed a high school senior through the coronavirus pandemic.  The series’ fifth story headline read, “Frankfort High Senior Prom, It was like COVID was Never There.”  It was there, and it still is; the flu strain is endemic.

On May 15, 2022, Matt Jones showed off his chickens. 

Kentucky Trivia:  The Commonwealth ranks #15 in the nation for poultry and egg sales.  We are #8 in broiler production.  There are 850 large-scale poultry farms in 44 counties.

On May 15, 2023, Governor A. Beshear posted a short feel-good video.  Edited professionally with upbeat music, it lacked substance.  It would have been nice to mention the successes.  Massie reintroduced a bill to assist senior citizens.

By May 15, 2024, the Kentucky Department for Public Health continued to recommend the COVID-19 vaccines.  According to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Kentucky has low emergency department visits and hospitalizations for the flu strain.  In August 2024, Kentucky ranked #9 in states with the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates.

Kentucky Trivia:  According to one report, Kentucky had 73.1% of the adult population choosing to get the COVID-19 vaccination, equating to an estimated 943,991 people.  Only 16.5% (an estimated 579,028 residents) of Kentucky’s vaccinated population received an updated dose between 2023-24.  Rhode Island had the highest vaccination rates, with 90.1% of the adults taking the vaccine.