May 26, 1865, the federal government arrested Albany (Clinton County) native Champ Ferguson, a Civil War guerrilla. They charged him with 53 counts of murder. Most of his fellow guerillas received amnesty. The Kentucky Encyclopedia edited by John E. Kleber; pg 313
Tuesday, May 26, 1874, Culpepper won the 2nd Preakness and took home $1,900 by going the 1 ½ mile in 2:56.5. The 1st Derby ran the following year.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Bowling Green native Duncan Hines , born in 1880.
May 26, 1883, Jacobus won the 11th Preakness Stakes by four lengths , over Parnell. The match race went the 1 ½ mile in 2:42 ½ on a good track to win $1,685. Neither horse ran in the May 23 Derby or the June 9 Belmont.
May 26, 1890, Campbell County native John Griffin Carlisle became Kentucky’s 20th Class II U.S. Senator .
Thursday, May 26, 1898, Bowling Brook won the 32nd Belmont Stakes , at Morris Park, over three rivals, including Hamburg, going the 1 3/8 miles in 2:32 on a heavy track. The winner received $7,810. Bowling Brook skipped the May 4 Derby and the June 11 Preakness.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Louisville native Charles W. Anderson Jr ., born in 1907, Kentucky’s 1st African American legislator and 1st African American lawmaker in the South. He attended Kentucky State College, graduated from Wilberforce University in 1927 and received a law degree from Howard University, in 1931.
May 26, 1934, the U.S. Congress approved the minting of the Daniel Boone Half Dollar in celebration of the legendary frontiersman and explorer. With no definitive images of Boone, Augustus Lukemann created his idea of Boone’s likeness.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Fallsburg (Lawrence County) native Paul Patton, Kentucky’s 59th governor , born in 1937.
May 26, 1942, Louisville native Lionel Leo Hampton recorded the best known version , the big band version, of Flying Home .
May 26, 1970, Army SGT William E. Hawkins from Madisonville in Hopkins County died in the Vietnam War.
May 26, 1975, H.S. White from Cadiz (Trigg County) caught a state record Rock Bass weighing 1.63 pounds in Casey Creek in Trigg County.
May 26, 1985, Louisville native Danny Sullivan won the 69th Indianapolis 500 in one of the most dramatic moments in Indy history due to the electrifying “Spin and Win.”
On May 26, 1987, businessman Wallace Wilkinson, riding a tide of support for a lottery, scored a stunning upset over businessman and former governor John Y. Brown, Jr., in the primary race for governor. The victory came less than two months after Wally trialed the eight contestants. In one of Kentucky’s greatest political upsets, the Casey County native defeated John by over 56,000 votes.
On May 26, 1988, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky Inc. produced its 1st car in Georgetown . The auto company permanently displays the car at the plant.
On May 26, 1989, Queen Elizabeth II arrived in Lexington for her 3rd Kentucky visit . Her hosts, Mr. & Mrs. William S. Farish III, and local dignitaries greeted her at the Lexington airport. In addition, the Farish family hosted President Bush the week before Queen Elizabeth’s visit, and Queen Elizabeth hosted President Bush the night before she visited Kentucky. The Queen ventured from the Farish’s 3,000-acre Land’s End Farm only to see her Bluegrass stallions.
On May 26, 1992, U.S. Rep. Carroll Hubbard and his wife Carol Brown Hubbard, lost their primary races . They had hoped to be Kentucky’s 1st husband-wife team in Congress. Hubbard, a nine-term incumbent, lost to Tom Barlow in Western Kentucky in the night’s biggest surprise.
On May 26, 2002, while in Lexington for a deposition in his Ponzi scheme case, Wallace Wilkinson began to experience chest pains and entered St. Joseph’s Hospital . Soon afterward, doctors discovered another lymphatic mass, and he died less than two months later.
May 26, 2004, Kyle Estep from Ohio caught a state record Channel Catfish weighing 32 pounds in the Ohio River in Boyd County.
May 26, 2005, environmentalists challenged the U.S. Forest Service’s plan in court to cut trees and burn ground clutter near a pristine trout stream in the southernmost part of the Daniel Boone National Forest. The government wanted to cut 1,619 trees, build 6.9 miles of road, burn 7,560 acres, and spray 1,000 acres with herbicide.
May 26, 2012, Kentucky coal mining operators owed the federal government $29.9 million in delinquent fines , more than any other state in the nation. The penalties made up 40% of the nearly $73.6 million that U.S. coal companies owed. D&C Mining of Harlan owed $2.1 million.
May 26, 2015, Yum! Brands of Louisville announced Taco Bell would stop using some artificial flavoring and colors, and Pizza Hut would do the same by 2016.
On May 26, 2016, crews began filming on Peacock Road in Paris (Bourbon County), a reenactment of a real-life scene that occurred in Pike County. The drama, Above Suspicion , told the story of an FBI agent who killed his girlfriend/informant in Pikeville.
Tuesday, May 26, 2020, a defiant Governor A. Beshear told the Commonwealth, “I will not be afraid, I will not be bullied and I will not back down,” in reference to Sunday’s effigy , as society tried to get back to “normal.”
May 26, 2021, President J. Biden, after receiving pressure from different sides, asked the U.S. Intelligence Agency to look into the possibility that the coronavirus came from a China lab.
The day before Memorial Day, Sunday, May 26, 2024, brought some nasty storms to the Commonwealth.
