Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

April 19, 1774, the site of Lexington first appears in a written record when Lord Dunmore, Virginia’s governor, signed a military warrant for 200 acres “near the head of the middle fork of Elkhorn” to Sergeant James Buford for services in the French and Indian War.
The Squire’s SKETCHES OF LEXINGTON by J. Winston Coleman, Jr.; pg: 15

April 19, 1775, the American Revolution begins.

Localtonians wish a Happy Anniversary to James Berry and widow Wilson, who wed in 1777.  This was the 1^st marriage in Harrodsburg and the 2^nd in Kentucky County.

Localtonians wish a Happy Anniversary to Isaac Shelby and Susanna Hart, who wed in 1783 inside Fort Boonesborough.

April 19, 1780, George Rogers Clark and a company of at least 299 documented civilians arrived in what is now Ballard County to construct and inhabit Fort Jefferson as an American outpost at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.  From the beginning, the fort was attacked by Chicksaw Indians who killed several of the soldiers and civilians.  The fort was so far from other settlements that Commandant Robert George referred to it as “this Remote hole.”  Only 14 months after being established, Fort Jefferson was abandoned.

April 19, 1792, Kentucky adopted its statehood constitution, meeting the deadline established by Congress for admission before June 1, 1792.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Thomas Scudder Page, born 1800.  Page was Kentucky’s 1^st elected auditor of public accounts (1851-59) and the 1^st elected state executive officer tried for corruption.  During these terms he embezzled $88,927 by directing local officials to deposit their revenue collections with him rather than with the state treasurer as required by law.

April 19, 1902, Town Marshal Ralph Marcum, Fallsburg Marshal’s Office, died by gunshot while attempting to serve a warrant on a man for firing a revolver at night.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Covington native Jack Roush, born in 1942.  Jack is the founder and CEO of Roush Fenway Racing, a NASCAR team and is Chairman of the Board of Roush Enterprises.  He worked for Ford and Chrysler after graduating with a mathematics degree and bachelors in physics from Berea College and masters in scientific mathematics from Eastern Michigan University.

April 19, 1944, Anna Mac Clarke died at the age of 24.  She became the first African American women to be a commanding officer of an otherwise all White regiment.  A historical marker honoring her life stands near the Lawrenceburg courthouse, her hometown.

April 19, 1945, Chief of Police Edward Wiley Fox, Evarts Police Department, died near Dizney in Harlan County.  His body was found in his patrol car with two gunshot wounds.

April 19, 1952, Native Dancer made his first start in a maiden race at Jamaica Racetrack over five furlongs.  Going off at odds of 7-5 in a field of nine, he won by ​4 1⁄2 lengths.  Just four days later, he won the Youthful Stakes over a field of twelve.

April 19, 1952, Air Force 1LT William F. McMurry from Paducah died in the Korean War.

April 19, 1961, Louisville native Jimmy Ellis won his 1^st professional fight with a third-round knockout.  A sparring partner of Muhammad Ali, Ellis went on to win the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight championship.

April 19, 1961, Muhammad Ali (6-0) fought LaMar Clark (44-2) fought Freedom Hall State Fairground, Louisville.  Clay knocked out Clark, a former chicken farmer from Utah who had won 44 consecutive fights by KO, in the second round of a scheduled 10-round fight.  Clay destroyed Clark, breaking his nose in the process.  Clark, 27, retired after the fight.

April 19, 1965, Army SP5 Charles F. Millay from Philpot in Daviess County died in the Vietnam War.

April 19, 1970, Army SFC Robert C. Trigg from Radcliff died in the Vietnam War.

April 19, 1984, James P. Lambert beat federal charges that he conspired to thwart a grand jury investigation by obtaining secret grand jury documents.  However, in June, Lambert had to face drug charges; he did well in that judgment also.

On April 19, 1989, the USS Iowa explosion killed 47 men, including two native Kentuckians.  Michael William Helton, 31, and Rodney Maurice White, 19, both from Louisville, died serving their country.  Michael Robert Williams, who grew up in South Shore was also a victim.

April 19, 1994, Mill Springs Battlefield became a National Historic Landmark.  

April 19, 2000, Jockey Pat Day rode four winners to give him 720 wins at Keeneland, breaking Don Brumfield’s track record of 716.  Day was thrown from his mount on his last victory after the race but was not harmed.

April 19, 2006, Army PFC Robert J. Settle, 25, of Owensboro, died fighting in Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

April 19, 2010, Yum! Brands announced they would pay $13.5 million for the naming rights of Louisville’s downtown arena.  The largest food company in the world would sell the products of three of its chains—KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell—in seven concession stands within the arena.

Kentucky Trivia:  Yum! Brands has over 48,000 restaurants in 140 countries with 60,000 employees.  The net income in billions for 2014: $1.05, 2015: $1.28, 2016: $1.64, 2017: $1.34, 2018: $1.54, 2019: $1.3, 2020: $904 million, and 2020: $1.9 billion.

April 19, 2014, a Keeneland graduate exacta won Keeneland’s GIII $150,000 Ben Ali Stake for four-year-olds and upward going 1 1/8 miles on the turf.

April 19, 2015, government watchdogs reported Kentucky taxpayers paid close to $20,000 for seven lame-duck state lawmakers to visit Alaska for legislative conferences. 

April 19, 2019, Mark Ward from Evarts caught a state record Large Mouth Bass weighing 14 lbs. 9.5 ozs., in Highsplint Lake.

April 19, 2020, the state announced the highest number of positive coronavirus cases for one day, 273, totaling 2,960, and four new deaths, totaling 198.  Nursing homes accounted for 13% of the positive cases.

April 19, 2021, a federal report claimed Kentucky’s number of overdose deaths increased at one of the nation’s highest rates, only behind Louisiana and the District of Columbia.  The CDC reported Kentucky saw 1,956 fatal overdoses from September 2019 to September 2020.  The previous year 1,304 individuals died.

April 19, 2021, Governor A. Beshear said in a live update, “Let’s be clear: we will have a 4^th wave of this virus unless we get everyone out and get vaccinated.  As long as there’s a significant group of unvaccinated individuals, there are host for this thing to mutate in.”