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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

April 25, 1798, Henry Clay attacked the institution of slavery in a piece he wrote for the Kentucky Gazette under the pseudonym of Scaevola.

Localtonians wish a Happy Anniversary to Logan County native James Bowie, 35, who married Maria Ursula de Veramendi, 19, in 1831.  Several days before the ceremony, he signed a dowry contract promising to pay his new bride 15,000 pesos.

April 25, 1834, the “Whig Party” first appeared in the Lexington Intelligencer newspaper.  The National Republican party began to re-brand itself.

April 25, 1896, Harrodsburg Police Officer John Russell, died by gunshot attempting to arrest a man for being drunk and disruptive on Main Street in front of the Mercer National Bank.

According to his trainer John Ward, on April 25, 1924, Wise Counsellor, the Derby favorite, received death threats.  Track criminals plotted to eliminate the colt from the May 12 Preakness and May 17 Derby by “doping him” or stuffing his nose with a sponge.  Guards stayed posted until they withdrew from both races, which they did.   

April 25, 1938, directors of the Keeneland Association organized their first horse sales.  The auctioneer took bids on 31 various thoroughbreds totaling $24,885, an average of $802.74.  The highest price was $3,500 for a nine-year-old mare named Marmitina with a suckling colt.

April 25, 1940, Constable Elmer Doane, Laurel County Constable’s Office, died while attempting to question a man who was carrying two pistols two miles north of East Bernstadt.  As the one-armed constable walked up to the couple the man took cover behind his wife and told her to shoot.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Harlan native George Ella Lyon, born in 1949.  A graduate of Centre College, she published in many genres, including picture books, poetry, juvenile novels, and articles.  Lyon served as Kentucky Poet Laureate for 2015-16.

April 25, 1951, the Kentucky Telephone Corporation had more than 3,000 people waiting to get a phone installed.  This day’s headlines covered the Red Scare in Hollywood and the bombing of communist in North Korea by the United Nations. 

April 25, 1951, Army PVT John H. Bashman from Jefferson County, Army PFC Richard Isbell from Pike County, Army CPL Forest M. Palmer from Fulton County, Army PVT Hartswell Stanton from Grayson County, Army CPL Cornelius Trowel from Jefferson County, and Army PVT Herbert H. Underwood from Fayette County, all died in the Korean War.

April 25, 1957, Chief of Police Novel McReynolds, Murray Police Department, by a suspect who had assaulted a female friend in the county earlier in the day.  When the woman threatened to call the sheriff the man drove to the county courthouse and shot him dead.

April 25, 1960, the Kellogg Foundation granted $754,000 for a seven year-study to improve economic conditions for 500,000 citizens in 30 Eastern Kentucky counties.

April 25, 1963, Chateaugay wins the Blue Grass Stakes and returns to win the Kentucky Derby.

April 25, 1967, Army CPL James L. Bell from Coopersville in Wayne County died in the Vietnam War.

April 25, 1968, Air Force MAJ Billy R. Givens from Dunmor in Muhlenberg County died in the Vietnam War.

April 25, 1968, Dustin Hoffman visited the UK while campaigning for presidential candidate Sen. Eugene McCarthy.  Hoffman, at the time, had been nominated for an academy award for his role in “The Graduate.”

April 25, 1968, Forward Pass wins the Blue Grass Stakes.  He goes on to win the Kentucky Derby upon the disqualification of Dancer’s Image.

April 25, 1970, Army CPL Billy Joe Sebastian from Lancaster died in the Vietnam War.

April 25, 1971, Air Force SGT John D. Nix from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.

April 25, 1971, Billy Graham holds a four-day Central Kentucky Crusade in Memorial Coliseum for four days for an estimated 77,500 people.  Memorial’s daily capacity was 13,500 people, but the overflow crowd walked across the street to sit in Stoll Field, where the Reverend spoke to them as well.

April 25, 1978, Kentucky went to federal court in Washington D.C. in another effort to stop the Marble Hill nuclear power plant.  The plant, 31 miles upstream from Louisville in Indiana, was already under construction.  Kentucky’s efforts paid off when in 1984, construction stopped only after the government sunk $2.5 billion into it.

April 25, 1983, divers reached eight spelunkers in a Rockcastle County cave and reported that they were all in good shape after being trapped for more than two days.  Heavy rains turned an underground creek into an impassible river.

April 25, 1991,  the National Quilt Museum, the brainchild of Bill and Meredith Schroeder, opened.  The $2.2 million facility sits two blocks from the Ohio River in historic downtown Paducah.  The museum changes exhibits 8-10 times per year, so visitors will enjoy a unique experience every time they visit.

April 25, 1994, two former legislatures who cooperated with authorities in BOPTROT received prison sentences in the state corruption case.  Bill McBee took $30,000 from Dueling Grounds and conspired to extort another $30,000 from River Downs.  Jerry Bronger took $2,000 from Bill.

On April 25, 1994, in a major setback for the tobacco industry, a federal judge upheld the right of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products.  However, the judge declined to place more restrictions on tobacco advertising.

April 25, 2001, Bill Monroe’s 1923 Gibson F-5 mandolin, regarded by some as the most important instrument in country music, came out of its vault and changed hands for the first time since Monroe died.  A foundation in Rosine paid $1.125 million.  Private collectors, Smithsonian Institution, and Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame had coveted the instrument.

April 25, 2007, Wayne Joslin from Winchester caught a state record Tiger Muskie (Muskellunge Hybrid) weighing 19 lbs., 9 ozs. in a private lake in Clark County.

April 25 613px Tiger Musk
By U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

April 25, 2013, on the same day Ritchie Farmer pleaded not guilty in federal court, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that Kentucky students must be given Miranda warnings if principals interview them with a school officer present.  The case started in Nelson County when a student sued the school system.

April 25, 2018, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest robot competition in the world, consisting of 1,648 teams, began in Louisville.  More than 10,000 participants from 30 countries participated in the tournament, with a team from China winning.

April 25, 2020, Oaklawn Park hosts the 41st running of the $125,000 Carousel Stakes.  Seven of the eight entries are Keeneland graduates, the winner is a Kentucky bred Keeneland grad.

April 25, 2020, despite the number of coronavirus cases topping 3,900, 13 counties still had not reported one positive case.  Governor A. Beshear unveiled seven benchmarks that he will use to re-open Kentucky.

April 25, 2021, after a two-year covid-19 hiatus, Kentucky Muscle’s KDF NPC Derby Championships returned to the International Convention Center.  Nealy 1,600 people watched 484 ameatur and professional competitors strut their stuff.