On October 7, 1873, Louisville dedicated the 1st school in Kentucky, built with public funds solely for educating African-American children, named Central Colored School, better known as Central High School . Although public schools existed in 1829, blacks were not privileged to free education until after the Civil War. The First Baptist Church sang and opened the program appropriately titled I Waited Patiently . The 1st day included 27 students, one teacher, and one principal. Within three years, 1,000 children attended. African Americans had only one public high school until 1956.
October 7, 1887, Patrolman Joseph Boyle, Louisville Police Department , died in the line of duty.
October 7, 1899, Centre College smothered Georgetown College 43-0 on the Georgetown gridiron.
October 7, 1916, Kentucky beat Centre 68-0 in Lexington, the 1st time they played . J.J Tigret coached the Cats in his last year. The series would end after 13 games, with Centre winning eight and Kentucky five.
October 7, 1917, 28-year-old Special Policeman James Brown, Wayland Police Department , died from a gunshot while arresting a group of men creating a disturbance in town. Policeman Brown had served for only ten months.
On October 7, 1920, a Lexington barber died, and a night operator at the Midway’s Louisville & Nashville railroad station received injuries when they responded to a robbery at the Midway distillery . Bandits shot them as they stole several cases of whiskey. The Lexington barber was in Midway substituting for his brother, a mail carrier on vacation.
On October 7, 1923, UK football player Price McLean, 20, died as a result of an injury on the field. A day earlier, Kentucky defeated Cincinnati 14-0. During the game, McClean, the center, was kicked in the head. They believed it to be a minor injury after some temporary blindness. The kick caused a blood clot, and he passed in the hospital.
October 7, 1928, Constable Alex Webb, Bell County Constable’s Office , died from a gunshot while he slept at his home at Pine Mountain, in retaliation for an investigation into operating a still. They charged both men with his murder.
On October 7, 1930, a large crew started work on a power line near the Kentucky River in another move in the frantic race to complete the water pipeline from the river to Lexington before the city’s water supply ran dry.
October 7, 1932, Chief of Police John Dee Clark, Flemingsburg Police Departmen t, died from a gunshot while approaching a drunk and disorderly suspect.
October 7, 1944, Patrolman Vadas G. Richardson, Kentucky Highway Patrol , died when he stopped to render aid to a vehicle parked on the side of Highway 25 near London. As he approached the vehicle one of the occupants opened fire, striking him in the chest.
October 7, 1950, the 6th ranked Kentucky Wildcats crushed Dayton 40-0 . Bear Bryant’s team would go on to win the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
October 7, 1951, Army PFC Eother L. Sneed from Barren County and Army PVT Homer R. Ballow from Bullitt County died fighting in the Korean War.
October 7, 1952, Marine Corps PFC Eunis O. Payton from Daviess County died fighting in the Korean War.
October 7-10, 1976, locals held the Grand Opening for the Lexington Center/Rupp Arena . As part of the events, the general public could take a guided tour of the “Downtown Dream Come True” for 99 cents. Visitors toured the “largest sporting arena in the country,” with seating for more than 23,000 and a specially-designed 12,000-lbs. sound system lovingly nicknamed “Big Bertha.”
On October 7, 1987, Governor M. Collins called a special legislative session to close a deficit between state contributions to the worker’s Special Fund and disbursements . The Special Fund made payments to workers with occupational diseases and workers whose work-related injuries could not be traced to any single employer.
October 7, 1989, Belmont hosted the one mile and a half GI Jockey Club Gold Cup .
October 7, 2012, John C. “Johnny” Owens, 85, of Lexington, regarded as the most accomplished amateur golfer in Kentucky history, passed away . His golf career included back-to-back state high school titles as a Henry Clay Blue Devil, a Southeastern Conference championship as a Wildcat, a pair of State Amateur crowns, and a British Senior Amateur title.
October 7, 2014, Cigar passed at the Kentucky Horse Park.
On October 7, 2015, President Obama called Doctors Without Borders to apologize for the U.S. bombing of its hospital in Afghanistan and promised changes to procedures if necessary. The humanitarian organization condemned the hospital airstrike in Kunduz as a possible “war crime.”
On October 7, 2016, after Bernie Sanders and others asked for Hillary Clinton to release her paid speeches to Wall Street banks for months, WikiLeaks finally did it for her. Weeks before election day, journalists found several emails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s personal Gmail account to her top advisors. One email had the glaring subject line: “Goldman Sachs Paid Speeches.”
On October 7, 2018, banker Jack Graves, who helped build Rupp Arena and became the first Chairman of the Lexington Civic Board, died. As a sixth-generation hemp farmer, he dedicated the last part of his life to legalizing the crop.
On October 7, 2019, as the House subpoenaed the DoD for documents to impeach President D. Trump , Donald threatened to stop the endless wars by pulling out of Syria and Turkey until his party went berserk and made him backtrack.
On October 7, 2020, as Governor A. Beshear reported another record-breaking week of positive coronavirus cases , he became very impatient with Lexington’s backlog of officially reported positive cases due to discrepancies.
By October 7, 2021, the invasive Asian stink bug had thoroughly infiltrated Kentucky. They use their needle-like mouthparts to pierce the skin of fruits, seeds, plant sap, and vegetables to suck out the juices. They are considered an agricultural pest that damages crops. They are attracted to light and often gather around windows, which can lead them to enter homes, especially during the cold.
On October 7, 2022, a day after President Biden issued a presidential proclamation pardoning many federal and D.C. marijuana offenses, a spokesperson for Governor A. Beshear said they would consider the next steps. Days later, the governor announced a pardon application process, but there is no word on how many received one. In April, Andy launched a Medical Cannabis Advisory Committee.
On October 7, 2023, Governor A. Beshear and Representative Thomas Massie made a few posts.