June 22, 1773, Capt. Thomas Bullitt and Hancock Taylor, both surveyors and others in one company , and James McAfee, George McAfee, Robert McAfee, James McCoun Jr., and Samuel Adams in another company went down the Ohio River and reached the mouth of Limestone Creek where Maysville now stands. They remained for two days. History of Kentucky by Lewis Collins pg: 17
June 22, 1777, Native Americans killed John Barney Stagger above Fort Harrod’s big spring about a half a mile from the fort. They cut his head off and placed it on a pole. Historical Sketches of Kentucky: History of Kentucky , Volume 2 by Lewis Collins
On June 22, 1780, Ruddle’s Station (Harrison County) and Martin’s Stations (Bourbon County) surrendered to Capt. Henry Bryd, his British soldiers, and their native allies.
June 22, 1792, the brand-new state of Kentucky created Washington County from Nelson County and named it in honor of President George Washington. Springfield is the county seat. Other localities include Bear Wall, Brush Grove, Fredericktown, Mackville, Manton, Pleasant Grove, Saint Catharine, Thompsonville, and Willisburg. Washington County covers 301 square miles and was the 10th county created.
June 22, 1847, Episcopal Reverend E. Berkley baptized his good friend Henry Clay in the Ashland parlor in front of a few others. The 70-year-old politician long professed an interest in the Episcopal Church and a month later received the rite of confirmation from Bishop B.S. Smith in Morrison Chapel. The Squire’s Sketches of Lexington by J. Winston Coleman, Jr. pg: 42
June 22, 1887, the Rowan County War between the Martin and Tolliver families ended in downtown Morehead after a violent shootout. The terror began in the early morning as a Martin Family posse hunted down and chased the Tolliver family through the streets of Morehead and out of town.
June 22, 1889, the Louisville Colonels set a major league baseball record with their 26th consecutive loss.
June 22, 1920, Man o’ War, back in Jamaica Park, won the one-mile Stuyvesant Stakes in 1:41.60. His odds of 1 to 100 were believed to be the lowest ever offered in an American horse race.
June 22, 1923, Deputy Sheriff Bill Atkins, Bell County Sheriff’s Department , died from an ambush as he returned to his home near Four Mile, following his shift guarding a local mine.
On June 22, 1925, 15 Confederate veterans left Lexington in an automobile to attend the 24th annual reunion of the Morgan’s Men Association at the Graham Springs Motel in Harrodsburg.
June 22, 1930, Charles and Anne Lindbergh had a baby boy named Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. He would be kidnapped and murdered in 20 months. Meanwhile, in Kentucky, Transy College planned a new library, and Governor Sampson paroled 55 Frankfort Reformatory prisoners, five of whom were serving life terms for murder.
On June 22, 1935, the court probated Robert Henry Hughes’s will, considered to be Lexington’s wealthiest colored citizen . Henry, 72, received his fortune from his white father, John T. Hughes, who had left the money to him and his mother. John’s family fought the will in court ten years earlier, but after 12 minutes of deliberation, the jury upheld the will. Among many other beneficiaries, Henry left $10,000 to the Old Ladies Home of Lexington, a white institution, and $10,000 to the Lincoln Institute, a Negro school in Shelby County.
June 22, 1950, thieves stole Gertrude, a 60-pound python, a master at card tricks , the night before the International Brotherhood of Magicians opened their 26th annual convention at the Kentucky Hotel in downtown Louisville.
June 22, 1963, the USS Daniel Boone (SSBN-629) launched
Daniel Boone (SSBN-629) departs Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. National Archives photograph
June 22, 1964, the Natural Bridge State Park dedicated the new Hemlock Lodge , after fire took the old one. It Happened Today In Kentucky History by Robert A Powell pg: 67
June 22, 1967, Army 1LT Ervin L. Burns from Providence in Webster County died in the Vietnam War.
June 22, 1971, the U.S. department of Health, Education and Welfare told six Kentucky school districts to further desegregate their schools by next fall to comply with the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The districts included: Jefferson, Fayette, Paducah, Christian County, Hopkinsville, and Covington.
On June 22, 1977, more than 15,400 people watched the construction of a record-size ice cream sundae at the Kentucky Dairy Month celebration in Frankfort. They then devoured the 10-ft high, 4,117-pound delicacy. June Dairy Month helped celebrate Kentucky’s 4th largest industry.
On June 22, 1981, Kentucky farmers spoke about losing $250 million in one of the wettest planting seasons on record . Meanwhile, John Lennon’s murderer changed his plea to guilty while the Supreme Court upheld restrictions on the Hare Krishna cult.
June 22, 1984, the government bragged about how Kentuckians had more jobs last month than ever before , which pushed the unemployment rate to its lowest point in more than 2 ½ years at 8.9%.
On June 22, 1986, Toyota offered the press the 1st glance into two of seven buildings that were over 50% completed in the new $800 million automobile factory . Meanwhile, Fred Astaire, King of the dance floor, died at 88 in LA.
June 22, 1990, despite thousands of players and a record-high $6 million record purse , no one picked all six lucky numbers in the Lotto Kentucky game. Lottery President Jim Hosker told the public someone had to win soon; the laws of probability say this can’t continue.
June 22, 1996, volunteers came together for the annual Kentucky River Clean Sweep.
On June 22, 2004, Elaine Farris, a veteran educator in Fayette and Clark counties, became the 1st full-time African-American superintendent in Kentucky when she accepted the job in Shelbyville. Until this day, none of the state’s 176 school districts had employed a minority candidate as super.
June 22, 2013, the president and chief executive of Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan purchased Colonel Harland Sanders’s trademark white suit for $21,510 and promptly tried it on.
June 22, 2016, Adolph “Herky” Rupp Jr., 75, died . The son of legendary UK basketball coach Adolph Rupp grew up around UK basketball. He loved riding the bus with the players to Louisville and being near the Fabulous Five when he was 7 or 8. Jr. played three varsity seasons for his dad, scoring 11 points in 14 career games from 1959 to 1962. For several years he coached high school basketball at Atherton, Lafayette, and Shelby County. However, Herky eventually began to farm full-time.
June 22, 2018, part of Barton 1792’s seven-story warehouse collapsed, and thousands of whiskey barrels went with it. The leak killed about 800 fish in a nearby stream and pond, leading to a citation from the state.
On June 22, 2020, Governor A. Beshear announced 90 new coronavirus cases and zero deaths . He also informed Kentuckians that in the coming weeks, groups of 50 or more could gather, restaurants could be at 50% capacity, Kentucky Kingdom could reopen, youth sports could start, stadiums and event halls could open, etc.
On June 22, 2023, U.S. beekeepers released their annual report , which they have done since 2007. The survey of 3,006 keepers found that even though 48% of colonies were lost, the number of colonies stayed the same, thanks in part to commercial keepers.
