TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

June 23, 2023

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

June 23, 1792, the young Commonwealth created Shelby County from Jefferson County. Shelby was named in honor of Isaac Shelby, 1^st and 5^th governor. Shelbyville is the county seat. Other localities include: Bagdad, Chestnut Grove, Christianburg, Clark, Clay Village, Cropper, Finchville, Harrisonville, Hemp Ridge, Hooper, Mt. Eden, Mulberry, Olive Branch, Peytona, Pleasureville, Scotts Station, Simpsonville, Southville, Todds Point and Waddy. The 12^th county created covers 386 square miles.

June 23, 1857, John Clarke Young passed away in Danville. In 1830, he was named President of Centre College. During his twenty-seven-year presidency, enrollment increased from thirty-three to 225, the endowment grew to over $100,000, and the college’s reputation for excellence spread. A slave owner, Young preached gradual emancipation rather than abolition – he twice freed families of his slaves – and authored a report to the Kentucky Synod on the subject. Mr. Young died while President of Centre and rest in Danville.

On June 23, 1857, the U.S. government granted William Kelly a patent for an alternative steel-making method. In 1846 he and his brother purchased an iron manufacturing company in Lyon County on the Cumberland River and renamed it Kelly & Company. It Happened Today in Kentucky History by Robert A. Powell, pg: 67

June 23, 1866, H. Howard Gratz revived the Kentucky Gazette after the Civil War had ended. The paper ran again until 1910.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Paducah native Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb, born in 1876. At one point he was the highest paid staff reporter in the United States.

Localtonians wish a Happy Anniversary to Alben W. Barkey and Dorothy Brower, who wed in 1903. Unfortunately, Dorothy died in 1947, and Barkley remarried while he was V.P.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Louisville native Helen Humes, born in 1913. Humes helped to shape and define the sound of vocal swing music.

Localtonians wish a Happy Anniversary to Keen Johnson and Eunice Nichols who wed in 1917. Keen became our 45^th governor and the only journalist to hold the office.

June 23, 1919, Man o’ War, traveled to Aqueduct and won the 29^th running of the 5F Hudson Handicap for two-year-olds in 1:01.60. He carried 130 lbs. which is unheard of these days in the juvenile ranks. Conceding 21 lbs., he stretched out easily and won unchallenged by 1 1/2 lengths. The winner earned $2,825 in the $3,500 purse.

On June 23, 1923, James I. Hamilton, 62, one of the largest land owners in Garrard County, died instantly at 11:00 am in a pistol duel with Ciell Pointer, 35, a tenant on his farm. Ciell received one flesh wound walked to a neighbor and called the sheriff. The sheriff escorted him to jail and later to Lexington for fear of mob retribution and arrested him for murder.

June 23, 1928, as Central Kentucky leaders gathered in Lexington at Lake Ellerslie to show their disdain for commercializing the Cumberland Falls, a Louisville businessman donated a color motion picture film to the Kentucky Progress Commission in Frankfort. To film promoted the state’s natural beauty, industries, horses, and even a Cardinal in its natural habitat.

June 23, 1935, Deputy Sheriff Victor Green, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, died from a gunshot by a suspect who was upset over a case he was working on.

On June 23, 1937, the special Court of Appeals held that Kentucky’s personal and corporate income tax law enacted in 1936 was constitutional. In the 1^st year the tax raised $2 million. Meanwhile, locals found an ex-Harlan Deputy Sherriff dead on Pine Mountain a day after three deputies resigned in protest.

June 23, 1945, Pavot, by Man o’ War, with Eddie Arcaro aboard, won the 77^th Belmont Stakes. Net value to winner was $52,675. Eddie earned his 3^rd of six Belmont wins. The government’s war moved all Triple Crown races further into the year.

June 23, 1945, Lexington native James G. Scrugham passed. Nevada elected him as U.S. Senator and their 14^th governor.

June 23, 1951, Army SGT Louis O. Chinn from Fayette County died in the Korean War.

June 23, 1960, record downpours and violent thunderstorms hit Central Kentucky causing severe damage and two deaths. In Casey County’s Green River Valley, two bridges washed away.

June 23, 1965, Daniel Carter Beard’s Boyhood Home became a National Historic Landmark. “Uncle Dan” founded the Boy Scouts of America and was the National Scout Commissioner from the 1910 founding to his death in 1941.

^{By C. Bedford Crenshaw}

June 23, 1966, Army PFC John E. Hampton from Whitesburg died in the Vietnam War.

June 23, 1968, Army CPL Gary Wilkinson from Murray in Calloway County died in the Vietnam War.

June 23, 1971, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) put Ashland Oil, Inc. on 180-day notice to stop polluting the Big Sandy River. The EPA had only served 12 of these notices in its history and the 1^st in Kentucky.

On June 23, 1979, the nationwide strike by independent truckers continued to grow, causing severe disruptions to food and fuel deliveries amid signs that President Carter was preparing to give in to their demands for more fuel. Truckers who crossed the picket line were shot at or stoned while driving on highways in at least 20 states. The protest addressed higher fuel prices, fewer supplies, and government regulations that unfairly inhibited businesses.

June 23, 1980, a hitman supposedly killed a well-known builder in Lexington, Tony Johnson, according to the F.B.I. His wife and two of his three children found him at his shop. Tony planned to be a key witness in a lawsuit about his former employer.

On June 23, 1980, the National Weather Service predicted June would be Central Kentucky’s driest month. So far, only a half inch of rain had fallen, and the record was 1.18 inches in 1936. Meanwhile, a gunman killed five people in a church, President Carter lashed out at the Soviets, and Bjorn Borg went after Rod Laver’s Wimbledon records.

June 23, 1986, Historic Locust Grove in Louisville became a U.S. National Historic Landmark.

June 23, 1994, Anthony Lynch from Salyersville caught a state record Longear Sunfish weighing 13.28 ozs. in a strip mine pond in Magoffin County.

On June 23, 2000, Toyota launched an internet-based system to streamline their North American parts purchasing. The initial plan was to eliminate errors, reduce paperwork, and speed decision-making to strengthen supplier relationships.

June 23, 2005, Army SGT Joseph M. Tackett 22, of Whitehouse in Johnson County, died of a non-combat-related injury in Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

June 23, 2005, Army SGT 1^st Class Christopher W. Phelps, 39, of Louisville, died in Bagdad fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

June 23, 2009, the Grand Ole Opry inducted the Kentucky duo, Montgomery Gentry, with Marty Stuart and Little Jimmy Dickens as presenters.

June 23, 2010, Army SPC Russell E. Madden 29, of Dayton, died in Afghanistan, fighting in Operation Enduring Freedom.

June 23, 2015, Trooper Eric Keith Chrisman, Kentucky State Police, died in a vehicle crash on the US Route 62 near the Tennessee River Bridge in Livingston County at 5:48 pm.

June 23, 2017, Kentucky politicians acted with disdain when California announced a travel restriction to Kentucky because of what they felt were discriminatory laws toward gay and transgender people.

On June 23, 2020, Fayette County voters stood in line for 90 minutes to vote at UK’s Football Stadium due to the pandemic. Louisville also had one location, the Kentucky Fair and Exhibition Center, which ran smoothly. Voter turnout was higher than expected, the mail-in ballots helped.

On June 23, 2021, UK went to court to try to get Wendell and Tayna Berry’s lawsuit thrown out. The Berrys fought the university when the school announced they would remove a mural depicting enslaved people. UK had no intentions of destroying the art; they just wanted to move it. Black students claimed it was hurtful and traumatic. Ann Rice O’Hanlon, Tayna’s aunt, painted the piece in the 1930s.

June 23, 2022, while the Supreme Court expanded gun rights by ruling Americans could carry guns in public for self-defense, fires destroyed several historic buildings in downtown Millersburg in Bourbon County. Meanwhile, Governor A. Beshear announced an expansion for the candle factory, where eight people died during the 2021 tornados.