Kentucky Trivia
June 25, 1830, Ephraim McDowell, physician and surgeon who introduced pioneering techniques in abdominal surgery passed away in Danville.
June 25, 1842, Lexingtonian Thomas Marshall dueled James Webb , editor of the New York Courier and Enquirer in Delaware. Marshall challenged, and on the second exchange of shots, wounded Col. Webb in the left knee, which lamed him for life. The challenged man chose pistols at ten paces. Famous Kentucky Duels by J. Winston Coleman, Jr.; pg:143
June 25, 1876, Madison County native Private Thomas W. Stivers was one of twenty-four men awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
June 25, 1888, Constable Sadosa Connellee, Scott County Constable’s Office , died from a gunshot while attempting to serve a summons regarding an unpaid debt.
June 25, 1890, Isaac Burns Murphy raced in the most memorable contest of his life . Going against a white counterpart, jockey Ed “Snapper” Garrison, the battle would settle the debate about who was a better jockey; the match race had definite racial overtones. Murphy won in one of the 1st “photo finishes” in American horse racing. Murphy’s popularity soon fell after the race.
June 25, 1924, the nasty separation of the Democratic Party and the Ku Klux Klan played out while writing the party’s platform at the New York (NY) nominating convention . The Klan debate dramatically split the Kentucky delegation, with Governor Fields voting to separate from the violent organization.
June 25, 1931, Deputy Sheriff Hugh H. Bryant, Morgan County Sheriff’s Office , died from a gunshot in Morehead while intervening in an incident involving a drunk and disorderly man.
June 25, 1937, Lexington’s Lafayette Hotel hosted the mid-summer meeting of 150 newspapermen and women from all parts of Kentucky . The successful convention influenced state legislatures to pass two state bills. One new law enabled journalists to keep their sources secret, and the other made it harder to sue newspapers for libel.
June 25, 1941, Officer William Paul Ketron, Nicholasville Police Department , died while investigating the shooting of a man that had been reported an hour earlier. He and the Police Chief had gone to the suspect’s home to question him. As Officer Ketron walked around the back of the home the suspect fired a shot from inside, killing him.
June 25, 1947, the Keeneland Foundation dedicated and “permanently loaned” an electron microscope to the University of Kentucky for research . The school used this most advanced microscope, the only one in Kentucky, for bacteriological and other research.
June 25, 1950, the Korean War began .
June 25, 1953, Governor L. Weatherby announced details of budget cuts totaling $5,400,000 for the coming year and simultaneously made an indirect bid for public support for higher taxes. Lawrence served five years as governor with term limits stopping him.
June 25, 1967, Army PFC Ottis Reed from Meta from Pike County died in the Vietnam War.
June 25, 1968, Army SFC Roberto Braghini from Radcliff and Army SP4 Charles C. Sales from Owensboro, and Army PFC Phillip M. Weddington from Valley Station in Jefferson County , died in the Vietnam War.
June 25, 1969, Army SP4 Barry N. Thompson from Coxs Creek in Nelson County died in the Vietnam War.
June 25, 1970, Army SP4 Osborne Mattingly, Jr. from California in Campbell County and Marine Corps CPL David M. Walters from Sadieville in Scott County , died in the Vietnam War.
June 25, 1974, Codell Construction of Winchester, in a joint venture with three other companies, won a contract to build 150 miles of oil pipelines in Alaska . A consortium of seven oil companies funded the $130 million contract. The project created well-paying jobs and a rush westward.
June 25, 1980, the U.S. House ended a long and heated debate and took the Selective Service System out of a “deep standby” for the 1st peacetime military draft registration since 1975 . They appropriated $13 million for President Carter to sign up 4 million young men in the weeks ahead. The president then issued an executive order for men born in 1960 and 1961 to register and where to report.
June 25, 1983, while Governor John Y. Brown, Jr. underwent triple bypass heart surgery at UK’s medical center , the Kentucky State Police reported 54 roads in 25 counties where more than 200 people recorded vehicle accidents in one year. Meanwhile, young Germans damaged V.P. George Bush’s motorcade with rocks while screaming anti-U.S. slogans. One protest during his visit attracted 20,000.
June 25, 1993, Louisville football coach Howard Schnellenberger, left, and Kentucky football coach Bill Curry at a news conference announced that the two schools had finally agreed to play each other after a seven-decade absence.
On June 25, 1996, Cornelia Serpell resigned from the Legislative Ethics Commission , the 3rd member to quit in a week, over lawmakers’ changes that weakened the watchdog panel’s authority. Meanwhile, a Frankfort mom gave birth to a 10-pound, 13-ounce boy.
June 25, 1998, Louisville native Matt Anderson made his MLB debut for the Detroit Tigers.
June 25, 2005, Wendy Kennedy, 40, a UK cancer nurse, became the 1st woman to become pregnant using frozen donor eggs . The Phoenix-based egg bank was possibly the 1st company to specialize in selling frozen donor eggs.
June 25, 2008, a workplace shooting occurred at an Atlantis Plastics factory in Henderson.
June 25, 2015, continuing UK’s domination in the NBA draft, six more Wildcats were selected in 2015, tying UK’s 2012 record mark . Karl-Anthony Towns became the 3rd UK player in program history to be the #1 overall pick, and four Wildcats were taken in the lottery, also tying a school record.
Localtonians wishes a Happy Anniversary to Jordan Smith and Kristen Denny , who wed in 2016 in Middlesboro.
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times magazine listed Loretta Lynn among hundreds of artists
On June 25, 2020, Governor A. Beshear announced eight more people died from coronavirus for a new total of 546 . The ages included a 63, 69, 89, 90, and 92-year-old; 377 were hospitalized at the time. In Frankfort, protestors demanded justice for Breonna Taylor and a judge ruled the governor went “too far” in limiting in-person protests at the Capitol during the coronavirus protest.
On June 25, 2021, Lexington became the 2nd Kentucky city to ban no-knock warrants . Meanwhile, in Eastern Kentucky, the Christian Appalachian Project had a giveaway at Lawrence County High School to help Louisa flood victims and people who struggled with coronavirus lockdowns. It was the 8th distribution event for the organization, and it was a larger turnout than expected.
On June 25, 2022, Moderna and the FDA posted a report on the company’s Covid-19 booster shots. Vaccine advisers to the federal government were “disappointed” and “angry” that government scientists and the pharmaceutical company neglected to present infection data on the company’s new Covid-19 booster shot while receiving permission to give it. That data suggested that the updated booster might not be any more effective at preventing Covid-19 infections than the original shots. Several advisers told CNN that they were concerned about a lack of transparency.