Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

October 8, 1862, one of Kentucky’s bloodiest and largest Civil War battles took place at the Battle of Perryville in Boyle County.  Union Major General Don Carlos Buell led the Army of the Ohio, where 845 men died, 2,851 were wounded, and 515 were captured or missing (4,241).  Confederate General Braxton Bragg led the Army of the Mississippi, where 510 died, 2,635 were injured, and 251 were captured or missing (3,396).  Even though the Union lost more men, it was a strategic Union victory because they retained control of the critical border state for the remainder of the war.  Many refer to this encounter as the Battle of Chaplin Hills or the Battle for Kentucky.

October 8, 1890, Belle Brezing paid $14.00 for a Kentucky liquor license.  Belle’s place served the best bourbon, wine, and champagne of all the local bawdy houses.
Madam Belle Brezing by Buddy Thompson pg: 120

On October 8, 1918, Governor James Bennett McCreary from Richmond passed away.  Mr. McCreary represented Kentucky in both houses of Congress and served as Kentucky’s 27^th and 37^th governor.  In his 1^st term, he eased the plight of poor farmers.  He also initiated the building of today’s governor’s mansion.

October 8, 1930, Lexington’s 4^th annual radio show at the Woodlawn Auditorium attracted a record crowd of 4,000, more than doubled the previous year.  The closing night included a six-act performance and a presentation of a silver cup to the dealer with the most attractive booth.

On October 8, 1940, the Cats smacked Georgia 25-0 on Stoll Field in front of 36,000 for their 4^th straight win to take the top spot in the SEC.  The game pleased the Bear.

October 8, 1954, Vice President Richard Nixon shook hands with Fayette County Patrolman Ted Hughes.  At the time of the photo, Nixon had been President Eisenhower’s VP for almost two years.

October 8, 1955, the 19^th-ranked Wildcats met the 4^th-ranked Auburn Tigers for the 5^th time, this time in Birmingham.  The game ended in a tie to make the series stand at 2-1-1 in favor of Kentucky.  Blanton Collier would coach the Cats to a 6-3-1 record, shutting out Tennessee in the final game of the season.

October 8, 1960, John F. Kennedy visited Lexington.  Kennedy was a 43-year-old senator from Massachusetts who was a month away from defeating Richard Nixon in the closest presidential election in 44 years.  He was on a campaign swing through Kentucky and was picked up at Blue Grass Airport by Harry B. Miller Jr., a Lexington lawyer.  Kennedy waved to people as he rode down Main Street in an open-top convertible, seated beside Governor B. Combs.  The car took them to the UK campus, where they joined other prominent Democrats on an impromptu stage, a flatbed truck parked by the Administration Building.  Kennedy got applause by praising the tobacco support program and Lexington’s favorite son, Henry Clay.  He mistakenly referred to Clay as a Transylvania College graduate.  Clay was a trustee and law professor there, but not a student.

October 8, 1976, the National Register of Historical Places placed the Fryer House in Pendleton County on their list.  The stone is block like in form and symmetrical in execution and underneath the house is a dirt cellar.  The roof truss system is made entirely of wood framing held together with wooden pegs instead of nails.  The Fryers first settled in Baltimore, Maryland and then in Lexington.  They started construction in 1811 and finished in 1814.

October 8, 1980, Nancy Reagan visited an apartment home for the elderly in Louisville the day after her husband’s debate against Walter Mondale in the Center for Performing Arts.  Mrs. Reagan travelled to Lexington the following day for more campaigning events.

On October 8, 1989, Courier Journal Magazine first reported a story about the Cornbread Mafia.  The story of a group of Kentucky men who created the largest domestic marijuana production operation in United States history.  President B. Obama pardoned many of the players in 2011.

On October 8, 1993, city officials discussed what to do with the nearly complete Native American Skeleton remains found in Louisville, off River Road.  Crews found it as they prepared to move a rail line for a riverfront development.  The Army Corps of Engineers said the remains must go to a museum.  Leaders of the American Indian Movement stated that when you “offend the spirit,” it creates problems, and the worst outcome would be a museum.  The movement wanted the bodies reburied and would take legal steps to ensure it happened.

October 8, 1994, Keeneland graduate Flanders, ridden by Pat Day, demolished the other three entries in the Frizette Stakes by 21 lengths.

October 8, 1994, Belmont Park ran the $750,000 GI Jockey Club Gold Cup going one and a quarter miles.

October 8, 2005, the Louisville Cardinals crushed the Tar Heels 69-14 in Louisville.  It would be the second week in a row the Cardinals would score over 60 points.  Bobby Petrino’s team finished 9-3 for the season and would go to the Gator Bowl in Florida.

October 8, 2006, Army SPC Timothy A. Fulkerson 20, of Utica, died in Iraq fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

October 8, 2007, the long and colorful history of the great John Henry came to an end when his kidney problems and dehydration forced his keepers at the Kentucky Horse Park to euthanize him at 32.  In a career that spanned from 1977 to 1984, the gallant gelding raced 83 times and developed from a claimer into an immensely popular two-time Horse of the Year.  He won 17 Grade I stakes during eight years of racing that saw him rise from a $1,100 yearling purchase to a horse that won 39 races and set the sport’s all-time earnings record of $6,597,947 – every penny of it before the introduction of the Breeders’ Cup and its million-dollar purses.

October 8, 2009, four years after he started teaching English at his alma mater Ballard High School, Jay Crocker received the ultimate validation by receiving the Milken National Educator Award and a check for $25,000.  Jay stated that would be spending the bulk of his money on students and his classroom.

On October 8, 2010, William D. Gorman, the long-time Hazard mayor who helped turn the struggling coal town into a regional hub, died at age 87.  Locals first elected him mayor in 1977 and kept electing him until he passed.

October 8, 2011, Penn’s Store in Gravel Switch, Kentucky’s oldest working store, reopened in time for the annual Great Outhouse Blowout.  The store on the Boyle-Casey County line needed work after the 2010 flood from the North Rolling Fork River which, almost destroyed the building.

October 8, 2016, while Georgetown held their 1^st Pride Festival, Perryville reenacted, for the 1^st time, Kentucky’s largest Civil War battle on 70 acres of recently acquired land to add to the state park.

On October 8, 2021, while a Franklin Circuit Court ruled a new law unconstitutional that gave students a choice to attend schools outside their district, the Federal government announced the experimental vaccine would soon be available for young children.