June 26, 1861, Cynthiana native Orville Hickman Browning became an Illinois U.S. Senator. Five years later he became the 9th Secretary of the Interior.
June 26, 1888, Louisville native Hercules Burnett made his MLB debut with the Louisville Colonels.
June 26, 1921, locals found 11 dead bodies of two families — men, women, and children in Northern Graves County. Police never solved the mystery, and many speculated a gang committed the act, it appeared impossible for one person to do.
Friday, June 26, 1925, a community sing-along with 300 strong occurred at the Lincoln School playground in Lexington. Eleanor Knox played old-time and popular music on the piano, and the audience gave rousing renditions of many of the numbers.
June 26, 1930, the 1930 census reported that Kentucky’s population stood at 2,614,289.
June 26, 1931, while Lexington leaders threatened to arrest and prosecute street beggars, the 2nd annual Country Fair opened at Col L.L. Haggin’s Mt. Brilliant Farm on Russell Cave Park. The festivities included a bathing beauty contest, horse show, dancing, fireworks, and more.
June 26, 1937, the pilgrimage commemorating the 300th anniversary of the arrival of the 1st Lincoln in America, started in Boston and ended in Hodgenville at the Abraham Lincoln Shrine. The group stopped near Louisville, where the president’s grandfather died in a Native American attack 150 years earlier.
June 26, 1938, Nearco ended his career a perfect 14-for-14 by winning the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp.
June 26, 1951, Army PFC Chester Pritchett from Calloway County died in the Korean War.
June 26, 1957, Deputy Sheriff Willie James Lewis, Sr. Leslie County Sheriff’s Office, died in an ambush near his home by two brothers in retaliation for an earlier incident.
June 26, 1959, the first performance of the “Stephen Foster Story” by Paul Green, about the life of the composer, opened in the J. Dan Talbott Amphitheater. Bardstown’s parade down Main Street included a tractor-pulled float carrying performers from the show with speeches in front of the Nelson County Court House. The 1st season saw great success, with over 70,000 people in attendance.
June 26, 1961, Muhammad Ali (7-0) fought Kolo “Duke” Sabedong (15-11-1) in the Las Vegas Convention Center. Clay, fighting for the 1st time in Las Vegas, the new mecca of boxing, won a 10-round unanimous decision against Sabedong, a strapping 6-6 Hawaiian. Sabedong, 31, started out fighting dirty and hit Clay below the belt to try for an upset. But he lacked the speed and skill to bother Clay, who blamed his sluggish showing on trainer Angelo Dundee’s decision to fly them to Las Vegas rather than take the train. Sabedong died in 2008 at the age of 78.
On June 26, 1962, three Kentucky sectarian educators who spoke at UK’s conference on moral and spiritual values agreed that public schools can and should play a leading role in children’s character development.
June 26, 1967, Marine Corps LCPL Aaron B. Spalding from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.
June 26, 1969, Army SGT Jackie Coots from Cumberland in Harlan County and Marine Corps LCPL James E. Short from Lexington, died in the Vietnam War.
June 26, 1971, Shirley Jean Ford married William Riley Dexter, the 1st wedding in the Old Governor’s Mansion in over 100 years, and the 2nd known to historians. Lt. Gov. Wendell Ford gave his daughter away in the formal room of his residence.
On June 26, 1975, officials finally admitted that Lexington’s proposed $18 million solid waste energy plant would cost the city each year. For two years, the backers touted that the technology that burned trash for fuel by steam would make money. The company stated, “This is the most thoroughly investigated project we have ever worked on. However, we must keep a critical eye on it.”
June 26, 1978, Chief of Police Jimmy Ray Tolson, Campton Police Department, died from a gunshot by an 19-year-old youth as he sat in city hall.
On June 26, 1981, Hollywood released Stripes. The plot: Within a few hours, Louisville cab driver John Winger loses his job, his apartment, his car, and his girlfriend Anita, who has grown tired of his immaturity. Realizing his limited prospects, he decides to join the Army. Much of the filming takes place in the Commonwealth.
June 26, 1986, Jockey Sandy Hawley won his 5,000th career race, aboard Mighty Massa, at Canterbury Downs.
June 26, 1989, the Supreme Court ruled on Stanford v. Kentucky and agreed with Kentucky courts that the death penalty was valid for offenders who were at least 16 years of age at the time of the crime. This decision came one year after Thompson v. Oklahoma, where the state could not execute a 15-year-old offender because to do so would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. In 2003, Governor Paul E. Patton commuted the death sentence of Kevin Stanford, an action followed by the Supreme Court two years later in Roper v. Simmons, overruling Stanford and holding that all juvenile offenders are exempt from the death penalty.
June 26, 1992, Jockey Dave Gall became the 8th rider in history to ride 6,000 winners when he rode Nanas Nice Boy to victory at Fairmount Park.
June 26, 1994, Jockey Chris McCarron rode his 6,000th career winner, Andestine, in the Milady Handicap at Hollywood Park. He was the 11th rider to reach 6,000 and the third-youngest, behind Bill Shoemaker and Laffit Pincay Jr.
June 26, 1996, Deputy Sheriff Eric Shane Stafford, Edmonson County Sheriff’s Office, died and another deputy received injuries after their patrol car got struck from behind by a tractor-trailer on I-65, at the Barren County line.
June 26, 2000, Hall of Fame trainer Lucien Laurin, conditioner of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat, died at the age of 88.
Effective June 26, 2007, Frankfort designated Bluegrass Music as the official state music of Kentucky.
June 26, 2014, Louisville native Adam Duvall made his MLB debut with the San Francisco Giants.
June 26, 2018, after decades of legal battles and impassioned pleas, the wife of a Kentucky World War II veteran accepted his posthumous Medal of Honor from President D. Trump in spectacular fashion. Mitch helped pass legislation for the cause and acknowledged the Aaron native, (Clinton County) on the Senate floor the previous day. Garlin Murl Conner fought for 28 months on the front lines in 10 campaigns, participated in four amphibious assault landings, and was wounded seven times. He passed in 1998 at 79.
On June 26, 2019, Mitch got nearly as many mentions in the 1st Democratic national debate as Donald. Mitch relished his role as a villain. Rep. Tim Ryan said, “If you want to defeat Mitch, this better be a working-class party.” Of course, both parties (the Uniparty) remain fiercely loyal to corporate America. Thus, Mitch and Nancy stay in power.
On June 26, 2020, Kentucky announced 256 new cases of coronaviruses and seven new deaths, bringing the totals to 14,859 and 553, respectively. All new deaths were aged over 85, except for a 47-year-old man with underlying health conditions from Monroe County. Meanwhile, Dr. Bill Collins reopened the Red Bird Dental Clinic in Bell County. The facility enables the underprivileged to afford dental work.