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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

On May 8, 1775, the Transylvania Land Company, owned by Colonel Richard Henderson, named their new colony Transylvania and proclaimed Boonesborough as the capital.

May 8, 1883, Hopkins County lynched Wat Cox, a black male, for attempted rape.

May 8, 1884, Guard George L. Ball, Kentucky Department of Corrections, died with his own service weapon during an escape attempt near Mount Vernon.

May 8, 1915, Regret won the 41st running of the Kentucky Derby, the first filly to do so.  She generated significant publicity for the race. Churchill Downs president Matt Winn observed that because of Regret’s win, “the Derby was thus made an American institution.”  Owner Harry Payne Whitney bred the filly in New Jersey and won his 1st Derby of two; he entered 19 horses throughout his life.  Trainer James G. Rowe Sr. and jockey Joe Notter helped the filly run in 2:05.40 which earned $11,450.

May 8, 1920, Paul Jones won the 46th Kentucky Derby for owner Ral Parr, jockey Ted Rice, and trainer William M. Garth in 2:09 and won $30,375.  John Madden bred the colt.  Man o’ War did not run.  Owner Sam Riddle did not like racing in Kentucky, nor did he think three-year-olds were ready to go 10 furlongs as early as May.  He would change his mind by the time War Admiral came around.  Man o’ War stayed in the east and prepared for the Preakness.  Harry Payne Whitney’s Upset comes in 2nd by a nose to Paul Jones and a length and a half to Man o’ War in Maryland.

On May 8, 1928, Sheriff Arthur J. Brookshire, Estill County Sheriff’s Department, died by bootleggers during an investigation.  He and the Irvine Police Chief had stopped a couple on horseback, and the sheriff asked to search the wife’s saddlebags.  The husband refused without a warrant so the Chief returned to town to obtain a one.  When they returned, they found Sheriff Brookshire dead from a gunshot.

May 8, 1937, War Admiral won the 63rd Kentucky Derby for Samuel D. Riddle’s Glen Riddle Farm and trainer George Conway.  The jockey, Charles Kurtsinger, won his 2nd derby.  The son of Man o’ War went in 2:03 1/5 and earned $52,050.  He later became the 4th Triple Crown winner.  The record crowd saw the 1st woman to saddle a Derby starter; Mary Hirsch owned and trained No Sir.

Kentucky Trivia:  In 1951, Sam Riddle’s estate auction sold his Derby trophy.  Whoever bought it sold it later at a New Orleans pawn shop.  Churchill Downs then repurchased it for $1,200 even though it was missing both handles and the lid affixed to the cup’s lid.

May 8, 1948, Patrolman Andrew Miller, Louisville Police Department, died from his own weapon after responding to a call at 439 Marshall Court.

May 8, 1950, Patrolman James Ford, Harlan Police Department, died from an ambush as he and his partner were on patrol.

May 8, 1950, Covington gamblers, large and small, ignored a shutdown ultimatum by police Chief Schild for 11:00 a.m.  By noon, customers had packed several facilities playing the ponies, blackjack, and craps throughout the Northern Kentucky strip.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Fort Campbell native Charton Christopher Frantz, born in 1951.

On May 8, 1961, the Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Board suspended the beer and whiskey license for two Newport taverns for allowing gambling on their premises.

May 8, 1961, President Kennedy pinned a medal on astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. for being the 1st American to breach the barriers of space, 115 miles into the heavens, which he did days earlier.

May 8, 1967, Marine Corps PFC James R. Huckleberry from Jeffersontown and Marine Corps LCPL Henry R. Wicker from Lebanon died in the Vietnam War.

May 8, 1968, Marine Corps LCPL Gerald W. Mayberry from Franklin in Simpson County died in the Vietnam War.

May 8, 1971, Patrolman Raymond Stetson Oyler, Jr. Louisville Police Department, died when his police car was struck in the side by a drunk driver travelling at approximately 80 mph.

May 8, 1972, President Nixon told the nation he would not considering resignation after the Watergate tapes were released days earlier.

May 8, 1983, Louisville native Dave Armstrong debut in the MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

May 8, 1991, the National Education Association confirmed that teacher salaries in Kentucky rose by the highest percentage of any state in 1991, increasing 10.6% to $29,089.

May 8, 1993, Deputy Sheriff Poyster “Poss” Keene, Pike County Sheriff’s Office, died in an automobile accident when his patrol car was struck head-on by an oncoming car.

May 8, 2004, Spencer County was the fastest growing county in Kentucky between 2000 and 2003.  Fulton County saw the largest decrease during the same period, losing 4.3% for a population of 7,419.

May 8, 2004, an earthquake measuring 2.3 shook parts of Kentucky, approximately 20 miles North of Middlesboro and 35 miles Southwest of Hazard.

May 8, 2005, Penny Hopper caught a state record Crappie (White or Black) weighing 4 lbs., 14 ozs. in Watershed Lake in Christian County.

May 8, 2007, former Lt. Governor S. Beshear came under attack from three other Democratic gubernatorial candidates when they said he was wrongly pinning the state’s future on expanding gambling.

May 8, 2020, Billy Rice from Stanton caught a state record Golden Shiner weighing .45 lbs. in Madison County’s Lake Reba.

May 8, 2020, the planned spring commencement day; however, UK canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Meanwhile, publicly traded ARC Coal Company received $2.7 million from a government pandemic relief program.  ARC months earlier refused to pay their miners and only did so after employees blocked the trains from hauling their coal to market.

May 8, 2021, the state announced the Workers’ Comp Fund paid more than $860,000 to dead people.  The story behind the incompetence is disconcerting.  Communities began to reopen slowly to get ready for outdoor summer activities.