Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets
On July 3, 1819, President James Monroe visited with students and faculty at Transylvania. Next, he walked to Matthew Jouett’s studio blocks away for a sitting. Later that evening, Major William S. Dallum, a renter of the Pope Home in Lexington, hosted a lavish event to honor the president, the future president Gen. Andrew Jackson, and Governor I. Shelby.
By Daderot – Own workJuly 3, 1867, Henderson County native Lazarus W. Powell, Kentucky’s 19th governor and a U.S. Senator died in his hometown.
July 3, 1901, the Carnegie Corporation of New York gave $25,000 to Henderson for a new city library.
By NyttendJuly 3, 1905, Louisville native Marvin Hart aka “The Louisville Plumber” became the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Mayfield native Herschel Harper “Herky” Green, born in 1920. A World War II flying ace in the U.S. Army’s 15th Air Force, he shot down 18 enemy aircraft and destroyed ten more on the ground.
July 3, 1937, the Del Mar Turf Club opened for racing with Bing Crosby as president and actor Pat O’Brien a club officer.
On July 3, 1940, the U.S. Census released its long-anticipated population results for Fayette County. With 78,882 people, the population increased by 10,340 from the 1930 results. Since the county went over 75,000, Lexington lost nearly $25,000 in federal money. Institutional figures; Eastern State Hospital for the Insane-2,000, Kentucky House of Reform-654, U.S. Public Health Hospital-983, U.S. Veterans’ Hospital-612, and Fayette County Infirmary-74.
July 3, 1951, Marine Corps CAPT Calvin K. Currens from Versailles died in the Korean War.
July 3, 1953, Army SFC Clifford J. Clemons from Grayson County died in the Korean War.
July 3, 1959, Vice President Richard M. Nixon arrived in Middlesboro as special guest for the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park’s dedication the next day.
July 3, 1961, one of Kentucky’s most notorious gangsters robbed a Nashville bank of $15,554 days after his release from Kentucky’s State Penitentiary in Eddyville. Nashville authorities arrested him 10 minutes after the robbery. Benjamin F. “Benny Denny” Rayburn led a gang of machine-gun bandits in three sensational Lexington holdups in 1946.
July 3, 1967, Army SP4 Timothy M. Flammer from Elsmere in Kenton County died in the Vietnam War.
July 3, 1971, Army SGT Richard Sallee Jr from Hopkinsville in Christian County died in the Vietnam War.
July 3, 1977, Seattle Slew’s nine-race winning streak came to an end in the Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park, when he finished 4th , beaten 16 lengths by J.O. Tobin.
July 3, 1982, D. Wayne Lukas-trained Landaluce, ridden by Laffit Pincay Jr., won the 1st of her five consecutive victories at Hollywood Park. The daughter of Seattle Slew, owned by Barry Beal and Lloyd French, died of a viral infection in November of that year, and posthumously voted champion two-year-old filly of 1982.
July 3, 1989, Susan Sloane of Lexington achieved a career high ranking of World #19 on the Women’s Tennis Association circuit; a Kentucky best in professional tennis rankings.
On July 3, 1991, a federal court of appeals struck down a Kentucky law requiring girls under 18 to obtain written permission from their guardian before an abortion.
July 3, 1994, Thunder Ridge Harness and Stock Car Track opened in Prestonsburg. The track is not operating and has sat empty for over a decade.
July 3, 1998, despite pervasive sympathy for the defendant, jurors convicted a former Kentucky groom on two counts of lying to a federal grand jury investigating the 1990 death of Alydar, the most heavily insured thoroughbred in history. “There was so much sympathy for Alton Stone,” jury foreman Sheila Donley, 49, of Houston, said. “They really felt strongly that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But it doesn’t matter. He willingly told a lie.”
July 3, 2000, Steve Reed became Kentucky’s 1st black U.S. Attorney and, at age 38, one of the youngest when sworn in as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District. He served until 2001. Steve’s brother Officer Danny Reed crashed with Governor B. Jones in the helicopter.
July 3, 2005, Army SPC Ryan J. Montgomery, 22, of Greensburg, died from a bomb, while fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
July 3, 2008, after 52 hours of deliberation lasting eight days, a federal jury in Covington deadlocked in deciding whether attorneys William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham, Jr. defrauded clients of $65 million in Kentucky’s 2001 fen-phen settlement. A jury found them guilty the following year and handed down a 300-month sentence. Meanwhile, Ellis Park remained closed over a revenue sharing dispute.
July 3, 2019, Covington native Jared Raymond Lorenzen passed away.
July 3, 2020, as Americans headed into the 4th of July weekend, government officials asked everyone to keep the celebrations small. Health experts warned “it would be a crucial test of Americans’ self-control that could determine the trajectory of the surging coronavirus outbreak.” A 22-year-old had to stay home after being bitten by a snake in a church ceremony in Cartersville. Meanwhile, Kentucky’s Elk population is now the largest east of the Mississippi River.
July 3, 2021, Barnyard Venue, Kentucky’s newest outdoor music arena held its soft opening with Sawyer Brown. Nelly came to Bath County soon after.