Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Nelson County native and Kentucky’s 20th governor, Charles Slaughter Morehead , born in 1802. Though a member of the Whig Party for most of his political service; he joined the Know Nothing Party in 1855, the only Kentucky governor elected from that party.
July 7, 1826, Orville Beauchamp hung in Frankfort after his conviction of stabbing to death Kentucky legislator Solomon P. Sharp, a crime known as the Beauchamp–Sharp Tragedy . The morning of the execution, he and his wife, Anna, attempted a double suicide by stabbing themselves with a knife she had smuggled into the prison. She succeeded; he did not. They rushed Beauchamp to the gallows before bled to death. Two men supported Beauchamp as they placed the noose around his neck; he asked for a drink of water, and the band played Bonaparte’s Retreat from Moscow. At his signal, the cart moved out from under him, and he died after a brief struggle. Following Beauchamp’s earlier instructions, the family buried both of them in the same coffin embraced. The double tombstone has an etched poem by Anna.
July 7, 1865, America hung four co-conspirators , Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt, David Herold, and Mary Surratt, at the gallows of the Old Penitentiary, on the site of present-day Fort McNair, for Lincoln’s assassination.
July 7, 1883, Deputy Sheriff Marhall E. Hensley, Green County Sheriff’s Office , died from a gunshot as he and a posse attempted to arrest a man.
July 7, 1885, Knott County came into actual being . People came from miles around and gathered around the Troublesome Creek to celebrate their new county. The Kentucky by Thomas D. Clark pg: 372
July 7, 1893, Carlisle County lynched Seay J. Miller, a black male, for rape and murder .
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Monticello native Harriette Simpson Arnow , born in 1908, in Wayne County.
July 7, 1915, a large tornado swept through Kenton and Campbell Counties, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. City officials estimated the losses in the millions of dollars.
July 7, 1925, Special Deputy Sheriff Frank James, Martin County Sheriff’s Office , died from a gunshot as he assisted the Martin County sheriff and a posse search for a man wanted for shooting five people the previous day.
July 7, 1934, Mary Hirsch became the 1st female licensed as a Thoroughbred trainer . She received her license in Illinois, another in Michigan, and then in New York years later.
July 7, 1950, Army PFC William T. Maddix from Boyd County and Army PFC Basil Varney Jr from Pike County , died in the Korean War.
July 7, 1951, Army PVT Carroll N Ramsey from Louisville died in the Korean War.
July 7, 1953, Air Force A2C Donald L. Abney from Louisville and Air Force A2C John Glendale Delancy from Raceland in Greenup County , died in the Korean War.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Ft. Knox native Leonard Harold Barker III , born in 1955. Len pitched the 10th perfect game in baseball history.
July 7, 1965, Army PFC Johnie E. Rice Jr. from Freeburn in Pike County died in the Vietnam War.
July 7, 1966, Army SP4 John W. Hamm from Lexington and Marine Corps LCPL Danny R. Simpson from Cardinal in Bell County , died in the Vietnam War.
July 7, 1967, Army PFC Bobby L. Foreman from Lexington died in the Vietnam War.
July 7, 1968, Army SGT Lavaughn Elliott from Russellville in Logan County died in the Vietnam War.
July 7, 1970, Army SGT Gerald L. Risinger from Jeffersontown died in the Vietnam War.
July 7, 1979, 14-year-old Mary T. Meagher won the gold in the Women’s 200m Butterfly in the Pan American Games and set a new world record.
July 7, 1983, federal and state officials told Kentucky cities they would not be able to financially assist them in treating their sewage before it emptied into local rivers due to a cut in federal funds.
July 7, 1991, Paducah native Russ Cochran won the Centel Western Open over Greg Norman by two strokes for his 1st and only PGA regular tour victory. He is among the few natural left-handed players to win a PGA Tour event. For much of the 1980s through 1992, he was the only left-hander on the PGA Tour.
July 7, 2000, AG Ben Chandler decided Kentucky police departments could not skirt a new law that made them turn over confiscated guns to the state which are then auctioned to licensed gun dealers. The Louisville and Lexington police departments wanted to give the firearms to the federal government, which destroy them.
On July 7, 2008, gas prices hit $4.15 a gallon , and all Kentucky lawmakers scrambled to push electric cars.
On July 7, 2015, a same-sex couple from Morehead and alums of Morehead State University released video footage of Kim Davis refusing to issue them a marriage license and requesting that they turn off their camera. The video went viral overnight.
On July 7, 2019, Britain’s ambassador to the U.S. called President D. Trump “diplomatically clumsy and inept.” In the states, the president lashed out at the corporate media over what he called phony and exaggerated accounts of immigrant stations on the border. The press did show cages the Obama administration built in stories about Donald, adding fuel to the fire.
July 7, 2021, former President D. Trump filed a class-action lawsuit targeting Facebook, Google, and Twitter for violating his 1st Amendment rights by suspending his social media accounts.
On July 7, 2022, Governor A. Beshear ceremonially signed a bipartisan bill that closed a loophole in state law that allowed violent offenders to walk free from a mental health facility after being found incompetent for trial.