Kentucky Trivia
July 21, 1891, Fayette County’s new jail on East Short Street received their 1st prisoners.
July 21, 1897, Hopkins County lynched Ephraim Brinkley, for bad character.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Frankfort native Susan Clay Sawitzky, born in 1897. The great-granddaughter of Henry Clay wrote poetry and studied history.
July 21, 1919, Constable William Lear, Madison County Constable’s Office, succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained the previous day while questioning a man who had threatened a boy.
On July 21, 1924, on WHAS radio, John Y. Brown and Senator Happy Chandler discussed the source of tires used on the Senator’s family automobile. Brown also wanted to discuss the Senator’s family pool built by a Louisville contractor. J.Y.B. announced his candidacy for Happy’s Senate seat later that night on the radio.
July 21, 1934, Lexington and Louisville police radio operators experimented with inter-station communications. The two forces wanted to communicate daily. Lexington’s WPET radio station and Louisville’s WPDE station installed short-wave receivers, and both would have to be turned at specific intervals to communicate.
On July 21, 1943, the Narcotic Farm smuggling trial ended in guilty verdicts in a Lexington federal courtroom. A prisoner, his wife, and a guard got caught introducing contraband into the prison, including money, letters, and marijuana. The jury acquitted two black inmates in the conspiracy.
July 21, 1949, Guard Julius R. Cummins, Kentucky Department of Corrections, died in an automobile accident near Eddyville while returning to the prison facility from the prison farm.
July 21, 1950, Army PFC John R. McCoy from Bell County died in the Korean War.
July 21, 1951, Army PFC William O. Kolb from Jefferson County died in the Korean War.
July 21, 1969, Army PFC Edward S. Hamilton from Ashland died in the Vietnam War.
July 21, 1970, Army W01 Phillip G. Wright from Ashland died in the Vietnam War.
July 21, 1976, Pebworth native Earle Combs died in Richmond and is interred in the Richmond Cemetery.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Draffenville native Chrishell Stause, born in 1983 in Marshall County. She is best known for playing Amanda Dillon on All My Children and later Jordan Ridgeway in Days of Our Lives.
July 21, 1990, after five consecutive wins, Darrin School Boy Van Horn had a rematch with Gianfranco Rosi in Italy to regain the IBF Junior Middleweight Championship. Although Van Horn fought better than in the 1st fight when he lost the title to Rosi, the School Boy lost in a 12-round unanimous decision.
July 21, 1991, Place Dancer won the $30,850 Simon Kenton Stakes at Ellis Park for owner A.J. Foyt, Jr. and trainer A.J. (Tony) Foyt III.
July 21, 1998, a Mr. Prospector yearling topped the July Yearling Sale at $4 million; two years later Fusaichi Pegasus won the Kentucky Derby.
July 21, 2000, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed Shane Ragland’s father sold more than $16 million in stock from his company days before his son went to jail with a $1 million bond.
July 21, 2003, John Hoover from Louisville caught a state record Warmouth in a private pond in Jefferson County that weighed 1 lb. and 6.2 ozs.
July 21, 2008, American Idol wannabees waved outlandish signs, hoping to catch a judge’s attention as locals waited outside Freedom Hall. Many represented small towns in Kentucky. Noah Thompson became the 1st and only Kentuckian to win the title in 2022.
July 21, 2010, Coach Calipari got cold feet and canceled a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser at his home for Governor S. Beshear one day after he said he would host.
July 21, 2016, after a four-hour hearing, Franklin Circuit Court Judge Philip Shepard still didn’t decide on a case between the governor and attorney general. This dispute involved Governor Bevin’s overhaul of UofL’s governing board. The drama never seemed to stop between the two.
July 21, 2020, while America stayed on edge, separated, and divided, Governor A. Beshear told Kentuckians that infections increased significantly for kids under five and “there was no safe region in Kentucky anymore.” He wanted everyone to social distance, wear a mask, and not travel. Finally, he told all Kentuckians to cancel their beach family plans for states with a “15% infection rate,” all in an effort to slow the spread.
July 21, 2021, President J. Biden during a CNN Town Hall told the audience if you get vaccinated you would not get carnivorous. Later in the Town Hall he became more confused, “There are trusted interlocutors. Think of the people — if your kid wanted to find out whether or not there were — there’s a man on the moon, or whatever — you know, something, or, you know, whether those aliens are here or not — you know, who are the people they talk to beyond the kids who love talking about it? They go to people they respect, and they say, “What do you think?”
July 21, 2022, President J. Biden, 79, tested positive for the coronavirus for the 1st time and felt minor symptoms. The government proclaimed that the new variants made it difficult for Americans to return to normal after two-and-a-half years of “pandemic” disruptions. Meanwhile, scientists around the globe agreed the coronavirus was “endemic;” the president tested positive again.