Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Springfield native Charles Anderson Wickliffe, born in 1788. Charles was Kentucky’s 11th lieutenant governor, our 14th governor, and America’s 11th Postmaster General. He also represented Kentuckians in the U.S. House in two different districts.
On June 8, 1864, some of John H. Morgan’s men captured two Union regiments at a camp in Mount Sterling, taking almost 300 prisoners and a large amount of supplies. However, a surprise attack from federal forces the next morning forced the rebels to retreat and rejoin Morgan, who was moving on to Lexington.
June 8, 1867, was the birthdate of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed more than 1,000 structures during his lifetime and built one in Kentucky. The Rev. Jesse R. Ziegler, a Presbyterian minister living in Frankfort, met Wright by chance while traveling to Europe in October 1909. Their conversation resulted in a commission to design a house at 509 Shelby Street, only a few blocks from the new State Capitol, which was still under construction.
By FloNight (Sydney Poore) and Russell PooreJune 8, 1893, Barbourville’s Union College conferred their 1st A.B. degrees to James Perry Faulkner and John Elbert Thomas.
Tuesday, June 8, 1897, Paul Kauvar won the 22nd Preakness Stakes, going the 1 1/16 miles in 1:51 ¼ on a sloppy track to win $1,420. P.T. Hayes owned and trained the colt while Kentucky’s McGrathiana Stud bred the winner, who also bred the Derby’s 1st winner. The Preakness hosted the 3rd leg of the Triple Crown.
June 8, 1901, Deputy Sheriff David Branham, Whitley County Sheriff’s Office, died from a gunshot when he attempted to arrest a man terrorizing local citizens.
June 8, 1930, one day after the Belair Stud’s Gallant Fox won the Belmont Stakes, Charles Hatton’s New York Times story referred to the colt “completing his Triple Crown,” believed to be one of the earliest references to the Derby-Preakness-Belmont Stakes winner.
June 8, 1931, Policeman William H. Wilhelm, Jr., Frankfort Police Department, died from a gunshot at Catfish Alley intersection arresting a man on a warrant.
June 8, 1935, Omaha won the 67th Belmont Stakes to become the 3rd Triple Crown (TC) winner. The win also gave Belair Stud the 2nd TC horse they owned and bred. Omaha won the Derby and Belmont by 1 ½ lengths and the Preakness by six.
June 8, 1940, E.R. Bradley’s Bimelech won the 72nd 1 ½ miles Belmont Stakes in 2:29 3/5 over five others. In 1989, 39-year-old Bradley purchased his 1st racehorse, which quickly led to the acquisition of others. In 1906, he bought Ash Grove Stock Farm, a 400-acre property near Lexington; he renamed it Idle Hour Stock Farm. This became the leading Thoroughbred breeding operation in the American South and added to the rise of Kentucky as the most important horse breeding state in America.
On June 8, 1942, the first-ever triple dead heat for first place occurred at Whittier Park in Washington, between Drums, Pagan Court, and Saucy May.
June 8, 1951, Army PVT Luther O. Craig from Clinton County died in the Korean War.
June 8, 1954, Kentucky sold $38,500,000 worth of 40-year toll-turnpike revenue bonds to a securities syndicate. The lowest bid of the four received at $37,865,750 with an interest rate of 3.4%. The money built a 40-mile turnpike between Louisville and Elizabethtown.
June 8, 1963, Aqueduct Racetrack hosted the 95th running of the Belmont Stakes. Darby Dan Farm’s Chateaugay, the Derby winner earned $101,700. R.C. Ellsworth’s entry placed 2nd and won $25,000, L.L. Haggin II earned $12,500 for 3rd, and C.V. Whitney won $6,250 for 4th. Mr. Widener and Mr. Jacobs finished out of the money.
June 8, 1966, Army PFC Roger L. Conner from Dunnville in Casey County, Army PFC George R. Pendygraft from Lebanon in Marion County, and Army PFC Avery G. Smith from Russell Springs, died in the Vietnam War.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Jackson native John Sturgill Simpson, born in 1978.
June 8, 1984, Columbia Pictures released Ghost Busters where Franklin native Annie Potts starred as the receptionist Janie Melnitz. She also played Mary Jo on Designing Women.
June 8, 1991, Keeneland graduate Hansel won the $1,695,800 Belmont Stakes over ten others in 2:28.10. Leading up to the TC run, Hansel won the Jim Beam Stakes GII and Lexington Stakes GII. In the Derby, he placed a disappointing 10th, finishing ten lengths behind the winner, Strike the Gold.
On June 8, 1992, one of Kentucky’s legends, Pauline Tabor Webster, died at 87. A generous madam who helped feed hungry families and gave her brothel employees one week off per month to spend with their families. In her 1971 book, ″Pauline’s,″ she had ″no regrets, no apologies, no complaints.”
June 8, 1996, Kentucky bred and Keeneland graduate Editor’s Note won the $765,800 Belmont Stakes in a highly competitive field of 14. D. Wayne Lukas, 78-year-old W.T. Young, Jr., and Rene Douglas won the 128th running over Skip Away and the filly My Flag, giving Lukas his 3rd straight victory in the Belmont and his 7th in the last eight Triple Crown races. Mr. Young won the 1996 Derby with Grindstone, who retired with a foot injury five days later.
On June 8, 2000, the Houston Rockets gave the city of Louisville a six-day deadline to commit to a new arena, or the franchise would negotiate with other cities.
On June 8, 2002, Kentucky bred Sarava upset ten others to win the $1,000,000 Belmont Stakes and paid a whopping $142.00, the largest payout in Belmont Stake’s history. Winning trainer Kenneth McPeek had trained the beaten Derby favorite, Harlan’s Holiday. A then record crowd of 103,222 watched the winning time of 2:29.71. The Belmont favorite, Baffert’s War Emblem, lost all chance of completing the Triple Crown after stumbling at the start.
June 8, 2013, Kentucky bred and Keeneland graduate Palace Malice won the $1,000,000 Belmont Stakes over 13 others in 2:30.70 and paid $29.60. For the 3rd consecutive year, no Triple Crown was on the line. Derby winner Orb placed 3rd and Preakness winner Oxbow placed 2nd.
On June 8, 2016, officials arrested five Covington teens, 15 to 17, of the Fine$$e Gang for the following: engaging in organized crime, three counts of first-degree robbery, two counts of first-degree burglary, five counts of third-degree burglary, three counts of theft of an automobile, trafficking in marijuana, trafficking in controlled substances, gun trafficking, receiving stolen property under $1,000, theft by unlawful taking over $1,000, thefts of firearms, assault, and disorderly conduct.
June 8, 2017, Scottsville native Norris “Norro” Denton Wilson passed away. The country music singer-songwriter, producer, is also a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
On June 8, 2019, Tracy Farmer’s Kentucky-bred and Keeneland-graduate, Sir Winston, won the Test of Champions in Elmont in 2:28.30, earning $800,000 of the $1.5 million purse. Born in a log cabin in Jackson County in 1939, the son of a coal miner, Mr. Farmer is one of Kentucky’s greatest success stories. Tracy has achieved many accomplishments in business, education, politics, and the horse industry. He owns Shadowlawn Farm near Midway.
June 8, 2020, after more than a week of protest against police brutality and racial injustice, Governor A. Beshear pledged that all black Kentuckians would receive health care.
On June 8, 2021, while local black leaders in Lexington and Louisville tried to convince their city governments to stop their militarized police forces from serving no-knock warrants, newly elected President J. Biden admitted he would not meet his goal of 70% of Americans at least getting partially vaccinated by July 4. Dr. Fauci stated, if we don’t meet the goal we’re going to continue to keep pushing.”
On June 8, 2022, Rand Paul introduced his “Six Penny Plan,” which he says will balance the federal budget within five years. “Five years ago, we could balance our budget with a freeze in spending without cutting anything. Since then, our debt has skyrocketed to $30 trillion with $2 trillion just from this past year,” the Kentucky Republican said. “We are now in a situation that a simple penny, two, three, or even a five pennies per-dollar reduction is insufficient to balance our budget. It requires six. We cannot keep ignoring this problem at the expense of taxpayers, and my budget will put our nation on track to solve this crisis that Congress created.”
On June 8, 2023, Jeff Yass, a Wall Street billionaire and crusader for charter schools, contributed $3 million to the Protect Freedom PAC. The PAC was one of two conservative super PACs behind a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign aimed at electing Steve Beshear’s challenger, Daniel Cameron. The other super PAC was called the School Freedom Fund. Since 2015, Yass has also been a generous supporter of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul.