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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

June 19, 1865, Union soldiers landed in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War had ended and then enforced the Emancipation Proclamation.

Thursday, June 19, 1867, the Belmont Stakes debuted at Jerome Park Racetrack in Fordham, NY.  In a four-horse field, the only filly, Ruthless, won the inaugural event by a head.  She covered the 1 5/8 miles race in 3.05.00 for Francis Morris.  She earned $1,850 and an English riding saddle.  Fillies Tanya (1905) and Rags to Riches (2007) also won the 4th oldest stakes race in North America, following Keeneland’s Phoenix Stakes (1831), the Queen’s Plate in Canada (1860), and Saratoga’s Travers (1864).  The Belmont Stakes originally ran clockwise until 1921.

Saturday, June 19, 1880, the Sheepshead Bay Race Track opened for its 1st day of racing.  President Leonard Jerome and William K. Vanderbilt built the racetrack in the New York City area after they created the Coney Island Jockey Club in 1879.  Sheepshead Bay was probably the most prominent of the Brooklyn tracks and originated the Futurity and the Suburban.  It also was unique in that it had the 1st turf course.  When turf racing ended at Sheepshead Bay, it virtually stopped in America until Hialeah built one in the 1930s.

Tuesday, June 19, 1894, Henry of Navarre defeated two others to win the 28th Belmont Stakes.  Willie Simms guided the winner home in 1:56 1/2 for the 1 1/8 miles.  Owner B. McClelland won $6,680.

June 19, 1902, Constable Doctor “Dock” Ferguson, Morgan County Constable’s Office, died from a gunshot near the East Fork of Paint Creek.

June 19, 1908, Patrolman Frank Duncan, Latonia Police Department, died from a gunshot while questioning a bartender at 741 Main Street.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Paducah (McCracken County) native, Robert Karnes, born in 1917.  Robert had roles in in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950), and From Here to Eternity (1953).

June 19, 1919, Louisville held the 1st International Optimist Convention.  Eleven independent Optimist Clubs across the U.S. met at the former Tyler Hotel.  That afternoon, the 69 delegates in attendance adopted a constitution, and Optimist International, known as “The Friend of Youth,” was officially born.

On June 19, 1922, Governor E. Morrow decided to spare the life of a man sentenced to death.  The brutal murder occurred one year earlier.  Meanwhile, Catlettsburg’s Clayhole Case continued with the question, “Who fired the first shot in the fight that killed four men, wounded 17, and a score of children left fatherless.

On June 19, 1936, 17 airplanes landed in the Lexington Airport on Newtown Pike in the last stop of a Good-Will Air Tour around the Commonwealth with the slogan “Make Kentucky Air-Minded.”  Over 100 locals greeted the planes and their pilots and hosted a dinner at the downtown Drake Hotel.  The squadron left Louisville’s Bowman Field four days earlier with stops in Danville and Middlesboro.

June 19, 1950, Sergeant Ezra Sutherland, Jefferson County Police Department, died when his patrol car struck a vehicle traveling the wrong direction.  They charged the driver with manslaughter and failure to stop and render aid.

June 19, 1951, Marine Corps PFC Forest D. Sykes from Elk Horn in Taylor County died in the Korean War.

On June 19, 1952, while President H.S. Truman declared taxes should be increased, the top contenders for his job, Senator Taft (aka Mr. Republican) and General D. Eisenhower told Americans taxes should be cut.  The President said if taxes could be reduced he would have done it.  Asked if he thought a Republican could actually reduce taxes he replied, “No, unless they wanted to put the country into the hole.”  Eisenhower won the 1953 election.

On June 19, 1960, the Senate killed Senator A. Gore’s proposed tax on manufacturers raw materials instead of finished products, which large corporations used not to pay their fair share.   The Treasury Department argued the current system overly favored industries by allowing deductions based on finished products, inflating tax breaks beyond the value of raw materials.  The senator who defeated Gore’s amendment and fought for corporate America, Lyndon B. Johnson, became V.P. in 1961 and president two years later.

Tax Trivia:  The Corporate Tax Rate in 1952 and 1960 was 52% on taxable income above $25,000 and 30% on income below $25,000.  For individuals in 1952 and 1960, it ranged from 20% to 92%, depending on income levels.  Today, corporate tax is at a 21% flat rate, as set by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, which lowered it from 35%.  Today, there are seven individual income tax rate brackets: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%.

June 19, 1965, Army SP5 Harold A. Atcher from Radcliff died in the Vietnam War.

June 19, 1967, Army PFC Bobby W. Price from Mt. Vernon died in the Vietnam War. 

June 19, 1969, Army 1SG Luther M. Chappel from Bedford in Trimble County, Army SP4 David B. Collins from Bardstown, Army SP4 Joseph R. McIlvoy from Willisburg in Washington County, and Army SP4 Ronald E. Simpson in Bardstown, died in the Vietnam War.

June 19, 1973, Dillinger debuted in Dallas staring Depoy native, Warren Mercer Oates.  Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave it 2.5 stars out of four and wrote that it “repeatedly copies the spirit, and a few scenes, of Bonnie and Clyde.  But it is distinguished by its acting.”  Depoy is a tiny community in Muhlenberg County.

On June 19, 1975, Dr. Armand Hammer declared in Lexington at the opening of the new national headquarters of Occidental’s subsidiary Island Creek Coal Company, “The only immediate answer to the energy problem is coal because we have enough coal here to take care of our needs for over 100 years.”  Over 500 people attended, including Governor J. Carroll.

June 19, 1982, click to see Mother Teresa shake the hands of a well-wisher upon her arrival in Jenkins.  She opened the 1st Appalachian mission established by her order; Missionaries of Charity.

June 19, 1986, Murray P. Haydon, a retired autoworker who became the third person to undergo a permanent artificial heart implant, died in Louisville.  He lived for one year, four months, and two days on the mechanical pump.  Haydon, who died nine days before his 60th birthday, was never well enough to leave the Humana grounds.

On June 19, 1990, J. John Harris III became UK’s 1st Black dean in its 157-year history, serving as the Dean of Education.

June 19, 1996, Fort Boonesborough became a National Historic Landmark.

Kentucky Trivia:  Up until 1820, Fort Boonesborough became a travel stop for westward-bound settlers and became involved as a transit point for the flourishing tobacco trade.  Around 1820 the settlement ceased to be of significant importance and was eventually abandoned.  The area did not undergo intensive archaeological investigation until the 1980s.  The modern-day re-constructed Fort opened in 1974.

On Tuesday, June 19, 2001, using a crane to balance himself out of a golf cart onto Papa John’s Stadium, Billy Graham, 82, apologized for showing his age.  He was confident he could preach all four nights, Thursday thru Sunday.  However, his son was on standby if needed.  He had been in the hospital almost all of 2001 and was released two weeks earlier for Parkinson’s disease-related surgeries.  The total attendance over these four nights was 191,500, with the final night drawing 57,500.  There were no tickets required, and seating was on a first-come, first-served basis.

Kentucky Trivia:  Billy Graham’s previous major crusade in Louisville was in 1956 as a young 37-year-old evangelist.  The four-week event at the Fairgrounds Coliseum and Stadium (later known as Freedom Hall and Cardinal Stadium) hosted 493,000 people across 26 services.  He also had a one-day crusade in 1964.  Billy died in 2018 at 99.

June 19, 2005, Governor E. Fletcher proclaimed June 19 of each year as “Juneteenth National Freedom Day.”  He encouraged all Kentuckians to honor and reflect on the significant contributions African-Americans made in America’s history.

On June 19, 2005, a 2.7 magnitude earthquake hit Blandville in Ballard County; another one had shaken the town two years earlier.

June 19, 2007, Army SGT 1st Class William A. Zapfe 35, of Muldraugh, died in Iraq, fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

June 19, 2008, Marine CAPT Eric D. Terhune, 34, of Lexington, died in Afghanistan fighting in Operation Enduring Freedom.

On June 19, 2012, for the second time in three years, UK increased basketball ticket prices.  The K Fund also asked for more money if you wanted to keep the good seats, except for the first four rows.  In 2010, the K Fund “donation” went from $1,350 to $5,000 to maintain seats in the first four rows.  Student tickets stayed the same.

On June 19, 2015, UK raised basketball tickets by 13%, and some single-game tickets jumped by $16.  It was the first increase since the 2012-13 season.  Lower-level seats went from $945 to $1,140, and upper-level seats went from $845 to $950.  Even with the increase, they were still cheaper than Duke, Kansas, and UCLA.  K Fund donations saw no growth, and student tickets stayed the same.

June 19, 2019, Kentuckian Kelly Craft told lawmakers at her U.N. Ambassador confirmation hearing she would “be an advocate for all countries to do their part in addressing climate change.”  Earlier in the month, President Trump said climate change “goes both ways” and blamed other nations for worsening air and water quality.  In 2017, he pulled the U.S. out of the landmark Paris climate agreement, saying the deal was disadvantageous to U.S. workers.

June 19, 2020, Governor A. Beshear urged Kentuckians to cut social contacts, as much as possible, with family, friends, and the public to help stop the coronavirus.

On June 19, 2020, Lexington’s Mayor Gorton proclaimed, “People are demanding more accountability and transparency in the way police are disciplined, and we have heard them.”  This was in response to a new police “board” that would examine past officers disciplinary actions and make policy.  Some 2.8 years later, a journalist asked the Mayor about the Board’s status; it never materialized.

On June 19, 2021, Kentucky nursing homes reported a 44% vaccination rate for employees.  That was one of the ten lowest rates in the country for such facilities and was significantly less than the 58% vaccination rate for Kentucky adults at the time.

On Father’s Day, Sunday, June 19, 2022, Louisville Police searched for an individual who punched Mayor Fischer in the face on Saturday.  They arrested him on Tuesday and released him on July 5, 2023.  In 2024, Jefferson District Court Judge Lisa Langford ruled the offender was not competent to stand trial for 4th-degree assault.  Fischer called the attack an unfortunate sign of the times and recent trends.

On Monday, June 19, 2023, Thomas Massie continued to hold his ground regardless of party lines or bullies.

June 19, 2023, journalists released emails showing CDC Director R. Walensky, former NIH Director F. Collins and Dr. Fauci knew of and discussed “breakthrough cases” of COVID-19 in January 2021 — when the vaccines became widely available.  All three corporate tools constantly claimed the vaccine would stop people from spreading the virus.

For the first time in Kentucky’s history, Juneteenth was celebrated as an Executive Branch holiday on June 19, 2024.  It became a national holiday in 2021.