Monday, July 30, 1883, the U. S. Post Office closed to show their respects for Franklin County native Montgomery Blair, the 20th U.S. Postmaster General from 1861-64. Blair instituted a uniform rate of postage, free delivery in cities, and money orders to replace mailing money, which drasticlly lowered post office robberies.
July 30, 1887, Town Marshal George Thomas, Pineville Police Department, died from a gunshot while riding with a posse attempting chasing a group of men who shot up a home as part of a long-standing feud.
On July 30, 1910, Axiom Cooper became another victim in the Black Patch Tobacco War when Night Riders shot him at a barbecue in Hopkinsville. Cooper suffered several gunshot wounds in “his chest, back, wrist, and groin” and died the next day.
On Sunday night, July 30, 1922, a skirmish broke out between striking coal miners and the National Guard in Bell County at the Yellow Creek Coal Company’s mine. After strikers fired 100 shots from afar, they moved closer to throw rocks and shoot firearms. By the next day, the Guard had maintained a machine gun position in the hills near Bosworth. With Browning automatic rifles, they followed some strikers in the woods, establishing positions along the way.
July 30, 1924, approximately 25 boys equipped with bed rolls, duffle bags, tennis racquets, ball gloves, and other requisites of a successful camping trip passed through Lexington on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in a special coach from Camp Daniel Boone on the Kentucky River to camp Mammoth Cave under the supervision of the Y.M.C.A.
July 30, 1931, County Patrolman Jesse Loyd Morris, Crittenden County Police Department, died from a gunshot while investigating the theft of a water barrel from the K-K Mining Company Camp near Marion.
July 30, 1944, Deputy Constable Silas Johnson, Floyd County Constable’s Office, died from a gunshot while serving a warrant on a man in Wheelwright.
On July 30, 1945, a Japanese submarine sank a U.S. ship on which Mt. Sterling native Walter Johnson served. In September, Seaman Johnson “officially” died in action. Johnson, an outstanding athlete at Mt. Sterling High School, played guard on the UK’s basketball team when he had to enlist in the Navy.
July 30, 1950, Army PVT Will H. Hester from Calloway County died in the Korean War.
July 30, 1953, Ms. Doris Crawford filed a $10,150 lawsuit against the Allen Athletic Club Corporation of Louisville for getting knocked in the head by a chair thrown by a spectator at a professional wrestling match.
On July 30, 1954, Miss Universe landed at the Blue Grass Field for 15 minutes for a layover between Hollywood, CA, and South Carolina, her home. Mariam Stevenson, 21, sat on the luggage cart as newsmen asked questions. She admitted she was “pretty sick” from airsickness but won the audience over with her southern wit.
On July 30, 1955, scientists predicted the U.S. would send a man-made satellite whirling around the globe within three years. They felt it would lead to other conquests in outer space. Meanwhile, three more children contracted polio in Central Kentucky. The U.S. sent the 1st satellite in January 1958. The polio vaccine started in April 1955.
July 30, 1961, International Business Machines (IBM) unveiled a revolutionary electric typewriter at the Lexington headquarters that functioned without a type bar or moveable carriage. Instead, the new machine operated with a single sphere-shaped element with numbers, letters, and symbols.
July 30, 1963, 500 persons showed up to protest the proposed 151-acre site of the new Louisville Zoo at the intersections of the Waterson, Trevillan, Newburg, and Popular Level.
July 30, 1965, according to Col. George Chinn, director of the State Historical Society, “The spelling of Boonesborough is pretty much dealer’s choice. Variations include “Boonesborough,” “Boonsboro,” or “Boonsborough,” which Daniel preferred. The park itself settled on “Boonesborough.”
July 30, 1970, Army SFC Clyde J. Ball from Stearns in McCreary County died in the Vietnam War.
July 30, 1972, the 1st Bluegrass-Country Music Festival in Burkesville occurred; today it is called the Cumberland River Bluegrass Festival.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Owensboro native Nicholas Patrick Hayden, born in 1981. Nicknamed “The Kentucky Kid”, Nicky won the MotoGP World Championship in 2006.
July 30, 1985, Randy Savage introduced Frankfort native Miss Elizabeth as his manager. In Poughkeepsie, NY, several managers sat ringside in hopes that Savage would name one of them as his new manager. After the match, he thanked the managers for their consideration and then asked that his new manager come to ringside. An attractive, unnamed woman came down to the ring, and announcer Bobby Heenan remarked, “She must be some sort of movie star,” referring to her glamorous sex appeal. Elizabeth’s WWF debut aired on the August 24, 1985 edition of WWF Prime Time Wrestling.
July 30, 1992, Ashland Oil, Inc. offered early retirement to 303 Kentucky employees, the first such offer in the company’s history. Ashland reported a 52.6% decline in profit in the 3rd quarter.
On July 30, 1997, Shelbyville unveiled a bronze statue of a high-stepping bright-eyed saddle-bred outside the Shelby County Fair Grounds entrance for the Shelbyville Horse Show. Gwen Reardon, a Lexington sculptor, spent more than a year creating the life-size replica of Santana Lass, a 12-time World Champion, carrying her owner Mary Gaylord. Gwen also sculpted the horses in Lexington’s Thoroughbred Park downtown.
July 30, 2000, a Keeneland graduate trifecta won Saratoga’s GI $250,000 Go Wand Stakes for three-years-old and up.
On July 30, 2002, locals read The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservations “Eleven in the 11th Hour” list, the most endangered historic properties in Central Kentucky.
Bourbon County: Tollie Young House
Lincoln County: Owsley-Walker House
Mercer County: The Hat Factory
Boyle County: Waveland or Willis Green House
Scott County: Stephen F. Gano House-Buffalo Springs Distillery-The Jefferson-Craig House
Fayette County: 162 Old Georgetown St.- 109 N. Limestone-The Black Buildings of Lexington-Caden Town Lodge.
July 30, 2007, Governor E. Fletcher’s special session ended without much accomplished.
July 30, 2009, in a rollout of test events for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, the Kentucky Cup, held at the Kentucky Horse Park, showcased a new event called “Vaulting.”
On July 30, 2013, the who’s who of Democrats gathered in downtown Lexington to help Alison Lundergan Grimes kick off her senatorial campaign. They roasted the sitting senator well. Governor S. Beshear, Paul Patton, Martha Layne Collins, and J. Carroll were all present. President B. Clinton chimed in on the big screen.
On July 30, 2017, a Texan gifted Centre College $250 million, via Universal Computer Systems Holding Inc. stock, the largest ever to a liberal arts college in the U.S. Six weeks and six days later, the businessman rescinded.
July 30, 2016, a field of six Keeneland graduates went to post for Saratoga’s GII $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes for three-year-olds and upward.
July 30, 2017, Louisville native Kyle McGrath made his MLB debut with the San Diego Padres.
July 30, 2019, Blackjewels miners sat on the CSX tracks in Sand Hill Bottom in Harlan County. Chris Rowe, one of the miners, “If you’re not going to give me my money, I’m gonna do what I can to make sure they don’t get theirs.”
On July 30, 2020, Governor A. Beshear announced 659 new coronavirus cases for a 29,387 total, indicating “that the pandemic might be leveling off due to facial coverings.” The governor then reported seven people, ages 63-92, passed with the virus for a 731 total. At the time, 97% of Kentucky deaths were individuals over 50.
July 30, 2021, legacy media ramped up the scare tactics for the new Delta variant claiming it was more infectious than the common cold, flu, smallpox, Ebola, and chickenpox. They confirmed that “breakthrough infections” do occur after vaccinations and boosters. The “war had changed” again and the government wanted all citizens to wear masks again.
July 30, 2022, as Eastern Kentuckians continued to clean up after historic floods, Alex Jones’s company Free Speech Systems, filed for bankruptcy midway through a two-week trial to determine how much in damages the loud man would pay the parents of the Sandy Hook shooting victims.