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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia

July 30, 1870, Officer William M. Landers, Kentucky Central Railroad Police Department, died from stab wounds in Lexington while he and several city officers attempted to quell a disturbance on Main Street.  A group of citizens had become angry over an upcoming election and caused trouble.

July 30, 1870, buoyed by the success of racing in New York, New Jersey businessmen built Monmouth Park near Long Branch.  Over the next two decades, Monmouth Park had the highest attendance and purses of any track in the country.  So successful, they built another Monmouth Park several miles away in 1890 with the largest all-iron grandstand ever built.

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 the sale of money orders to reduce the mailing of currency, reducing post office robberies.

July 30, 1887, Town Marshal George Thomas, Pineville Police Department, died from a gunshot while riding with a posse attempting to arrest a group of men who shot up a home as part of a long=standing feud.

On July 30, 1910, another murder in Black Patch Tobacco War occurred when Axiom Cooper got shot by the Night Riders at a barbecue in Hopkinsville.  Cooper suffered several gunshot wounds in “his chest, back, wrist, and groin” and died the next day.

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 attempting to serve 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 31, 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 three 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, it was a Keeneland graduate trifecta when five mares go to post in the Saratoga’s GI $250,000 Go Wand Stakes for three-years-old and up.

July 30, 2007, Governor 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.”

July 30, 2016, a field of six Keeneland graduates go 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 due to the virus for a 731 total.  At the time , 97% of Kentucky deaths were individuals over 50.  

July 30, 2021, the corporate news outlets ramped up the scare tactics for the new Delta variant and stated 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” and the government wanted all citizens to wear masks again.

July 30, 2022, 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 victim.