Kentucky Trivia
When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Kentucky, because everything there happens 20 years after it happens anywhere else. Mark Twain
September 11, 1750, Christopher Gist, an agent for the Ohio River Company of Virginia , started from Old Town on the Potomac River and explored along the Ohio River to the “Great Falls” for choice lands. Kentucky in Retrospect 1792-1967 by Lila Jones Kington; pg: 3
September 11, 1777, Captain Joseph Bowman received help from a company of 37 men to help shell corn. While shelling, Native Americans fired upon them. Eli Garrard and Daniel Brahan died, and five others were seriously wounded. Historical Sketches of Kentucky: History of Kentucky, Volume 2 by Lewis Collins; pg: 615
September 11, 1844, the three-day horse racing meet ran over the Spring Hill Course near Crab Orchid.
September 11, 1883, a fire destroyed the car barns and mule sheds at 4th and Race Streets . Fifty-nine mules and two horses died, and 14 cars burned. In the spring of 1890, the mule-drawn car system went out of business after 7.5 years. The Squire’s Sketches of Lexington by J. Winston Coleman, Jr.; pg: 61.
September 11, 1885, Boone County lynched Sam Scales, a white male, for rape.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Bowling Green native William Huston Natcher , born in 1909. William served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1953 until his heart failure in 1994.
September 11, 1917, Central Kentucky set record lows, some of which still stand : 42° at Lexington and Frankfort, and 44° at Louisville.
September 11, 1920, Man o’ War faced one other in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (1 1/2M) and won under a tight restraint by 15 lengths. Although declared a hollow victory by The New York Times , Man o’ War still set an American record for of 2:28 4/5, breaking the existing mark by 4/5 seconds. This made his 19th race with two more to go.
September 11, 1938, William Goodell Frost, educator and President of Berea College , passed away. He coined the phrase “Appalachian American.”
September 11, 1940, Lexington set a new record low when the mercury dropped to 41° .
September 11, 1950, Army PFC Henry F. Edmonson from Estill County died in the Korean War.
September 11, 1952, a windswept fire drove 3,000 people from the Fairgrounds grandstand, causing between $70,000 and $80,000 . This State Fair fire prompted the Louisville Fire Department to make Churchill Downs install an automated sprinkler system in all their roof buildings.
On September 11, 1960, Frankfort released the 1st “resource package” to guide High School students in the mandatory inclusion of African American and other minority group’s history . The Office of Public Instruction provided the 128-page booklet.
September 11, 1970, the Apollo 11 Command-Space Ship went on display at the foot of the Capitol in a special van used to haul it around the country. Governor L. Nunn opened the exhibit with a ribbon cutting before the 1st Kentucky guest entered.
September 11, 1985, police recovered the body of Bourbon County native Drew Thornton from a Knoxville, TN front yard after he parachuted out of his plane. The 77 pounds of cocaine worth $1.4 million strapped to his back did him in. The auto-pilot crashed the plane in NC.
September 11, 1987, Louisville native Jay Buhner made his MLB debut for the New York Yankees.
On September 11, 1990, David Jones, Chairman, and Chief Executive officer of Humana Inc., hosted a $1,000-a-plate dinner for Martha Wilkerson’s campaign for governor . He mastered the art of manipulating politicians; ask Mitch. The fundraiser took place at the Kentucky Derby Museum.
Kentucky Trivia: Humana reported a net income of $738 million in the 2nd quarter of 2021. In 2020’s 2nd quarter, they made $1.7 billion because Americans deferred healthcare and skipped doctor visits during the pandemic. There is something not fundamentally right and or fair about that?
September 11, 2001, the following Kentuckians died in the 9/11 terrorist’s attacks: Edward Thomas Earhart , from Covington, the only military casualty served as Petty Officer 1st Class Earhart as an aerographer’s mate in the Navy.John Charles Jenkins , 45 from Erlanger, died on Flight 11, in the North Tower of the World Trade Center.Virginia Anne Ormiston , 42, from Kenworthy, died in the World Trade Centers.Brian Patrick Williams , 29, from Covington died in the World Trade Centers.
September 11, 2003, the Louisville Zoo’s gorilla home received a national award for “outstanding dedication to conservation issues and construction of exhibit space replicating natural habitats.” The American Zoo and Aquarium Association presented the award in Ohio.
On September 11, 2009, Amanda Ross died from a gunshot outside her townhouse in Lexington . That same day, police found Steve Nunn, 56, with his wrists slit in Hart County near his parents gravesites. They arrested him, took him to a Bowling Green hospital and charged him with six counts of wanton endangerment of a police officer. They reported Nunn had fired a .38-caliber handgun at the graveyard.
September 11, 2010, a Kentucky bred won the GIII $100,000 Turfway Park Fall Championship Stakes for three-year-olds and upward, in a close one.
September 11, 2011, Fort Knox native Steve Delabar made his MLB debut with the Seattle Mariners.
September 11, 2011, Kentuckians learned the Commonwealth would buy more than 4,241 acres in Crittenden County in one of the state’s largest land sales in the past two decades. The site would be added to 2,571 adjoining acres in Union County the state acquired from the same company in 2011 and dedicated last year as the Big Rivers Wildlife Management Area and State Forest . Nearly 7,000 acres, or about 11 square miles, will be protected, making it Kentucky’s 4th largest state-owned wildlife management area.
September 11, 2017, the Lexington Cemetery board voted to accept the Confederate Statues of John Hunt Morgan and John C. Breckinridge less than a month after Lexington’s city council voted to remove them from downtown.
September 11, 2019, Purdue Pharma, the maker of the opioid drug OxyContin , reached a billion-dollar deal which resolved thousands of lawsuits brought by municipal and state governments for fueling the opioid crisis. Meanwhile, The New York Times claimed Justify, winner of the 2018 Triple Crown, failed a drug test in California and should not have run in the Kentucky Derby.
On September 11, 2020, for the 3rd time in four weeks, more than 50 deaths occurred in a single week due to the coronavirus . The nine reported deaths on this day were individuals aged; 58, 62, 67, 76, 76, 78, 82, 82, and 85.
Positives : 948 / 55,704Deaths st death March 16, 202050&over : 1,016 / 49-30 : 27 / 29&under : 1
September 11, 2021, America marked the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
September 11, 2022, state regulators issued an advisory for people to consider limiting how much fish they eat from Kentucky lakes and rivers because of contamination by chemicals. The substances at issue repel grease, oil and water. They’ve been used in the U.S. for decades in a wide range of products, including firefighting foam, non-stick cookware, stain-resistant carpet, furniture, cosmetics, dental floss and fast-food wrappers.