Skip to content

TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Nicholas County native Thomas Harris Barlow, born in 1789.  Thomas invented a steam-powered mechanism to separate hemp’s fiber from the stalk.  Although it worked well, it was too expensive for general use.  However, the public did use his orrery, or model of the solar system, his best seller.  Remarkably accurate, it showed the location of the planets on any given day in the 19th century.

On August 5, 1805, Charles Burks petitioned the Washington County Court for permission to dam Hardin Creek so that he could build and operate a water grist mill.  They agreed and by the year’s end, both were operational.  Milling has continued ever since, having been interrupted only by prohibition.  There is no definitive evidence of when the Burks family began making whiskey on their Hardin Creek farm, however, distilling operations started a short time after the grist mill began.  Today, their product is known as Maker’s Mark. 

August 5, 1807, Joel Elkins shot John Amis dead, in the Clay County courthouse, as he testified from the witness chair on the 1st day of the Cattle War trial.  The Cattle War began in 1806 between residents of the Kentucky River’s South, Middle, and North Forks.  Clay County came into existence in 1807 to help keep various Clay County factions in check.  The disputes, however, lasted for a century to come.

Kentucky Trivia:  The Kentucky River takes formation at Beattyville (Lee County), where the North and South Forks meet.  The Middle Fork enters the North Fork close by.  Kentucky created Clay County in 1807 and Lee County in 1870.

On August 5, 1818, Drs. Benjamin W. Dudley and William H. Richardson, both Transylvania University’s Medical College faculty members, fought a duel.  The first documented duel at a location on the Fayette—Scott County line is now part of the Kentucky Horse Park.  The area became a favored dueling ground as it befuddled local authorities about who might be in which county.  This is the only documented Kentucky duel between physicians.

August 5, 1861, the Unionists won another decisive political battle in the Kentucky elections.

At the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864, Breathitt County native Daniel Noble rescued survivors of the USS Tecumseh, which a torpedo had sunk.  A few brave men set out on a small boat from the Metacomet to pull the sailors from an intense fire.  For this action, Noble received the Medal of Honor.

August 5, 1867, Kentuckians voted for gubernatorial candidates John L. Helm (Democrat), Sidney Barnes (Radical Union), and William Kinkead (Union Congressional Radical).  Governor Helm won and took the oath of office in his bedroom, too ill to be moved.  Five days later, on September 8, Helm passed away, making John W. Stevenson the 25th governor. 

Kentucky Trivia:  John LaRue Helm, born in Helm Station near Elizabethtown, served two terms as Kentucky governor lasting a total of 57 weeks.  He was the only governor that succeeded into the office and had to be succeeded when he died in office.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Wickland native John Crepps Wickliffe Beckham, born in 1869 in Nelson County, Kentucky’s 35th governor.  He also served as the state’s 1st popularly elected U.S. Senator after the 17th Amendment passed in 1912.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Henry County native Wendell Berry, born in 1934.  The 1st living writer to be ushered into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame bases his life on the notion that one’s work should be rooted in and responsive to one’s place.

“Do unto those downstream as you would have those upstream do unto you.”  Wendell Berry

August 5, 1938, Kentucky’s 39th governor for five months in 1919, James D. Black, died.  He ascended to the office after Governor Augustus O. Stanley took the open U.S. Senate seat.  The chief prohibition inspector for Kentucky in 1920 rests in Barbourville.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Louisville native Larry Elmore, born in 1948.  A fantasy artist, Larry creates illustrations for video games, comics, magazines, and fantasy books.  His resume of drawings includes; Dungeons & Dragons, Dragonlance, and his comic strip series SnarfQuest.

On election Day, August 5, 1950, only 23,822 registered Louisville voters, 14%, cast a ballot in the primary, one of the lightest turnouts in memory.

August 5, 1965, Alberta Odell Jones, the 1st African-American woman to pass the Kentucky bar and the 1st woman appointed city attorney in Jefferson County, died by an unknown assailant in Louisville, possibly due to her passion for civil rights.

August 5, 1966, Columbia native Steve Hamilton pitched a Yankee shutout against the Cleveland Indians.  He gave up five hits, walked one, and struck out three.  He only started three times in the 1966 season.

August 5, 1976, Dr. Fager passed away from colic.  Many consider his four-year-old season one of the greatest single racing seasons by any horse in the history of the sport.  In 1968, at the age of four, he became the only horse to ever to hold four American titles in one year; Horse of the Year, champion handicap horse, champion sprinter, and co-champion grass horse.  In his most famous performance, Dr. Fager set a world record for a mile in the Washington Park Handicap while carrying 134 pounds.

August 5, 1980, Madisonville native Phil Conyers caught a state record Bluegill weighing 4 lbs., 3 oz.  He caught the sunfish in a strip mine lake in Hopkins County.

On August 5, 1981, President R. Reagan fired 11,345 striking air traffic controllers and barred them from ever working again for the federal government.  By October of that year, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), the union that had called the strike, ended.  The government initiated the 1st massive battle in a war that corporate America has fought on this country’s middle class ever since.  Warren Buffett said, “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”     

Saturday, August 5, 1995, political supporters showed their preferences at the 115th Fancy Farm Picnic in Fancy Farm, Kentucky, in Graves County.  Lt. Governor P. Patton took advantage of Louie B. Nunn’s split from Larry Forgy.

August 5, 2005, Sergeant 1st Class Robert V. Derenda, 42, of Ledbetter, died in Iraq fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Saturday, August 5, 2006, Governor E. Fletcher stayed far away from the Fancy Farm political speeches due to his ongoing hiring scandals.  However, Trey Grayson wanted his job and showed up to let everyone know.

Saturday, August 5, 2017, Sandy Gregory won at Bingo during the Fancy Farm picnic.  Ms. Lillian Hayden played the National Anthem, and Ms. Hadley Beth Hayden sang My Old Kentucky Home before the speakers.  The stumpers included Mitch McConnell and his wife, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, AG A. Beshear, House Minority Leader Rocky Adkin, and others.  No third party candidate spoke.

August 5, 2017, a Kentucky bred and Lane’s End sire won the GI $1,200,000 Whitney Stakes for three-year-olds in 1:47.71, run at the classic distance. Lawyer Ron set the track record at 146:64 in 2007.

August 5, 2018, Louisville native Justin Thomas won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational by four strokes for his 9th PGA tour victory.

August 5, 2019, William N. McCaslin grew the heaviest cantaloupe melon, 67 lbs and 1.8 oz, when measured at the U.S. Post Office in Hawesville (Hancock County).  The Great Pumpkin Commonwealth (GPC) verified the weight of the North Carolina Giant variety.

August 5, 2020, with 546 new cases, the governor said it might be good news as the numbers seem to plateau.  Officials reported one death of a 71-year-old woman for 752 deaths state-wide.  However, Lexington had the 2nd largest one-day total of 105 new cases since the pandemic started.  The Lexington jail confirmed its third case.

August 5, 2021, Governor A. Beshear announced 11 Kentucky health care companies took the following pledge: “The health care facilities below were committed to the health and safety of our patients and employees.  In support of this commitment, we will all require our health care workforce to initiate a complete COVID-19 vaccination series no later than Sept. 15, 2021.”

On August 5, 2021, Alphard S. Owsley, a sailor killed in Pearl Harbor, laid beside his family in Paris.  The 23-year-old Navy Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Kentucky Sailor, passed away on the Battleship USS Oklahoma.  His sister Mary Ida, played a crucial role in identifying him during a DNA test.

August 5, 2021, Deputy Sheriff Brandon Alexander Shirley, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, died in an ambush while working a secondary employment assignment in Shively.

As of August 5, 2022, the top ten cars stolen in Kentucky in the past year!
2006 – Ford Pickup full size
2002 – Chevrolet Pickup full size
2007 – Camry
2020 – Chevy Malibu
2017 – Ford Fusion
2009 – Honda Accord
2001 – Dodge Pickup full size
2016 – Nissan Altima
2008 – Chevy Impala
2006 – Corolla

Saturday, August 5, 2023, at the 143rd picnic, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who said it was his 28th appearance, obliquely addressed concerns about his health at a GOP breakfast by vowing he would make more trips to Fancy Farm.  He then gave a speech at the main event in which he good-humoredly recounted his 1996 defeat of Governor A. Beshear’s father, Steve Beshear, in a U.S. Senate race.  Steve went on to become a two-term governor.

August 5, 2023, Madison Whipple posted her article, “Blue Fugates: The True Story of Kentucky’s Blue People.”  The Fugates settled in the remote valleys of Knott County near Troublesome and Ball Creeks.  The family baffled science for decades until scientists discovered a rare mutation that caused the change in color.