On August 25, 1828, Robert Trimble’s term on the U.S. Supreme Court ended abruptly when he passed away at 55. In 1826, President John Quincy Adams elevated Trimble to the highest Court. He rests in the Paris Cemetery with a Kentucky county named after him.
August 25, 1835, Henderson native Ann Rutledge, Abe Lincoln’s 1st love, died in Illinois.
August 25, 1855, the 1st train to operate over the Louisville & Nashville Rail occurred when some 300 people traveled eight miles from Louisville at 15 mph. Four years later, the 1st train ran from Louisville to Nashville.
August 25, 1865, Hardin County native George H. Yeaman held his 1st day as U.S. Ambassador to Denmark out of a five-year term.
August 25, 1920, Deputy Sheriff Carlo Britton Marion, Clay County Sheriff’s Office, succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained five days earlier when shot at the Horse Creek Mining Camp while arresting a man and woman for bootlegging.
August 25, 1925, in a story that made national headlines, the Hopkins County attorney arrested a Dry Agent for the murder of an alleged bootlegger near Daniel Boone seven days earlier. A 17-year-old girl alleged the agent shot him in cold blood while running away.
August 25, 1927, Patrolman Walter Vance, Louisville Police Department, died from a gunshot wound after he and his partner attempted to question a suspect in a small restaurant.
August 25, 1929, Patrolman Robert Emmett McGalin, Louisville Police Department, died from a gunshot by a man who had flagged him down for help.
On August 25, 1933, 19-year-old Tidy Agee, Club Champion, Handicap Champion, and Caddy master of the Richmond Country Club, died minutes after being shot in the clubhouse. A 15-year-old fellow caddy shot him, who had just returned from suspension. The two were moving chairs in preparation for a dance. The shooter repeated the same offense that got him suspended, “improper language around the clubhouse.” Tidy got shot after telling the caddy to leave for cursing.
On August 25, 1934, the President of Falls City Brewing Company called foul. Frankfort gave the Kentucky Brewing Company, in which Elam Huddleston State Treasurer held a stock interest, an exclusive concession to sell draft beer at the 1934 State Fair. They received the deal before any other breweries had a chance to bid. The state declared the contract was on the up and up. Two-thirds of beer sales were draft; one-third came from bottles.
August 25, 1935, Constable William Harvey Brewer, Owsley County Constable’s Office, ended his watch.
August 25, 1945, Natlee, in Owen County, native Vice Admiral Willis A. “Mose” Lee Jr. died. Kentucky’s most decorated Olympic medalist won seven medals (five gold, one silver, and one bronze) for marksmanship at the 1920 Olympics.
August 25, 1950, around 500 visitors braved heavy rains to watch Governor E. Clements dedicate the $1,000,000 tuberculosis hospital in Glasgow. Clements also axed the state’s $5,000 a year salary limit so the hospital would attract quality professionals.
August 25, 1958, Henderson County native Lucy Furman died. Lucy received critical acclaim for writing about rural Kentucky. While teaching at Hindman Settlement School, she published several stories including “Hard-Hearted Barbary Allen” (1912). Her most recognizable works came after teaching: “The Glass Widow” (1924) and “The Lonesome Road” (1927). For her toil as a southern female writer, Lucy earned the George Fort Milton Award in 1932.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Flatwoods native Billy Ray Cyrus, born in 1961.
August 25, 1966, Army PFC Frederick B. Skaggs from Clearfield in Rowan County died in the Vietnam War.
August 25, 1967, a judge dismissed assault and battery charges against the assistant principal of a Louisville Junior High School, for spanking a student with a wooden paddle.
August 25, 1968, Army CPL Roger E. Bishop from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Fort Thomas native Doug Pelfrey, born in 1970.
On August 25, 1978, the F.B.I. arrested a man for an unsuccessful attempt to tap Terry McBrayer’s phone, who was considering running for governor. The man tried to bribe a telephone company employee, but the deal backfired. Later that night, 15-year-old Donny Osmond sang at the Kentucky State Fair.
August 25, 1981, the New Orleans Saints cut Louisville native Joe Federspiel, a 10-year veteran.
August 25, 1982, the view of downtown Versailles, looking down Lexington Street toward the courthouse.
August 25, 1983, the Louisville Redbirds became the 1st minor league baseball team to draw more than a million fans in a season.
August 25, 1995, former Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Dan Jack Combs stated he smoked marijuana regularly to relieve insomnia brought on by a mental disorder and started only after retirement.
August 25, 2000, William Gregory became the 1st Kentucky inmate to be freed by DNA evidence after a test showed he did not rape a 70-year-old woman.
August 25, 2001, Horse of the Year Point Given became the 1st thoroughbred to win four consecutive $1 million races when he won the Preakness, Belmont, Haskell, and Travers in succession that year. The $2.00 exacta paid $12.20.
August 25, 2002, Louisville won the Little League World Championship over Sendai, Japan 1-0 in South Williamsport, PA., to claim Kentucky’s 1st title. Aaron Alvey, a 12-year-old, set two pitching records to secure the win.
On August 25, 2007, Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense went off as the 2-5 favorite in the seven-horse field for the $1 million GI Travers Stakes. The Kentucky bred won in a slow 2.02:69. The exacta paid $13.00. A crowd of just 38,909 was on hand, under sunny skies with temperatures in the mid 90’s.
August 25, 2011, Army SPC Brandon S. Mullins 21, of Owensboro, died in Afghanistan, fighting in Operation Enduring Freedom.
On August 25, 2012, two Kentucky breds finished in a dead heat in the $1 million GI Traver’s Stakes. Following the race, Saratoga placed two canoes in the infield pond to commemorate the winners. It was the first official tie in the race’s history. The $2.00 exacta paid $230 and $235. In 1874, Attila and Acrobat dead heated but were “forced to run off to break the tie.”
August 25, 2013, the Arboretum, the state’s official botanical garden on UK’s campus, kicked off a $1.2 million campaign to expand the visitor center and endow educational programs. Longtime donor Dorotha Smith Oatts pledged $350,000.
August 25, 2018, seven of the eleven entries in Saratoga’s GI $1,200,000 Travers Stakes, graduated from Keeneland. The Keeneland grad $1 exacta paid $145.25. The Kentucky bred paid $16.20 to win.
August 25, 2019, experts warned Frankfort lawmakers to reduce jail overcrowding before a federal judge ordered mass releases.
August 25, 2020, Governor A. Beshear signed an executive order that released 646 more inmates over coronavirus concerns. The governor already commuted the sentences of 1,200 inmates since the virus started.
On August 25, 2021, Kentucky colleges started to require students to wear masks and get the vaccine as the Delta variant spread. Governor A. Beshear, “This is the most dangerous time we’ve seen in this pandemic. We’ve got to get more people vaccinated, and we need people to wear masks when outside the home and indoors.” Berea, Centre, Bellarmine, and Transylvania required healthy young people to take the experimental vaccine.
On August 25, 2022, Mitch called the student debt relief a “Socialist Program” and a slap in the face to working families. He should know he spent a career slapping his constituents’ faces by collecting corporate money and letting his donors write legislation; just like his cohort Nancy P. did in the House. Student debt would cost $300-$600 billion. The six COVID-19 “Relief Programs,” all passed within one year and six days, which the two below rushed through, cost just under $6 trillion.
August 25, 2023, UK President Eli Capilouto extended Mitch Barnhart’s contract through June of 2028. Barnhart, who has served as UK’s athletics director since 2002, had led the university’s athletics program to six national championships, 54 conference regular-season and tournament titles, more than $400 million in facilities and 22 consecutive semesters with a department-wide grade point average of 3.0 or higher. He will be paid $1.275 million in 2023-24, $1.35M in 2024-25 and $1.425M in 2025-26, $1.55M in 2026-27, and $1.7M in 2027-28.