Kentucky Trivia
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.
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.
August 25, 2002, Louisville won the Little League World Championship over Sendai, Japan 1-0 in South Williamsport, PA., to claim Kentucky’s 1st championship. Aaron Alvey, a 12-year-old, set two pitching records to secure the win.
August 25, 2007, the Belmont Stakes winner, Essential Quality dueled down the stretch with Midnight Bourbon for the $1.25 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga. The 152nd edition gave the winner his 8th victory in nine career starts.
August 25, 2011, Army SPC Brandon S. Mullins 21, of Owensboro, died in Afghanistan, fighting in Operation Enduring Freedom.
August 25, 2012, a neck separated the top two finishers in the GI $1,000,000 Travers Stakes, both were Kentucky breds.
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.
Positives: 688 / 44,568
Deaths: 10 / 895 – 1st death March 16, 2020
50&over: 868 / 49-30: 26 / 29&under: 1.
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, dispensing it to his party, and letting his donors write legislation; like his cohort Nancy P. did in the House. Student debt would cost $300-$600 billion. The COVID-19 “Relief Program,” which the two below rushed through, cost $4.7 trillion for two years.
