Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Union County native Ormsby MacKnight , born in 1810. An astronomer and Union soldier; he published the 1st magazine in the U.S. dedicated to astronomy. He also ordered the Civil War raid known as the Great Locomotive Chase.
August 28, 1891, Scott County lynched Frank Dudley , a black male, for murder.
August 28, 1922, Sheriff William Sherman Mathis, Muhlenberg County Sheriff’s Department , succumbed to wounds sustained the previous day as he and his two deputies served a warrant at the wrong house.
August 28, 1925, Ray Ross, 25, hung from a scaffold in the jail yard on East Short Street in Lexington for an alleged attack and rape of a 9-year-old female. The Fayette Circuit Court Judge ordered the hanging to occur in an enclosure and limited admittance to 100 persons. However, the local press said a huge crowd gathered and cheered loudly while watching the execution. The Squire’s Sketches of Lexington by J. Winston Coleman, Jr.; pg: 83
August 28, 1928, Constable Rucker D. Cain, Madison County Constable’s Office , died in the Needmore area while arresting a man for public intoxication. The man raised a shotgun and shot him in the chest.
August 28, 1931, while the Eastern Kentucky State Teachers’ College conferred 45 standard teaching certificates, Western State Teachers’ College awarded 41.
On August 28, 1943, Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky governors signed a compact approving the creation of the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. The pact authorized the acquisition of 6,000 acres to start the project. Kentucky would provide 2,500 acres, Virginia 2,000 acres, and the Volunteers 1,500.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Louisville native Vonda Neel McIntyre , born in 1948. Vonda wrote science fiction including Enterprise: The First Adventure and The Entropy Effect .
August 28, 1950, the question of televising the 1952 presidential nominating convention as a public service or under commercial sponsorship came under discussion by committee officials. Of course, we all know how that turned out.
August 28, 1955, the largest Rural Electrification Administration (REA) steam plant in the nation went live in Ford at the William C. Dale Power Station. The plant distributed electric power over both co-op and Kentucky Utilities lines, making it the 1st time U.S. co-ops and private companies worked together.
Few contemporary Kentuckians can fathom building a home or business in a town starting from scratch with nothing more than a tract of land. For residents of Eddyville in Lyon County in Western Kentucky , August 28, 1959, was “Dedication and Free Deed Day” at their new town site; the old site would flood when they finished the new dam on the lower Cumberland River. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plans for Barkley Dam required the relocation of the towns of Eddyville and Kuttawa.
On August 28, 1963, Louisville native Mary Travers of Peter, Paul, and Mary, performed Blowin’ in the Wind at the Lincoln Memorial . At the same event, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech to a crowd of 250,000 civil rights marchers. The trio also joined Joan Baez and Bob Dylan to lead the demonstrators singing We Shall Overcome .
August 28, 1966, Marine Corps CPL William R. Taylor from Bardstown died in the Vietnam War.
August 28, 1967, Army PFC Theodore Brown from LeJunior in Harlan County , Marine Corps LCPL Michael J. Caller from Louisville , and Marine Corps LCPL William J. Hart, Jr. from Louisville , died in the Vietnam War.
August 28, 1968, Army PFC Jimmy L. Harris from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.
August 28, 1971, the Louisville school system announced that there would be a black umpire or referee at all high school football games played between region 11 teams.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Middlesboro native Matthew Harper Jones , born in 1978. Matt founded Kentucky Sports Radio and other Kentucky related ventures.
August 28, 1980, Governor John Y. Brown, Jr., went on KET and appealed to Kentuckians for 30 minutes, asking them to recognize the financial crisis that caused a $114 million shortfall in the state’s revenue. In addition, he wanted to prep the state for the many cuts he would later initiate.
August 28, 1984, a judge dropped all felony theft by deception charges against State Treasurer Francis Jones Mills and seven of her employees. However, the judge left 44 misdemeanor charges for using employees to run her campaign. Meanwhile, Governor M. L. Collins ordered the state to draft a management plan for Kentucky’s water, something they did not have.
On August 28, 1990, America’s Drug Czar William Bennett visited the Daniel Boone National Forest with Governor W. Wilkinson and 13 reps from state and federal agencies that made up the governor’s Marijuana Task Force . In their 1st two months, the task force seized 300,000 plants with a street value of $2.8 billion. The party watched 12,000 burn.
August 28, 1999, Bruce W. Midkiff from Owensboro caught a world record 104 pound Blue Catfish in the Ohio River near Cannelton Dam Tailwaters . Bruce’s catch beat the previous state record set the same day below the same dam. Bruce caught his on a live skipjack. When he took the fish to the Game Warden in McLean County to get it officially weighed, they told him to put on hats and shirts from tackle manufactures, and they would pay him for the advertising rights and might display the fish in tanks at different stores. He declined all offers and released the fish at the Owensboro boat ramp.
August 28, 2001, the Bluegrass Stockyards held their 1st on-line auction with bidders in seven different states.
August 28, 2004, the Queen of Saratoga won the 135th Travers Stakes . “It’s like a dream come true. I always wanted to see my colors on that canoe out there. It was so wonderful to see my colors at the Belmont on the jockey, but now, the canoe. I am so thrilled with the way Nick (Zito) brought this horse up.”
August 28, 2006, Kentucky was still reeling from Flight 5191’s crash which occurred two mornings earlier . Flags flew at half-staff, and a farmworker came forward with an eyewitness account.
August 28, 2010, the GI $1,000,000 Travers Stakes needed a photo to see which Keeneland graduate won.
August 28, 2012, Chief of Police Herbert D. Proffitt, Tompkinsville Police Department , died from a gunshot when ambushed in his driveway by a man he had arrested multiple times over the past 40 years. The 81-year-old suspect fled the scene but got caught several hours later.
August 28, 2019, Lexington’s four major public high schools hired security staff and bought more metal detectors , next they planned to do the same in the city’s middle schools.
On August 28, 2020, Governor A. Beshear said the rate of people testing positive remains below 5%, which is “good news” in a written statement . Meanwhile, the number of new cases in Kentucky’s colleges continued to climb. The state reported eight new deaths.
August 18-28, 2022, the 118th Kentucky State Fair celebrated a successful year with approximately 525,000 fairgoers from all 120 counties represented. Nearly two thousand horses competed in over 250 classes for Grand Champion titles and $1.3 million. “Epoque Kiss NKF,” a six-year-old stallion, won the Five-Gaited World’s Grand Champion. The fair awarded $135,000 to youth livestock exhibitors. For the second consecutive year, the 58th Kentucky Country Ham Breakfast Charity Auction broke an auction record when generous bankers and a billionaire couple paid $5 million. We must not forget the eleven days of music with 45 bands which was included in the Fair admission. Click for more.
On August 28, 2023, Governor A. Beshear posted the latest Kentucky sports betting update. His father, Steve Beshear, pushed the idea while he governed.