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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

August 31, 1849, Lexington reported 73 deaths from cholera in August, Paris 23, 36 in Richmond, nine in Danville and many more in small communities in Kentucky and around the nation.

August 31, 1857, the annual exhibition of the U.S. Agriculture Society began in Louisville at the Fairgrounds, the 1st ever held west of the mountains for a magnificent display of livestock.  Among the distinguished visitors was Lord Napier, the British Ambassador, living in Washington, D.C.

Kentucky Trivia:  The 38-acre Fairgrounds included; exhibition halls, a trotting track, and an amphitheater.  The livestock shows accommodated 10,000, and the facility existed from 1853 to 1873.  Today’s Crescent Avenue off Frankfort Avenue was the grand “promenade” entryway.  The Kentucky Historical Society installed a $2,500 state historical marker to designate the Fair Grounds and dedicated it to the late historian Samuel W. Thomas, who lived on Crescent Avenue.

Sunday night, August 31, 1862, the legislatures met in an extraordinary session.  After completing their business, they agreed to adjourn out of respect for the Confederate Army fast approaching.  The body decided to meet in the Louisville courthouse on September 2.

August 31, 1875, Richmond native James Bennett McCreary became Kentucky’s 27th governor.  He would later become our 37th governor.

On August 31, 1919, the SS Kentuckian arrived in Norfolk, carrying nearly 8,900 American troops home from France at the end of World War I.  The Navy launched her on March 19, 1910, by Miss Nancy Johnson, daughter of U.S. Representative Ben Johnson of Kentucky.  Nancy christened the battleship with spring water from the farms of Jefferson Davis in Todd County and Abraham Lincoln in Larue County.

August 31, 1923, scientists heard the first radio voice inside Mammoth Cave, completing a successful test to determine the audibility of radio waves inside the national landmark.  The voice originated in Louisville’s WHAS radio station.  A Black tour guide assisted graciously with the experiment, the 1st of its kind.

August 31, 1950, Army SGT William G. McGowan from Campbell County, Army PFC Willis W. Mobley from Carter County, Army PVT Charlie Neace, Jr. from Breathitt County, and Army PFC Charles H. Snelling from Franklin County, died in the Korean War.

August 31, 1955, Dr. Lucius Ernest Smith from Sacramento, McLean County, passed away.  Smith graduated from UK in 1915 and received an M.D. from Johns Hopkins.  He then doctored more than a decade in Africa before returning to Breathitt County, where he battled tuberculosis, the state’s # 1 killer among preventable diseases.  In 1930 Smith moved to Louisville and dedicated the remainder of his career to eradicating the disease.  Knowing that the sickness could be prevented and treated, he launched a statewide educational crusade.  Smith encouraged Kentuckians to have physical checkups and chest X-rays and urged schools to teach personal and public hygiene courses.  He rests in Louisville’s Cave Hill Cemetery.

August 31, 1955, Swaps (West) and Nashua (East) met in the highly touted East vs. West $100,000 winner-take-all match race at Washington Park in Chicago in front of 35,262.  Eddie Arcaro rode Nashua, trained by Jim Fitzsimmons; they wanted revenge for losing to Swaps in the Kentucky Derby.  The unknown Willie Shoemaker rode Swaps, and a rough cowboy, Mesh Tenny, trained him.  They never met again after this race; however, their two-race rivalry is among the most famous in American racing history.  Nashua won by 6.5 lengths.

August 31, 1964, Mrs. Marion L.L. Short from Lexington and her friend landed their helicopter in Lexington to set an official world record distance flight by women helicopter pilots.  They took a week and six overnight stops to complete the 2,300-mile flight from Culver City, CA.  “We made 25 stops in all; it was just like a pogo stick, said Mrs. Short.

August 31, 1968, Army SP5 Ernest R. Carr from Closplint in Harlan County died in the Vietnam War.

August 31, 1969, Marine Corps CPL Ralph M. Hooks from Princeton in Caldwell County died in the Vietnam War.

August 31, 1970, Army PFC David G. Chaney from Bloss in Rockcastle County and Army 1LT Harry C. Inman from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.

On Tuesday, August 31, 1971, Thomas Payne, UK’s first Black college basketball player, decided not to return to college and instead go pro.  The 7’2” center declared, “I’m just not the pioneering type.”  Thomas made the decision with his wife.  They both agreed that Thomas wouldn’t go back if he didn’t turn pro.

August 31, 1974, Father Edward B. Branch became the 1st Black priest to be ordained in the 166-year history of the Louisville Archdiocese.

August 31, 1981, Governor J. Y. Brown, Jr. gave the green light to campaign for the passage of the succession amendment to the Kentucky constitution.  Frankfort eventually amended the constitution under Governor P. Patton 11 years, 2 months, and 3 days later.

Kentucky Trivia:  Kentucky is one of 26 U.S. states that allow governors to serve an endless number of four-year terms.  The only stipulation in Kentucky is a governor can’t run for more than two consecutive terms.  If a two-term governor wants to run a third time, they must wait at least one election cycle before they run again.

On August 31, 1982, Kentucky dedicated the Falls of the Ohio as a national wildlife conservation area.  The 1,000-acre site on the Ohio River has river banks that contain fossilized coral reefs estimated to be 400 million years old when it was part of the sea floor.

August 31, 1996, Kentucky set a then-Commonwealth Stadium record for largest attendance (59,384) as Louisville crushed the Cats 38-14 in the 9th Governor’s Cup.  Tim Couch threw for 101 yards, and Louisville’s Jason Payne threw for 110.  The series stood at 7-2, Kentucky’s favor, having played the 1st game in 1912.

On August 31, 2000, Ishmon Burks, 55, became the 1st African-American commissioner of the Kentucky State Police.  Governor P. Patton attended the swearing in ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda.  

August 31, 2002, Louisville native Lionel Leo Hampton, a jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader died in NYC.

August 31, 2003, the Governor’s Cup opened the season for the Cats and Cards.  UofL won handily 40-24 in UK’s 1st ever Sunday opener.  The Rich Brooks era got off to a rocky start in front of a record crowd of 70,467.  Louisville won six of ten meetings since the new rivalry began in 1994, including four of the last five against Kentucky, with the previous three in Lexington.  The series now stood at 10-6.

August 31, 2005, Army SPC Jason E. Ames, 21, of Cerulean, died in Iraq fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

August 31, 2005, President G. Bush, convicted international war criminal, flew over New Orleans as the city dove into chaos.

White House photo by Paul Morse

August 31, 2007, Louisville held the largest naturalization ceremony in the Commonwealth at the Kentucky Center.  Over 600 people from 75 countries took the oath and became American citizens.

Sunday, August 31, 2008, Brook’s Cats returned two Louisville fumbles for touchdowns and set up another score with an interception in the Wildcats’ 27-2 victory in the Governor’s Cup.  The series now stood at 12-9 the blue’s favor.

August 31, 2010, Lexingtonian and late night talk show guest Henry Earl received his 1,332nd citation, this time for public intoxication.

On August 31, 2013, Coaches Stoops and Petrino met in Titan’s Nashville stadium for their coaching debuts for their respected schools.  WKU defeated UK 35-26 for their 2nd straight win, with no overtime needed like the previous year.  Petrino coached for one season at WKU.

August 31, 2019, Kentucky won their season opener against the Toledo Rockets from Ohio 38-24.  QB Terry Wilson and Coach Stoops helped five other Wildcats score.  Cats covered the 11.5 spread.

August 31, 2020, after decades of turf wars over regulating horse racing, racetracks came together to create the Horse Racing Integrity Act.  Senator McConnell, from Keeneland, told the press he would introduce the bill creating the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), which took effect in July 2022.

On August 31, 2021, unhappy with the vaccine rollout, Marion Gruber and Phil Krause, two of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) top vaccine reviewers, announced they were leaving.  Gruber, an FDA veteran for three decades and the head of its vaccine review office, retired in October.  Krause left the agency in November, the vaccine team’s deputy director.

Starting on August 31, 2021, Kentucky National Guard Soldiers and Airmen helped hospital staff across the Commonwealth with non-clinical tasks during the pandemic surge.  Guardsmen arrived at The Medical Center at Bowling Green, not knowing the tasks needed.  Very quickly, they began functioning as though they were seasoned employees.

August 31, 2022, the FDA amended the Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) of the Moderna and Pfizer experimental vaccine to use as a single booster dose at least two months after the primary shot.  For the 1st time, the FDA based its authorization decision on studies involving mice instead of humans.  Cha-ching said the stockholders.

On August 31, 2023, Governor A. Beshear announced 316 new full-time jobs coming to Kentucky through $274.9 million in new business investment – and this is just one day of good news! Folks, our future is bright and we’re working to make sure these wins reach every corner of our commonwealth.

✅Safran Landing Systems Kentucky: $65 million investment in Boone Co., 92 new jobs

✅Bespoken Spirits: $3.2 million relocation to Lexington, 16 new jobs

✅HVAC Distributing: $5.35 million investment in Graves Co., 40 new jobs Anderson Co.

✅Winston Industries: $1.2 million expansion in Jefferson Co., 215 jobs retained and 5 new jobs

✅Allstate Tower: $850,000 investment in Henderson, 10 new jobs

✅Kenlake Foods: $24 million investment in Calloway Co., 15 new jobs 3/4

✅Washington Penn: $104.9 million investment in Clark Co., 88 new jobs

✅Campari America: $20 million investment in Anderson Co.

✅AATW: $11.8 million investment in Anderson Co.