TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

Localtonians wish a Happy Anniversary to John Edwards and Mary Garrard, who wed in 1794 in Bourbon County.  John was one of the first two U.S. Senators to represent Kentucky, and Mary’s father was Kentucky’s second governor.  They produced 12 children, many of whom died at an early age.  Bourbon County just became the 5th county with boundaries of the entire eastern part of the state.

July 24, 1891, Simpson County lynched John Grainger, a black male, for threatening another man.

July 24, 1923, Alben W. Barkley spoke a stone’s throw from his birthplace to over 8,000 people at Fancy Farm while campaigning for governor.

July 24, 1930, Lexington’s hardiest tree-sitters were still aloft after 626 hours and 10 minutes at noon. Howard Sharpe, 14-years-old led, with a record 117 hours, told the watchers at 122 University Dr. that he intended to stay up until he was the undisputed champion of the world. The 4th place sitter, an 11-year-old Sherod Rouser, received a radio to keep him company.

July 24, 1950, Army CPL Everette Fultz from Harlan County died in the Korean War.

July 24, 1952, Amy PVT James H. Dowdy from Graves County died in the Korean War.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Louisville native Gus Green Van Sant Jr., in 1952.

July 24, 1953, check out a picture of Keeneland’s grandstand in the middle of an expansion.

July 24, 1955, Louisville native Lionel Hampton held his final Cavalcade of Jazz concert.  Hampton headlined numerous Cavalcade of Jazz concerts at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles.  He first performed at the 2nd Cavalcade of Jazz concert held in 1946.

July 24, 1965, Chillicoot set an Ellis Park Track record for six furlongs in 1:10, on opening day, in front of 9,000 fans.

July 24, 1966, Marine Corps LCPL George E. Corey from Mt. Sterling in Montgomery County did in the Vietnam War.

July 24, 1967, Marine Corps PFC Roderick L. Weiss from Erlanger in Kenton County died in the Vietnam War.

July 24, 1968, Marine Corps PFC Joseph T. Cambron from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.

July 24, 1970, Army CPL Steven L. Fawbush from Jeffersontown died in the Vietnam War.

July 24, 1971, “Darlin’ Harlan,” properly known as the USS Harlan County and named for Harlan County, launched.

July 24, 1976, after thousands of years of speculation about whether or not life originated elsewhere in the universe, observation began on planet Mars with the Viking II landing.

July 24, 1981, Kentucky legislatures unveiled the toughest crackdown on nursing homes ever proposed in Kentucky after the Courier-Journal exposed the many issues one year earlier.

July 24, 1984, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum spent $41 million at the July Select Yearling Sale; he bought a Northern Dancer colt for $7.1 million.  Meanwhile, a few miles from the sales pavilion, financially troubled Murty Farm sold for $19.5 million at auction.  The farm consisted of 450 acres, 14 barns, 63 stalls, 25 paddocks, nine pastures, two main residences, and a farm manager’s residence.

July 24, 1992, President George H.W. Bush told families of missing servicemen to “shut up and sit down” as they interrupted his speech shouting, “no more lies!” “tell the truth!” and “release the files.”  The family members wanted to know how their loved ones died in Southeast Asia battlefields.

July 24, 2001, President George W. Bush returned from Kosovo, Yugoslavia, from visiting the troops.  He told them in person that it may be a while before they return home because there is much work to do in the region, that America must stand with their allies to control the Balkans.  The president, during his campaign, promised to bring the troops home.

July 24, 2001, Ralph Hacker, UK’s play-by-play broadcaster for the last nine seasons and part of UK’s sport broadcast for 29 years announced his retirement.

July 24, 2007, Marine Lance CPL Robert A. Lynch, 20, of Louisville, died in Iraq fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

July 24, 2009, a federal appeals court overturned the previous injunction and banned Owensboro native Jeremy Mayfield from NASCAR.

July 24, 2010, a Kentucky bred takes Saratoga’s GI $250,000 Coaching Club American Oaks.

July 24, 2017, Kentucky Democrats called upon Senator and ex-governor Julian Carroll to resign after a TV report claimed he groped a 30-year-old man and made unwanted sexual advances toward him.  Carroll, 86, governed between 1974-79.

July 24, 2018, Lexington quietly relocated Confederate-era statues of John Hunt Morgan and John C. Breckinridge to the Lexington Cemetery from a storage unit.

Kentucky Trivia:  Breckinridge’s statue is in his family’s plot, near the grave of his father and wife.  Hunt Morgan’s statue is in the Confederate cemetery.  Lexington Cemetery also has a separate area for Union soldiers.

July 24, 2019, Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers said he was “blown away” by the lax oversight of those who lobby the state’s executive branch of government.  Businesses spent more than $20 million a year to lobby Kentucky lawmakers; however, we did not track how much is spent on lobbying the executive branch.  Stivers also announced a five page bill to provide the oversight.

July 24, 2020, Kentucky announced the largest one day total for new coronavirus cases at 797 since the pandemic began.  Governor A. Beshear requested some churches to stop meeting for two weeks, while Fayette County Schools hinted students would learn from home for the 1st eight weeks of the school year.