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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

July 27, 1884, Newport native Kid Baldwin made his MLB debut for the Kansas City Unions.

July 27, 1901, Patrolman James H. Purdon Louisville Police Department, died in a fire as he attempted to rescue residents who lived in apartments above the supply company that was on fire.

July 27, 1902, Marshal Dave Barton, Knoxville Police Department, died from gunshots while attempting to arrest a drunk and disorderly man in Knoxville.

July 27, 1914, Special Patrolman Sylvester M. Turpin, Paris Police Department, was shot and killed attempting to arrest a man who was intoxicated and creating a disturbance in his neighborhood.

July 27, 1932, Special Deputy Ambrous Murphy Johnson, Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department, died from a gunshot while assisting other deputies arrest a subject who had disturbed a church in Quinton.  Special Deputy Johnson served for only one day.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Augusta native Donald Poe Galloway, born in 1937.  The Bracken County High School graduate starred alongside Raymond Burr in a TV movie entitled Ironside.  The film spawned a successful series of the same name, beginning in September of that year.  Galloway remained on Ironside alongside Burr for its entire eight season run.

July 27, 1950, Army PFC Oliver Branham from Pike County, Army PVT John A. Dunning from Caldwell County, Army PFC Billy R. Hamlin from McCreary County, Army PVT Frankie B. Hughes from Floyd County, Army PVT Alvis Justice from Pike County, Army SGT Louis Rowlette from Madison County, Army PVT Howard Shepard from Harlan County, Army PVT Cloid Speakman from Madison County, died in the Korean War.

On July 27, 1950, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performed in Lexington.  The show stayed for one day, with a two-performance stand at Newtown Pike’s show grounds.  Finally, after nearly 150 years, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey ended.

July 27, 1953, the Korean War ended.  886 Kentuckians gave their lives.

July 27, 1963, Claysville, in Harrison County, native Garrett Augustus Morgan, Sr. died.

July 27, 1966, Army PFC Carlos D. Moore from Harlan died in the Vietnam War.

July 27, 1967, Army SSG Martin Fleischmann from Utica in Daviess County died in the Vietnam War.

July 27, 1972, Kentucky Senator John Sherman Cooper addressed a nearly empty Senate chamber proposing an amendment to a military assistance bill that would unconditionally end funding for all U.S. military operations in Indochina in four months.  The measure, which had no co-sponsors, stunned Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and provoked heated debate in the Senate.  At Nixon’s insistence, the Senate defeated the amended bill 48–42.  Disappointed, Cooper nevertheless proclaimed, “I feel purged inside.  I’ve felt strongly about this for a long time.  Now it’s in the hands of the President.  He’s the only person who can do anything about ending the war now.”

July 27, 1974, Ruffian’s 4th race was the 6F Sorority (GI) at Monmouth, with Jacinto Vasquez back in the reins.  It was her most challenging race to date.  Hot n Nasty had broken her maiden by 13 lengths and had scored two stakes wins.  Hot n Nasty made her move after the first quarter and became the first horse to head Ruffian, even sticking with her for a furlong before Ruffian dug in and pulled away.  However, Vasquez felt something not quite right with his mount, even as she pulled away from Hot n Nasty to set a new stakes record of 1:09.  Back at the barn, he discovered his filly had won the race on a freshly popped splint; although not a severe injury, Ruffian had proved she had heart.

Sunday, July 27, 1980, at 2:52 p.m., a 5.1 magnitude earthquake occurred, one of the largest to ever hit Kentucky.  East of the epicenter, at Owingsville, ground cracks appeared to be 6 to 10 centimeters deep and 30 meters long.  Property damage reached $1 million at Maysville, about 50 kilometers north of the epicenter.  In Mason County, 37 commercial structures and 269 private residences were damaged.  Parts of 15 states and in Ontario, Canada felt this quake.

July 27, 1985, watch the Haskell Stakes.

July 27, 1992, a federal grand jury indicted Bruce Wilkinson, nephew of former Governor Wallace Wilkinson and an aide in the Wilkinson administration for allegedly taking a $20,000 bribe to help a Henderson Harness Track in a dispute with their cross town rival.

July 27, 2000, Kentucky environmental regulators cited the federal government for two violations for polluting while cleaning up 85,000 radioactive drums at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP).

Kentucky Trivia:  The PGDP was the only operating uranium enrichment facility in the U.S. from 2001 to 2010.  They produced low-enriched uranium, originally as feedstock for military reactors and weapons, and later for commercial nuclear power fuel.  The gaseous diffusion plant covers 750 acres of a 3,556 acre site.

On July 27, 2012, M. Ali was a titular bearer of the Olympic flag during the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.  His wife Lonnie helped him stand before the flag due to his Parkinson’s rendering him unable to carry it into the stadium.  The same year, he received the Philadelphia Liberty Medal in recognition of his lifelong efforts in activism, philanthropy, and humanitarianism.

July 27, 2014, Harlan native Wallace Clayton “Wah Wah” Jones died in Lexington.

July 27, 2017, Maysville native Darius Miller signed with the New Orleans Pelicans, returning to the franchise for a second stint.

On July 27, 2017, Julian Carroll announced that he would not resign his Senate seat, days after the Senate requested his resignation.  He his term expired in 2020.

July 27, 2019, six go to post in Saratoga’s GII $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes for three-year-olds.

July 27, 2020, Senate Majority Leader M. McConnell unveiled another trillion dollar coronavirus relief package four months after Congress passed the $2 trillion CARES Act.  As a result, the largest upward transfer of wealth in American history to corporations continued.  Meanwhile, Governor A. Beshear suggested Kentucky schools postponed in-person learning until August and ordered all bars to close and restaurants to limit seating to 25%.

July 27, 2021, the CDC reversed course on mask guidelines and told vaccinated people to wear masks due to the Delta variant.  Lexington’s health commissioner followed suit and recommended masks for all students and staff in grades K through 12.  Meanwhile, Kentucky announced 210 new positive cases from three previous days.

July 26, 2022