Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe. 
Muhammad Ali

August 29, 1820, Governor John Adair took the oath of office to become Kentucky’s 8^th governor.  He is the only Kentucky governor born in South Carolina.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Kentucky’s 29^th governor, Raywick native, James Proctor Knott, born in 1830 in Madison County.  After serving as governor, he moved to Missouri to be their Attorney General but resigned rather than swear an oath of allegiance to the federal government, just before the outbreak of the Civil War.

August 29, 1862, the Battle of Richmond began.  It was the most decisive and complete Confederate victory in the entire war and the 2^nd largest Civil War battle in Kentucky.  The battle took place on and around what are now the grounds of the Blue Grass Army Depot.  Gen. William “Bull” Nelson lead the Union and allowed 206 killed, 844 wounded, and 4,303 captured or missing.  Gen. Edmund Smith lead the Confederates with 78 killed, 372 wounded, and one missing.  The way north, towards Lexington and Frankfort opened up.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Buell Kazee, born at the foot of Burton Fork in Magoffin County, in 1900.

On August 29, 1935, the Keeneland Association purchased 147.5 acres of Fayette County farmland from Jack Keene.  The sale included Jack’s limestone barn and his track.  Keene received $130,000 in cash and $10,000 in Keeneland stock.

August 29, 1951, Army PFC Thomas F. Moore, Jr. from Harrison County died in the Korean War.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Mayfield native David Boaz, born in 1953.  David was V.P. of the Cato Institute and the author of Libertarianism: A Primer, published in 1997.

August 29, 1964, Sheriff Warren C. Campbell, Sr., Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after being assaulted by a group of men at a local bar after making an arrest.

August 29, 1965, astronauts Cooper and Conrad returned from their record-shattering 3,338,200 mile flight that took seven days, 22 hours, and 55 minutes aboard Gemini 5 Spaceship.  President Johnson called them soon after their Atlantic Ocean splashdown, 655 miles from Cape Kennedy.

August 29, 1973, Patrolman Louis William Myers, Marion Police Department, suffered a fatal heart attack following a foot pursuit of an escaped convict.

August 29, 1976, Patrolman Mark Wynnfield Hines, Jefferson County Police Department, died in an automobile accident while pursuing a vehicle.

August 29, 1976, Patrolman Michael Eugene Williams, Salyersville Police Department, died from a gunshot wound while attempting to arrest a deputy sheriff’s brother-in-law.  As he was walking the suspect out of the building he was shot in the back by the deputy.

August 29, 1983, five men escaped from the Shelby County jail.  Two were recaptured the next day and the Louisville police shot the 3^rd one dead.  They captured the last two days later.

August 29, 1997, scientists said the deaths of six Western Kentuckians residents resulted from eating squirrel brains.  Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a rare variant of mad cow disease.

Kentucky Trivia:  In the 19^th -century big game animals such as bison, elk, and deer began to disappear due to habitat loss and unrestricted hunting.  “With other game animals in short supply, squirrels became the primary source of wild meat,” claims Dave Baker, editor of Kentucky Afield magazine.  Squirrel was often one of the main ingredients in the popular slow-cooked dish burgoo, cooked in a big iron pot and served with cornbread at family or community gatherings in the region.

August 29, 1998, the GI $750,000 Travers Stakes is another Keeneland graduate exacta.

August 29, 2000, amid the cloak-and-dagger drama, Kentucky indicted Shane Ragland for the 1994 murder of Trent DiGiuro.  Prosecutors used Shane’s girlfriend as their big break when she informed the police he admitted to the murder.

August 29, 2005, Governor E. Fletcher granted pardons to his nine indicted administration officials and issued a blanket pardon for “any and all persons who have committed, or may be accused of committing, any offense” concerning the investigation.  Fletcher did not pardon himself.  The next day, Fletcher testified before the grand jury but refused to answer any questions.

August 29, 2006, Marine CPL Christopher T. Warndorf, 21, of Burlington, died in Iraq fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

August 29, 2009, Shadwell sponsored the GI $1,000,000 Travers Stakes with a Kentucky bred picking up the $600,000 for 1^st place.

August 29, 2015, another upset in the graveyard occurred in the GI $1,600,000 Travers Stakes.

As of August 29, 2019, not a single coal company, formed in Kentucky within the past five years, had posted a bond required by state law to protect miners’ wages if the company suddenly shut down.  In addition, officials in Governor M. Bevin’s administration urged lawmakers last year to pass a bill that would have eliminated the requirement.

August 29, 2020, two Louisville bars sued Governor A. Beshear for coronavirus emergency orders they describe as “contradictory, ludicrous, arbitrary, and discriminatory.”  “Plaintiffs are and continue to be irreparably harmed in that they cannot do business and comply with the requirements, without operating at a loss,” the lawsuit claimed.

Positives:  825 / 47,577
Deaths:  3 / 921 – 1^st death March 26, 2001
50&over:  894 / 49-30: 26 / 29&under: 1

As of August 29, 2021, Pike County was at least the 15^th Kentucky district to close due to a coronavirus surge.  Last school year, districts had unlimited days for virtual learning.  This year lawmakers, concerned about an extended shutdown, passed a law that allowed only ten non-traditional instruction days for the 2021-22 term without having to be made up.  Some school districts shut down anyway, saying they had to stop the spread.  Other school districts quarantined hundreds of students instead of closing.