October 11, 1842, Joseph Desha, Kentucky’s 9th governor passed away in Georgetown, 14 years after he left office. His family buried him on their Georgetown property, and the state later erected a monument over his grave. In 1880, both Desha’s body and the monument moved to the Georgetown Cemetery.
On October 11, 1887, Kentucky State University formally opened. The second state-supported institution of higher learning in Kentucky originally opened under the name State Normal School for Colored Persons. During the euphoria of Frankfort’s 1886 centennial celebration, the city donated $1,500 to purchase land for a new college on a bluff overlooking Frankfort. The new school opened with three teachers, 55 students, and John H. Jackson as president.
October 11, 1912, University of Louisville played Transylvania University in Lexington at Thomas Field. Louisville won the football game 32-0.
October 11, 1924, Old Latonia hosted the “International Special Races” that pitted America’s best horses against Europe’s best. It certainly was “a feather in the cap” when the Covington track hosted this great race and affirmed the local track’s overall importance. The old track never looked better. The three spires above the grandstand stood majestically as the loud Klaxton sounded its final warning, and the field of eight horses drew near the starting line. Sixty thousand fans saw Sarazen, the pride of the East, edge Epinard, the European Champion, to set an American track record for a mile.
On October 11, 1936, the Keeneland Association hosted an open house to introduce the public to the new Totalizator® tote board, the 1st one in Kentucky. More than 15,000 people attended.
October 11, 1937, Night Chief Henry Jackson, Pineville Police Department, died from a gunshot by a man he and another officer had arrested the previous evening for carrying a concealed weapon.
October 11, 1952, Army CPL Bobby Burchett from Calloway County, Marine Corps PFC John Johnson from Madison County and Army SGT Leo Kern from Harrison County, all died fighting in the Korean War.
October 11, 1958, Trooper Herbert C. Bush, Kentucky State Police, died in an automobile accident while attempting to stop a speeding vehicle in Lincoln County.
October 11, 1967, Marine Corps LCPL Randolph Duvall from Louisville died fighting in the Vietnam War.
October 11, 1968, Army SP5 Douglas Compton from Glasgow in Barren County died fighting in the Vietnam War.
October 11, 1969, Navy P01 Roy R. Whiteside from Paducah in McCracken County died fighting in the Vietnam War.
On October 11, 1973, a day after Spiro T. Agnew became the 2nd V.P. to leave the post, locals responded in various ways, from shocked to sad to glad. The next day, President Nixon nominated Gerald Ford.
On Friday evening, October 11, 1974, Corrine Cutter from Lexington, the first woman to officiate a varsity football game in Kentucky, debuted at Fleming County’s 19-0 victory over East Carter. As field judge, Corrin watched for infractions at the snap.
Saturday, October 11, 1984, the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup took place and Her Majesty presented the winning trophy. Keeneland didn’t have an actual winner’s circle before her 1984 visit. For regular races, the winning photo took place in a circle of chalk drawn on the track; for stake races, winners received their trophy on the infield grass. Per the wishes of the Queen’s security team, Keeneland built a proper winner’s circle. Cherry Valley Farm’s Sintra won.
Apollo High School’s Rex Chapman was photographed on October 11, 1985, in Owensboro. The story discussed the hype and pressure surrounding the most heavily recruited high school basketball player to come out of Kentucky.
On October 11, 1991, 16 Kentucky State University students took over the administration building, Hume Hall, for two days. An investigation determined that an employee helped them get in, but no one was fingered. The episode occurred during the bitter battle between a former governor (Nunn) and a former school president (Wolfe).
October 11, 1994, Sue and Steven Sanders from Prestonsburg, with help from the UK Hospital, delivered quadruplets. James, Allison, Marie, and Kathryn went home after a month’s time.
October 11, 2000, the Inez coal sludge from T. Massey Coal Company’s lifeless 72-acre, 2.2-billion-gallon waste lagoon suffered a crack and released 250 million gallons of slurry. The water supply for over 27,000 residents got contaminated, and all aquatic life in Coldwater Fork and Wolf Creek died. Martin County’s torrent of sludge was more than 20 times the volume of the Exxon Valdez’s crude oil spill in Alaska. It was twice that of its biggest forerunner among coal-mining spills, 28 years ago in Buffalo Creek, W.VA., which killed 125 people and swallowed 500 homes. Governor Paul E. Patton declared a ten-county emergency.
On October 11, 2001, a long-range plan to repopulate Kentucky’s forests with American Chestnut Trees took a step forward with a nut harvest in Adair County, the first of its kind. They collected 200 acorns from rare survivors that once dominated the Commonwealth. Two trees are required to produce fertile nuts; therefore, the Adair trees have not reproduced in decades. “We just don’t have any experience harvesting these nuts in Kentucky,” said Rex Mann, President of the Kentucky Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation.
On Friday, October 11, 2002, “Mr. Wildcat,” Bill Keightley, long-time equipment manager, popped out of a cake at the Big Blue Madness held in Memorial Coliseum. The cake commemorated the dawning of UK’s 100th basketball season.
On Monday, October 11, 2010, President B. Clinton spoke in front of UK’s historic Administration Building to campaign for AG Jack Conway’s Senate run. The President repudiated Rand Paul’s “radical ideas” of cutting the federal government.
October 11, 2012, Centre hosted the Vice-Presidential Debate between V.P. Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan. The Nielsen Company reported that an estimated 51.4 million people watched the debate, 18.5 million fewer than the Joe Biden-Sarah Palin debate in 2008.
October 11, 2014, Keeneland graduates finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the 30th running of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup GI at the Keeneland Racecourse. 1st place won $300,000.
October 11, 2016, Ethen Vest of Frankfort set a state record when he caught a 5.27 lbs. White Catfish in Guist Creek Lake.
On October 11, 2017, the Boy Scouts of America announced they would accept girls into their organization and establish a new program for older girls to become Eagle Scouts.
On Friday, October 11, 2019, Andy Barr’s spokeswoman, Jodi Whitaker, told journalists, “Never heard of him. Congressman Barr has never heard of him, had never heard of before this week.” She was talking about a former Russian who gave Barr $2,432 in campaign donations. Federal authorities arrested Igor Fruman at the Dulles International Airport for buying influence from American politicians. Meanwhile, Coach J. Calipari enjoyed his 10th Midnight Madness.
On October 11, 2020, Governor A. Beshear entered quarantine after he rode in the same car where one of his bodyguards recently tested positive. Even though they all wore masks, the governor wanted to take more precautions. Neither he nor his family tested positive. He told the public he felt great he just wanted to “set an example.”
On October 11, 2022, the Kentucky Distillers Association (KDA) announced that the Kentucky bourbon industry filled up more than 2 million barrels for a fourth consecutive year. In 2021, they filled 2.6, the total today is around 11.4 million barrels. In 2021, when the feds lifted tariffs, Brown-Foreman’s profits had never been better ($4.23 billion in 2023). However, the KDA is lobbying Frankfort for more corporate welfare, claiming the current tax rate hinders growth.
On October 11, 2023, dignitaries, workers, locals, and the press gathered in Richmond to celebrate making America proud and making the community a safer place. Three months ago, the Blue Grass Army Depot destroyed the last chemical weapons. Still, they boasted on this day. The first chemicals arrived in the 1940′s. Craig Williams, co-chair of the Kentucky Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission and Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board, said it was the culmination of his life’s work.
