Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

The secret is keeping busy, and loving what you do.  Lionel Hampton

October 12, 1808, the most important theatrical event in the Western Country occurred with the opening of Luke Usher’s New Theater in Lexington, capable of seating 500-600 people.  Locals had converted a brewery into the theater.  They showed a comedy, Richard Cumberland’s The Sailor’s Daughter.  It was the 1^st permanent theater in the early west.
The Squire’ Sketches of Lexington by J. Winston Coleman, Jr.; pg: 27

October 12, 1883, Constable Preston C. Rains, Whitley County Constable’s Office, died from a gunshot while attempting to serve a warrant on a subject wanted for operating a speakeasy.

October 12, 1920, Man o’ War ran in his last race in the Kenilworth Park Gold Cup (1 1/4M) at Kenilworth Park in Canada, in a match race against Sir Barton.  The highly anticipated event became the 1^st race to be filmed in its entirety, with the resulting footage later shown in movie theaters across the country.  Man o’War carried 120 lbs. against Sir Barton’s 126 lbs.  The trainer removed jockey Earle Sande from Sir Barton and substituted Frank Keogh moments before post time.  Sir Barton never had a chance.  They finished in 2:03.00.  Man o’ War’s share of the purse made him the highest-earning horse in American history.  Tiffany & Co. made the gold trophy presented in the winner’s circle.  Mrs. Riddle later donated it to Saratoga, which they use for the Travers Stakes.

On October 12, 1924, Mary Barr Clay of Lexington passed away.  The eldest daughter of Cassius Marcellus Clay and Mary Jane Warfield became the 1^st Kentuckian to hold the office of president in a national woman’s organization as president of the American Woman Suffrage Association in 1883.  During her career, she corresponded with Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, Alice Stone Blackwell, and other leading suffragists and brought many of them to Kentucky for speaking engagements.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Newport native Irving Lee Goode born in 1940.  Irving played thirteen seasons in the National Football League and named to the Pro Bowl Team twice.  In 1973 he won a Super Bowl ring with the Miami Dolphins.

October 12, 1946, Steve Black, left, of Frankfort, presented a ribbon to Colonel Carl W. Raguse.  He received a blue ribbon in the open jumping class during the Iroquois Hunt Club horse show at W. Fauntleroy Pursley’s farm on Athens-Boonesboro Road.  The club’s horse show included a horse-pulling contest and a beef barbecue.

Kentucky Trivia:  The Iroquois Hunt Club is the nation’s third oldest fox hunting club.

October 12, 1946, Louisville native Lionel Leo Hampton preformed for the 1^st time at the 2^nd annual Cavalcade of Jazz concert at Wrigley Field.

Localtonians wish a Happy Anniversary to Governor and Mrs. Nunn, who wed in 1950.  Governor Nunn and Beula Cornelius Aspley had two children – Jennie Lou, born in 1951, and Steve, born in 1952.  Aspley also had three children from her first marriage.  Nunn left the Methodist denomination in which he had been raised after marrying Aspley, joining her as a member of the Christian Church.

October 12, 1951, Army SGT Herbert F. Clark from Marion County, Army CPL Clellan H. Decker from Edmonson County, Army CPL Raymond Tackett from Johnson County and Army CPL Marshall Winkfield from Woodford County, died fighting in the Korean War.

October 12, 1952, Marine Corps PFC Burl D. Melton from Cumberland County died fighting in the Korean War. 

October 12, 1952, Russell native Ernest Edison “Ernie” West ran through heavy fire to rescue his wounded commander, Capt. Gividen, after they had fallen into an ambush.  As he was pulling the Captain to safety, three hostile soldiers attacked.  For these actions, the U.S. military presented him with the highest decoration, the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Ernie grew up in a Nicholasville orphanage.

October 12, 1968, Charlie Baradshaw’s Kentucky Wildcats upset 20^th ranked Oregon State 35-34 at home.  It would be the highlight of a losing 3-7 season and Coach Bradshaw’s last year as head coach.

October 12, 1975, Louisville police used tear gas to disperse anti-busing demonstrators who started fires, hurled rocks and bottles, and blocked traffic in Jeffersontown.

October 12, 1983, Martha Layne Collins and Jim Bunning, the two candidates for governor, had a rare face-to-face exchange in the only televised debate of the general election campaign.  The hour-long debate showed on KET, WHAS, and WKYT.  They wanted to replace John Y. Brown, Jr.

October 12, 1988, the Kentucky General Assembly’s Board of Ethics voted to file a formal complaint against Rep. Jerry Lundergan for alleged violation of state conflict of interest laws.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Union native Joshua Ryan Hutcherson born in 1992.

October 12, 2003, Army SPC James E. Powell 26, of Radcliff, died fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

On October 12, 2011, Russell Springs native Lowell Hayes Harrison passed away in Owensboro.  Mr. Harrison was an American historian specializing in Kentucky who graduated from College High in Bowling Green.  He received a B.A. from WKU in 1946, then enrolled at New York University, where he earned an M.A. in 1947 and a Ph.D. in 1951, both in history.  Harrison has authored 115 articles and 11 books.

October 12, 2014, a judge denied the Libertarian candidate for Kentucky’s U.S. Senate seat the right to debate Mitch and Allison Grimes.  U.S. District Greg F. Van Tatenhove, made sure a third voice would not be heard over the two corporate slaves.

October 12, 2019, a Keeneland graduate won $300,000 and the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup against seven other entries.

October 12, 2020, speaking from an undisclosed part of the governor’s mansion in quarantine, Andy Beshear announced 643 new cases.  The governor rode in a car with someone who tested positive two days prior.  Unsurprisingly, the young, healthy governor stated, “I feel great.”

Positives:  643 / 80,930
Deaths:  3 / 1,255 – 1^st Death 3/16/20
50&over:  1,220 / 49-30: 33 / 29&under: 2

October 12, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court listened to arguments on a Kentucky abortion case.  Daniel Cameron tried to convince the court to take away a woman’s right to control her own body.