Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets
On April 14, 1782, the Virginia General Assembly read a petition that asked to establish the town of Lexington, signed by over 30 locals . The History of Pioneer Lexington by Charles R. Staples, pg: 22.
April 14, 1861, after a thirty-four-hour bombardment, which had set Fort Sumter aflame, Louisville native Major Anderson agreed to evacuation terms and lowered the Stars and Stripes . The Major had led his men admirably on the South Carolina coast during months of uncertainty until the Civil War erupted two days earlier. On April 14, 1865, General Anderson returned to the fort and raised the 33-star flag again to recall the Union victory, hours before the assassination of President Lincoln.
April 14, 1864, American brothers fought at the Battle of Salyersville in Magoffin County , resulting in a Federal victory; the largest skirmish fought in the county.
On April 14, 1865, at 10:15 p.m., a thespian shot President Abraham Lincoln in Ford’s Theater . In the booth sat the Lincolns and Major H. R. Rathbone and his fiancée. After the shot, the assassin dropped the pistol and waved a dagger. Although slashed in the arm, Rathbone lunged at him and forced the killer over the balcony. The assassin’s left boot spur caught the flag draped over the rail, and he broke a bone in his leg on landing. Though injured, he rushed out the back door and disappeared into the night on horseback.
April 14, 1885, Richmond native David Rowland Francis became St. Louis’s 26th mayor and later U.S. Ambassador to Russia.
April 14, 1897, Deputy Constable James Green, Union County Constable’s Office , died from a gunshot as he and another county constable escorted two prisoners to jail.
April 14, 1904, Town Marshal Frye Haley, Lebanon Junction Police Department , died arresting a man on the front porch of the Sparks Hotel. Another man interfered with the arrest; a gunfight ensued; and Marshal Haley and the man who interfered shot and killed each other.
April 14, 1925, about 14,046 fans witnessed Louisville’s Minor League AA team defeat the Brewers 3-2 for the season opener at Parkway Field . The American Association league had eight teams, four western cities and four eastern cities.
April 14, 1931, Ohio County native Arnold Shultz died of a heart problem called a mitral lesion . However, legend says he died from poisoning by a white musician who was jealous of him. Arnold significantly influenced the “Thumb-Style” or “Travis Picking” method of playing guitar.
April 14, 1945, Kentucky basketball player Kenneth England from Campbellsburg died in Italy from wounds received while crossing a mine field in WWII. He played for Kentucky from 1940-42.
April 14, 1949, the 11-day Spring Meet opened with a new inside aluminum rail, which replaced the conventional wooden rail . The new rail, the 1st of its kind at an American race track, cost approximately $5,000.
April 14, 1967, Army PFC Robert E. McKee from Eminence in Henry County died in the Vietnam War.
April 14, 1968, Army SFC Daniel A. Branson from Hopkinsville in Christian County and Marine Corps CPL Reuben C. McMackins, Jr. from Valley Station in Jefferson County, died in the Vietnam War.
April 14, 1969, Army SGT James W. Moore, Jr. from Frankfort and Army PFC Theodore F. Siegel from Louisville, died in the Vietnam War.
April 14, 1975, with eight months rest, Ruffian made her 1975 debut in a 6F allowance test at Aqueduct, with Jacinto Vasquez up . Trainer Frank Y. Whiteley, Jr., had entered her in the race the day before. The other trainers probably would not have sent them to post had they been given time to scratch, but Whiteley had done a masterful job of concealing his plans. Ruffian cantered effortlessly to win in 1:09 2/5 in Ruffian’s only race without setting or equaling a record.
April 14, 1984, Dale Wilson of London, set a Kentucky record by catching a Largemouth Bass that weighed 13 lbs. 10.4 ozs . The bass lived in Wood Creek Lake in Laurel County.
April 14, 1988, 20-year-old Ashley Judd spoke at a protest march at the state Capitol . The protestors demanded the resignation of U.K. trustee A.B. “Happy” Chandler after using a racial slur at the University’s board investment committee meeting.
April 14, 1994, the U.S. National Register of Historic Places accepted Fort Boonesborough .
April 14, 1995, the U.S. Navy decommissioned “Darlin’ Harlan,” formally known as the USS Harlan County. Named for Harlan County, she launched in 1971. The Spanish Navy leased her the day she decommissioned. Only counties with county seats of the same name can have ships named after them.
April 14, 2006, Joey Dixon from Elizabethtown caught a state record Skipjack Herring weighing 3.10 pounds in the Ohio River, Cannelton Tailwater.
By Raver Duane April 14, 2016, a Fayette Circuit Court jury awarded $5.3 million in damages to eight black men who filed a 2014 lawsuit alleging a hostile work environment at UPS in Lexington.
April 14, 2017, for the 1st time ever, Kentucky’s Capitol Rotunda hosted a naturalization ceremony . Forty people from 25 different countries took the oath to become new American citizens in the ceremony. Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes presided.
On April 14, 2021, Kentucky coronavirus + cases spiked after three weeks of declining numbers , and the governor asked all Kentuckians to get vaccinated. At the time, 1,605,100 Kentuckians had received a vaccine. Meanwhile, Mitch stopped responding and ignored President Trump’s insults after calling the senator “a dumb son of a bitch,” and “a stone-cold loser.”
