Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets
April 13, 1750, entry from Dr. Thomas Walker’s journal is the 1st written record of a non-Native American at the place now known as the Cumberland Gap. He and five other men set out from Virginia on March 6 to explore the wild lands of Kentucky for the Loyal Land Company.
April 13, 1894, ground broke for the construction of the Cathedral Basilica in Covington. It originally opened as St. Mary’s Church in 1837. Architects modeled 13th Century French-Gothic style’s interior after the Abbey Church of St. Denis in Paris, while the facade would mirror Notre Dame de Paris.
April 13, 1914, the Carnegie Corporation of New York awarded Corbin $6,000 to build a public library.
April 13, 1920, news broke that UK would build “a massive concrete stadium” located on Stoll Field. It would be the largest stadium in the south, seat up to 24,000, and be horseshoe in shape. They also announced the school would begin to raise funds for a basketball building and a statue of Dr. Patterson.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Louisville native Karl Kroeger, born in 1932. The composer and professor of music worked at several universities throughout America.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to South Portsmouth native John Herman Stephenson, born in 1941. John, as a Met, struck out last in Jim Bunning’s 1964 perfect game, pitching for the Phillies.
April 13, 1954, Maj. Louie A. Beard, a founding member of Keeneland, passed over.
On April 13, 1961, Louisville native Florence K. S. Thompson Riney passed over in Owensboro. The 1st female sheriff in the U.S. to execute a prisoner, she oversaw the Daviess County hanging of Rainey Bethea, the last man publicly executed in the U.S.
April 13, 1969, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame enshrined Adolph Frederick Rupp.
April 13, 1971, clean-up began after Morgantown’s worst fire in the small town’s history. More than 150 firefighters from 14 units battled over four hours to put out the fire that destroyed an entire block downtown.
On April 13, 1983, Sharon Ware resigned as Director of Licensing and Regulation. She felt some state Cabinet for Human Resources officials undermined her efforts to reform Kentucky’s nursing homes. Sharon provided a prime example of regulatory capture when she exposed state officials working directly with the nursing home industry to stop the reforms.
April 13, 1987, Lt. Governor S. Beshear released telephone records that showed Governor J. Brown called Caesars Palace in Las Vegas 27 times from the governor’s office during the 1st two years of his term. Beshear claimed that Brown gave more priority to gambling than the Commonwealth.
April 13, 1991, Strike the Gold won the Blue Grass Stakes and then won the Kentucky Derby, the last thoroughbred to do so. Born a “dummy foal,” Alydar’s son barely survived birth due to a lack of oxygen to the brain. The Nick Zito trained colt foaled on Calumet Farm.
April 13, 2002, someone sniped Sheriff Samuel Wilson Catron, Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department, while leaving a political rally in Shopville. He had just left the stump campaigning for his 5th term as sheriff. The sniper shot the sheriff in the head with a high-powered rifle as he placed two cakes he had just purchased from a fundraiser into his patrol car.
April 13, 2007, Transylvania’s Board of Directors approved R. Owen Williams as president. Mr. Williams, once a Wall Street Banker turned historian, took an unusual path to his new position in Lexington. The president said it was a dream come true and a lifelong ambition.
April 13, 2012, Governor S. Beshear and Senate President David Williams exchanged bitter barbs in a scathing blame game over failures in the 2012 General Assembly and the need for a costly special session to address unfinished business.
April 13, 2013, the Kentucky State Rabbit Breeders’ Association sponsored more than 500 exhibitors at the 3rd annual Kentucky Cup Rabbit Show in Louisville, showcasing thousands of the cottontails.
April 13, 2019, after digging in to hold on, the favorite, won Keeneland’s GI $350,000 Jenny Wiley Stakes by one.
On April 13, 2020, Kentucky announced 87 new positive coronavirus cases and seven new deaths for totals of 2,048 and 104. The governor stated the numbers were inaccurate due to labs being closed over the Easter Holiday. Woodford County moved to a four-day at-home instructional week instead of five days to give families a “mental break,” in the 2nd month of a statewide school shutdown. People going through recovery programs struggled to find in-person meetings.
April 13, 2021, Kentucky suspended the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after rare instances of blood clots. “To Kentuckians who took the J&J vaccine, you are going to be OK.” Beshear said at a news conference. Churchill Downs announced that only 15,000 fans would attend the infield for this year’s Derby.
On April 13, 2022, Envision AESC, a Japanese Electric Vehicle (EV) battery company, announced its $2 billion investment to build a new, state-of-the-art gigafactory in Bowling Green, Warren County. The plant will provide 2,000 skilled jobs producing battery cells and modules to power the next generation EVs.