Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets
Knox County Madison County Fort Boonesborough Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Mercer County native Matthew Harris Jouett , born in 1788. The Transylvania University graduate is considered the greatest portrait painter Kentucky has produced. Some notable portraits painted by Jouett are Henry Clay, Governor Letcher, John J. Crittenden, Isaac Shelby, and a full-length portrait of the Marquis de Lafayette.
Self-Portrait April 22, 1836, John Rowan and a group of influential Kentuckians formed the Kentucky Historical Society to preserve the history of the Commonwealth of Kentucky; the 11th historical society formed in the U.S. Rowan served as president until he died in 1843.
April 22, 1861, the Mobile & Ohio Railroad Company, opened the longest railroad under one management in the country from Mobile, Alabama to Columbus, Kentucky in Hickman County . The tracks were also the 1st in the Western Hemisphere to be steel instead of iron. The Columbus terminus operated until 1881. This Is Kentucky by Robert A. Powell; pg: 62
April 22, 1863, the Tompkinsville Courthouse and other buildings were burnt to the ground in Monroe County. All of the records were lost. CSA forces retaliated after Union men burned Celina, TN’s courthouse.
On April 22, 1884, the General Assembly honored Joel Tanner Hart , one of Kentucky’s favorite artists and sculptors, when they approved funds to remove his remains from Florence, Italy, to a Frankfort cemetery.
Hart’s Henry Clay On April 22, 1923, Bill Sunday started a six-week stay in Louisville . The reverend told the press he was coming to fight sin, not to tell anyone how to run a city.
April 22, 1924, Police Officer Anthony Siemon, Newport Police Department , succumbed to stab wounds sustained 23 days earlier when attempting to arrest two brothers on West 5th Street.
April 22, 1929, Chief of Police John Hunley, Prestonsburg Police Department , died from a gunshot when arrested three drunk men causing a disturbance. Two of the men were apprehended, convicted of murder, and sentenced to life.
April 22, 1944, Chief of Police Virgil Smith, Beattyville Police Department , died from a gunshot around 6 p.m. inside the Beattyville police station by a prisoner during an escape attempt.
April 22, 1949, Elizabethtown native Charles B. Middleton passed over . During a film career that began at age 46 and lasted almost 30 years, he appeared in nearly 200 films and numerous plays. He is perhaps best remembered for his role as the villainous emperor Ming the Merciless in the three Flash Gordon serials made between 1936 and 1940.
April 22, 1951, Army SGT James W. Riddle from Adair County died in the Korean War.
April 22, 1953, Army PVT Donald W. Harris from Knox County died in the Korean War.
Thursday, April 23, 1954, 10:10 a.m., President Eisenhower landed and reviewed 42 tanks in Ft. Knox before he visited President Lincoln’s birth home in Hodgenville and spoke to 4,500 people. The President then flew to Lexington to be the keynote speaker at Transylvania University’s 175th -anniversary celebration. Eisenhower became the 5th sitting president to visit the cabin.
April 22, 1960, the temperature of 88.2 degrees was the hottest April 22 in Kentucky since the Weather Bureau began keeping records in 1873 . The old record was 85.3, set in 1946.
April 22, 1967, Army PFC Arnold L. Brock from Kettle Island in Bell County and Army PFC Ewell Lee Jr. from Liberty in Casey County died in the Vietnam War.
April 22, 1970, Air Force COL Charlie B. Davis, Jr. from Daysboro in Wolfe County died in the Vietnam War.
April 22, 1976, the U.S. National Register of Historic Places accepted Fayette County’s Hurricane Hall . Patrick Henry Thomson inherited the house in 1856 and maintained a private school on the estate. The Thomson family had 12 children that ran through the house like a hurricane. The home, along with 381 acres has been for sale for two years.
By Kyman1959 April 22, 1980, by a tie vote, the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld a state law requiring that a copy of the Ten Commandments remain posted in each public elementary and secondary school classroom.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Murray native Dustin Lee Howard, born in 1986. Better known as Chuck Taylor on the professional wrestler circuit, he began his career at age 15, under the tutelage of Brandon Walker at the Old School Wrestling Training Academy in Hardin.
April 22, 1998, Leif Meadows from Stanton caught a state record Golden Redhorse weighing 4 lbs., 5 ozs. in the Red River.
April 22, 2000, Tiznow finished a nondescript 6th at 13.80-1 odds in his career debut at Santa Anita.
April 22, 2003, Ashland native Brandon Webb made his MLB pitching debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Montreal Expos. During his tenure with Kentucky, Webb set the all-time single-season record for strikeouts by a Wildcat (123).
April 22, 2008, the Seahawks cut Florence native Shaun Alexander . He would play with the Redskins for the remainder of the year and then retire.
April 22, 2010, the world celebrated the 40th anniversary of Earth Day .
April 22, 2020, Governor A. Beshear announced 196 new coronavirus cases for a Kentucky total of 3,373 , with 36,075 people tested. He also reported 14 deaths bringing that total to 185, with 165 individuals in intensive care. Friends and family stayed separated, especially those in nursing homes. Meanwhile, State Police arrested a Louisville lawyer after he made a threatening post to the governor when he referenced Governor William Goebel.
April 22, 2021, Governor A. Beshear announced that 18 vaccinated residents caught coronavirus in an Eastern Kentucky nursing home, and one passed . These breakthrough cases came at a time when Kentucky’s vaccination rate slowed down. The governor continued to push the vaccine hard, “With 37% of Kentuckians vaccinated, there is still a risk of a 4th spike. If people don’t get vaccinated, new variants will cause an increase in cases.”
On April 22, 2022, a jury awarded a former chief financial officer of UK Healthcare $1.75 million after the university fired him in 2017 after he complained about his $330,000 annual salary. UK possibly thought his paycheck was too high for a healthcare industry bean counter. Meanwhile, the Feds arrested a Lexington man after he lied to secure a coronavirus relief loan for $50,000. If a little fish could steal $50k, it makes one wonder what the big hitters got away with, possibly billions.
