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Today in Kentucky History

On October 26, 1861, around 300 Union soldiers faced off in the Battle of Saratoga against 160 Confederate soldiers in Lyon County.  They battled over the Confederate Army’s attempts to secure Kentucky locations along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.  Ultimately, the Confederate soldiers lost.  By the mid-1862, the Union Army had control over most of Kentucky and remained in control of the state until the war ended in April 1865.

October 26, 1881, the 11th annual meeting of the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) began in Louisville, the 1st time a Southern state hosted a national suffrage event.  AWSA President Lucy Stone and Mary Barr Clay (who became AWSA president in 1883) organized the meeting with Mary Jane Warfield Clay in Lexington.  The convention gathered the curious about the suffrage movement.  It also gave birth to Kentucky’s 1st suffrage organization, and the 1st in the South, the Kentucky Woman Suffrage Association (KWSA).

October 26, 1912, Kentucky and Louisville played the 1st Governor’s Cup, known then as the “Championship of the State.”  Kentucky crushed Louisville 41-0 in Lexington’s Stoll Field.  The two teams would meet five more times over the next eleven years, with Kentucky winning all six times.

October 26, 1929, Kentucky and Centre met on the gridiron for the last time.  Kentucky won 33-0 in Danville.  The two teams played 13 times; Centre won eight to Kentucky’s five.  Each game was a shutout except for the 1922 matchup in Lexington.

On October 26, 1956, folk singer John Jacob Niles performed a benefit concert at the Cumberland High School gymnasium for the locals.  The night prior he played in Hazard.

On October 26, 1968, Governor L. Nunn spoke at UK’s dedication ceremonies for the Kirwan-Blanding residential complex.  The 11-unit dormitory complex with twin 23-story towers would house 2,700 students.  Sarah Blanding was a former dean of women, and Dr. Kirwan was a history professor and an interim president.

On October 26, 1972, President R. Nixon visited Ashland to campaign as an incumbent for the presidential election 12 days before people voted.  Nixon spoke at 9:02 p.m. in the Paul G. Blazer High School gymnasium for approximately 20 minutes.  He spoke without referring to notes and made references to Kentuckians: Lucy Winchester, his Social Secretary, John Sherman Cooper, Henry Clay, Alben Barkley, Thruston Morton, Marlow Cook, Tim Lee Garter, Happy Chandler, and several references to Louie Nunn, his Kentucky campaign manager.  Kentucky sided with Nixon (63.37%) over McGovern (34.77%). 

October 26, 1976, UK held its 1st practice at Rupp Arena where Coach Joe B. Hall stepped on the floor and declared, “This is one impressive place.”

On Sunday, October 26, 1980, 60 Minutes spotlighted McKee in one of its 20-minute segments.  Mike Wallace traveled to the Southeastern community to investigate a “scandal” over building a middle school.  The story focused on supposed “bribes” to influence location and construction contracts.  CBS was desperate for stories.

At 44 years old, Henry Vance’s court case collapsed on October 26, 1987, when three detectives said that Vance was adamant that Bonnie Kelly was in Lexington on the day she shot a prosecutor in Florida.  Two days later, he took the stand in his defense and vigorously denied having anything to do with the murder; they found him guilty of conspiracy and aiding and abetting transportation of a weapon used to kill.  He served nine years of a 15-year sentence.  Many say his conviction put an end to the Bluegrass Conspiracy.

By October 26, 1999, Kentucky’s restaurant smoking debate hit full stride, and the number of obese Americans had exploded.  Meanwhile, Kentucky Sheriffs demanded an apology from gubernatorial candidate Peppy Martin, who claimed on TV that “most of them bootleg.”

On October 26, 2001, the U.S. Olympic Committee announced their final four cities, and Cincinnati was missing from the list.  The omission denied Lexington and Louisville a chance to host specific games.  Cincinnati spent five years and $4 million to prepare and submit the bid.

On Saturday October 26, 2002, Chicago hosted BC for the 1st time, the 19th edition at picturesque Arlington Park.  The day began when Azeri dominated in the Distaff by 5.  It ended with the shock of the day.  The lightly regarded four-year-old Volponi (44-1) won by the largest margin in Classic history, a widening 6½ lengths under jockey Jose Santos.  Volponi’s trainer, Phil Johnson, at 77, became the oldest trainer to win a BC race.  Azeri later received Horse of the Year honors and Volponi’s victory exposed the pick-6 betting scandal.

A new era began on Friday, October 26, 2007, as the 24th BC expanded to a two-day event.  For the 1st time, Monmouth Park hosted the event on the shores of New Jersey.  BC leaders added three new races for the new format:  Juvenile Turf, Dirt Mile, and the Filly & Mare Sprint.  As a result, there would be three races on this day and eight on Saturday.

On October 26, 2009, an actor dressed like Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Sanders sneaked into United Nations headquarters and shook hands with the UN General Assembly president before finally being ejected.  KFC pulled the stunt to promote a new grilled chicken line.

On October 26, 2011, President Obama dangled a carrot in front of his young constituents when he unveiled a plan to reduce student loans, a promise made every election cycle nowadays.  Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves, located in Covington, ruled his court would decide the thousands of lawsuits against big pharma’s pain pills made with propoxyphene.

October 26, 2018, Franklin Circuit Judge T. Wingate ruled that slot-like “instant racing” machines at Ellis Park and Kentucky Downs did not break the state’s gambling laws.  Since 2010, both sides debated the game of chance based on a database of previously run races.  Churchill officials welcomed the decision due to their $65 million investment into the machines.

On October 26, 2022, the fallout from the lockdowns continued as more local restaurants closed their doors, when many workers refused to return to the workforce.  As elections neared, candidates discussed how hard it was to go against the big money donors and their cronies.  Meanwhile, America’s proxy war for fossil fuel profits intensified on Russia’s border.

On October 26, 2023, the KHC posted some good Kentucky trivia.

Split Decision