TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

October 26, 2022October 26, 2022

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

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. However, by 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 11^th annual meeting of the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) began in Louisville, the 1^st 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 1^st suffrage organization, and the 1^st in the South, the Kentucky Woman Suffrage Association (KWSA).

October 26, 1912, Kentucky and Louisville played the 1^st Governor’s Cup. Kentucky beat Louisville 41-0 in Lexington’s Stoll Field. The two teams would meet five more times over the next eleven years, Kentucky winning all six times.

October 26, 1921, Lexington officials declared Court Days a public nuisance and abolished the gathering. The fun started in the antebellum days and grew to be an annual event, presumably too big and too fun.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Joseph Franklin “Jumping Joe” Fulks, born in Marshall County in 1921. Birmingham, his hometown, a small community in the state’s far-western Purchase region, no longer exists after the TVA dammed the Tennessee River to create Kentucky Lake in the 1940s. He played college ball at Murray State University (then known as Murray State Teachers College) for two years before leaving school to join the Marines in May 1942. His number 26 hangs in the rafters at Murray State’s CFSB Center. Jumpin Joe is a two-time NBA All-Star, some say the 1^st All-Star of the NBA. He’s the only Hall of Fame player in Springfield, Canton, or Cooperstown, that was murdered.

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.

Sunday night, October 26, 1952, the Hilltoppers appeared on Ed Sullivan’s nationally syndicated CBS television show, Toast of the Town. Ed said Western Kentucky University’s name wrong.

October 26, 1970, Muhammad Ali (30-0) fought Jerry Quarry (37-4-4). Ali returned from a three-and-a-half-year absence to fight in Atlanta. Quarry was a tough heavyweight perfectly capable of winning the heavyweight title held by Joe Frazier. He was not intimidated by Ali. Still, when he suffered a deep cut over his left eye that his corner was unable to close, referee Tony Perez called it after the 3^rd round. Quarry, bitterly disappointed, got off his chair and moved toward Ali. Still, Ali’s cornerman, Bundini Brown, stopped him.

October 26, 1972, President Richard Nixon visited Ashland to campaign as an incumbent for the presidential election, 12 days later before people voted. Nixon spoke at 9:02 p.m. at a rally in the gymnasium of the Paul G. Blazer High School for approximately 20 minutes. He spoke without referring to notes and made references to Kentuckians: Lucy Winchester, Social Secretary at Nixon’s White House, 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%).

On October 26, 1996, Canada hosted the Breeders’ Cup for the 1^st time. Woodbine got the nod for the 13^th edition, and Jenine Sahadi became the 1^st female trainer to win a Breeders’ Cup race when Lit de Justice came from last to 1^st to win the Sprint under Corey Nakatani. It was back-to-back victories for Nakatani, who next rode the filly Jewel Princess to win the Distaff. In the Classic, Cigar tried to become the 1^st horse to win the race in consecutive years.

Sprint

Distaff

Classic

October 26, 1996, Bill Curry’s Wildcats beat the Georgia Bulldogs at home. Coach Curry beat Georgia twice, once in his first year in 1990, and again in his last year, 1996.

On October 26, 2001, the U.S. Olympic Committee announced their final four cities, and Cincinnati was not on the list. With the omission, they denied Lexington and Louisville a chance to host specific games. Cincinnati spent five years and $4 million to prepare and submit the bid.

On October 26, 2002, Chicago and picturesque Arlington Park hosted the Breeders’ Cup for the 1^st time, the 19^th edition. The four-year-old filly Azeri began the day by dominating the Distaff with a five-length victory. The day closed with the biggest shock of the Breeders’ Cup. The lightly regarded four-year-old Volponi went into the gate at nearly 44-1 but came home a winner by the largest margin in Classic history, a widening 6 ½ lengths under jockey Jose Santos. Volponi’s trainer, Phil Johnson, at 77, became the oldest trainer to win a Breeders’ Cup race. Distaff winner Azeri later received Horse of the Year honors and a betting scandal erupted.

Distaff

Turf

Classic

On October 26, 2004, gas prices in Kentucky hit $2.00 a gallon. The price had spiked over $2.00 before, but experts claimed this spike was permanent.

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

F&M Sprint

Juvenile Turf

Dirt Mile

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 stunt pulled the stunt to promote their new grilled chicken line.

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.

October 26, 2019, Louisville began an animal abuse registry similar to a sex offender registry. The list approved by the Louisville Metro Council kept animals from people with a history of abuse, a move that made local rules more robust than Kentucky laws.

October 26, 2019, Humana laid off 800 workers in an effort to meet Wall Street earning expectations.