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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia

November 3, 1792, in the 1st post office west of the Allegheny Mountains, postmaster Thomas Barbee received the 1st mail delivery.

Monday, November 3, 1794, the Kentucky legislatures occupied their 1st permanent capitol building in Frankfort, the 3rd building used as a state capitol.  The 1st floor contained the offices of the state auditor, treasurer, registrar, and public printer.  The 2nd floor held the House of Representatives, committee rooms, and courtrooms.  The 3rd floor housed the Kentucky Senate and offices of the Secretary of State.  The building lasted 19 years before a fire gutted it in November 1813.  The following permanent capitol building also burned.  Kentucky has had eight different capitol buildings.  All have been in Frankfort except the 1st temporary log cabin used in Lexington.  The Kentucky Encyclopedia edited by John E. Kleber; pg: 161

November 3, 1816, Kentucky appointed Martin D. Harmon the 7th Class II U.S. Senator for four months and then he retired.

November 3, 1876, Eddyville native John Long Routt became Colorado’s 1st governor.

November 3, 1885, Nathan Stubblefield received his 1st U.S. patent, #329,864.  His tool for lighting coal oil lamps made it possible to leave the glass chimney on when lighting.  Nathan also invented the wireless telephone.  He rests in peace in Calloway County.

November 3, 1887, President Grover Cleveland issued 1st timber claim certificate in the U.S. in Colorado to a Breckinridge County native named George Washington Swink.

November 3, 1892, Harrodsburg native Frances Wisebart Jacobs passed away.  Over 4,000 people attended her funeral at Temple Emanuel in Denver.  Speakers included the Denver mayor and the Colorado governor.  The United Way and Denver’s Jewish Hospital Association are two philanthropy organizations she founded.

In the early morning of November 3, 1917, McLean County native James Bethel Gresham became the 1st American casualty of World War I when German raiders killed him.

November 3, 1936, Constable Brock Sizemore, Knox County Constable’s Office, died while attempting to arrest an intoxicated man at a polling place during an election.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Washington County native Phil Simms, born in 1955 in Springfield.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Louisville native Kym Hampton, born in 1962.  The New York Liberty drafted Kym as the #4 pick in the 1997 WNBA Elite draft and played three seasons (1997–1999).

November 3, 1966, President L. Johnson invited Louisville social worker Pearl L. Bell to the White House to witness the signing of the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act and the Child Protecting Act.

November 3, 1967, Army SP4 Don Potter from Paducah died fighting in the Vietnam War.

November 3, 1968, Army SSG James R. Norris from new Haven in Nelson County and Army SSG Billy J. Pitts from Pyramid in Floyd County died fighting in the Vietnam War.

November 3, 1975, Louisville police used tear gas to disperse 5,000 antibusing demonstrators that blocked traffic and a major road after a pre-election protest march.  The law deployed that gas after officers got hit with bricks and bottles.

November 3, 1976, Jimmy Carter wakes to be President-Elect over President G. Ford.

November 3, 1981, Kentuckians exercised their right to vote and overwhelmingly denied Governor John Y. Brown Jr.’s succession amendment which he said would be a referendum on his administration if passed.  The voters defeated the proposal in almost all sections of the state.

November 3, 1992, Kentucky gave a very narrow victory to Bill Clinton over President Bush.  Senator W. Ford won a 4th term and Hal Rogers, Jim Bunning, William Natcher, and Scotty Baesler won seats in the House.

November 3, 2000, votes to allow alcohol sales in large restaurants proceeded in Georgetown and ten other communities when Franklin Circuit Judge R. Crittenden ruled that registered voters could indeed vote on such a measure.  Kentucky legislatures created a new law that enabled dry cities and counties to let voters decide if restaurants that seat 100 people would be able to sell alcohol in those restaurants.  Citizens who filed the suit opposed the new law and alcohol.

November 3, 2004, G.W. Bush won a 2nd term while Kentucky Republicans increased their majority in both houses for Governor E. Fletcher’s last two years.

November 3, 2003, while John Magnier bought the 1999 BC juvenile filly winner for a world record $7.1 million at Keeneland, Thomas Post purchased the castle a few miles down the road in Versailles for $1.8 million.  The original owner, Rex Martin, Sr., died several months earlier.  Meanwhile, a Lexington murder that had gone cold reopened with DNA evidence.

November 3, 2005, a judge sentenced a mother of a teenage boy who killed a pedestrian walking their neighbor’s dog with his car.  The victim, Morehead State University VP, had his leg amputated, and the dog died.  The mother who habitually let her 15-year-old son drive her Mercedes received two years in jail and had to write a public letter of apology.

Saturday, November 3, 2012, the 29th Breeders’ Cup in Santa Anita would be a good day for Kentucky horses and Kentucky horsemen including Dale Romans and Buff Bradley.

Turf
F&M Sprint
Classic

November 3, 2015, Yankee Matt Bevin defeated Kentuckian Jack Conway to become the 62nd governor.

November 3, 2017, Rand Paul’s neighbor tackled the Republican legislator in Paul’s backyard in Bowling Green.  Paul suffered broken ribs, sued, and won $580,000 in a civil lawsuit.  The neighbor disagreed with the Senator’s landscaping methods?

November 3, 2017, House Republicans rallied around embattled House Speaker Jeff Hoover as he vowed to remain in his leadership role despite secretly settling a sexual harassment suit.  He said he “would not retire.” Instead, he quit 66 days later.

Friday, November 3, 2017, Del Mar Racetrack, hosted their 1st Breeders’ Cup World Championships, the 34th edition.  The $2 million Longines BC Distaff (G1) for older fillies and mares going 1 1/8M on the main track highlighted Friday’s card.  Elate, Stellar Wind, and Forever Unbridled were all Grade I winners. 23-1 Champagne Room set the pace.

Distaff
Juvenile Turf
Dirt Mile

Saturday, November 3, 2018, the 35th Breeders’ Cup continued in Louisville.  Peter Miller turned in an incredible training feat, becoming the 1st trainer to have the same two runners repeat as BC champions.  First, the California-based Miller trained Stormy Liberal to successfully defend his title in the $1 million Turf Sprint.  Three races later, Miller saddled the 6-year-old gelding Roy H to his 2nd straight Sprint.

Turf Sprint
F&M Turf
Classic

November 3, 2020, U.S. Rep. Harold Rogers won his 21st term representing Southeastern Kentucky in the 5th District.  Kentucky’s longest-serving politician in Congress continues to serve as the dean of Kentucky’s congressional delegation, which includes five Republicans and one Democrat.  Officials would declare Joe Biden the 46th president four days later.  Kentucky elephants took complete control of the Kentucky legislator; 75-25 in the House and 30-8 in the Senate.  In 1991, Democrats had the advantage 72-28 and 25-13, respectively.

November 3, 2022, environmentalists released a national report on power stations, and Kentucky could have shown better.  Fifteen power plants had negative scores on coal ash management.  The Ghent and Trimble County stations ranked as the 12th and 13th worst water contaminators in the nation.