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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia

November 5, 1768, the Haudenosaunee and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Fort Stanwix.  The treaty established a line of property following the Ohio River that ceded the Kentucky portion of the Colony of Virginia to the British, as well as most of what is now West Virginia.

November 5, 1788, President George Washington purchased 5,000 acres in Kentucky.  The land began on the south side of Rough Creek, with all five thousand acres located within Grayson County.  George Washington regarded the ground as more valuable than what he paid for it because of the abundance of iron ore.  Records indicated Washington paid “600 pounds in current money of Virginia.”  Unfortunately, Washington died in 1799 before he could visit Kentucky.

November 5, 1788, Virginia approved Mason County.  The new county came from Bourbon County, the 1st county not of the original three, to be divided into a new county.  Locals named the county after George Mason, a statesman known as the “Father of the Bill of Rights.”  Maysville is the county seat.  Other localities include; Dover, Germantown, Maysville, Sardis, Mays Lick, Fernleaf, Helena, Lewisburg, Minerva, Orangeburg, Shannon, Somo, and Weedonia.  Mason County covers 246 square miles and was the 8th county created.

November 5, 1896, the Louisville Athletic Club defeated Centre College in Danville 28-0.  

November 5, 1897, Patrolman John T. O’Brien, Louisville Police Department, died while investigating a disturbance on Marshall Street.  Four drunken men had started to chase another man involved in an argument.  As Patrolman O’Brien helped one man up who fell, another opened fire.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Lexington native John Winston (“Squire”) Coleman, Jr., author and historian born in 1898.  Coleman began researching, collecting, and writing Kentucky history in 1932 and became renowned for his work in state and local history, especially on the Bluegrass Region.  He wrote more than twenty books; the first, Masonry in the Bluegrass, was published in 1933.  His better known works are Stage-coach Days in the Bluegrass (1935), Slavery Times in Kentucky (1940), A Bibliography of Kentucky History (1949), The Springs of Kentucky (1955), Historic Kentucky (1967), and Kentucky: A Pictorial History (1972).  Coleman’s private collection on Kentucky history included approximately 3,500 books, pamphlets, manuscripts, maps, atlases, and more than two thousand photographs and negatives.  Mr. Coleman donated most of his large collection of Kentuckiana to Transylvania University.

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November 5, 1904, the Kentucky State College Blue and White Football team (UK) beat the Kentucky Military Institute team 11-0 in Lexington at Stoll Field.

November 5, 1907, Officer Michael Murphy, Lexington Police Department, died from a gunshot while attempting to arrest a man who was caused a disturbance at a polling place near High Street and Broadway on Election Day.

November 5, 1910, on the 8th time they played, Kentucky defeated Tennessee 10-0 in Knoxville.

November 5, 1912, Constable Tomas “Tom” Campbell, Lee County Constable’s Office, died from a gunshot while he attempted to arrest a father and son who were wanted on a bench warrant.  Both subjects had previously threatened Constable Campbell’s life if he attempted to arrest them.

November 5, 1917, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Kentucky’s Buchanan vs. Warley lawsuit.  Buchanan was a white individual who sold a house to Warley, a black individual.  Louisville had an ordinance that prohibited blacks from living on a block where the majority of residents were white.  Since whites occupied 8 of 10 houses, Warley was not allowed to live on the block.  Buchanan sued Warley in Jefferson County Circuit Court to complete the sale.  Warley cited the city ordinance as the reason for the non-completion of the sale. Buchanan alleged that the ordinance violated the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.  The question went to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, which said the ordinance was fair.  The U.S. Supreme Court overruled the Kentucky Court of Appeals.  The ordinance did indeed violate the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment.

November 5, 1931, Deputy James W. Hogue of the McCreary County Sheriff’s Office died from a gunshot when he arrested an individual after raiding a liquor still with two other deputies.

November 5, 1935, Louisville native Charles W. Anderson, Jr. became the 1st African American elected to a Southern state legislature in the twentieth century.  The Republican immediately began to improve educational opportunities and better access to public facilities for Kentucky’s African Americans.

November 5, 1946, Woodland Auditorium featured women’s professional wrestling.  The auditorium, built at the turn of the century, showcased everything from professional wrestling to piano performers on the classical music circuit.  Officials condemned it for public use in 1952 and tore down in the 1970s.  It stood near the corner of East High Street and Kentucky Avenue.

November 5, 1952, John Sherman Cooper began his 2nd of three terms as a U.S. Senator representing Kentucky.  He served 20 years in Class II.

November 5, 1959, Coach Adolph Rupp, Kentucky Hereford Association President, presented a trophy to E.F. Fisher at Keeneland.  Rupp stayed president of the association for 16 consecutive terms.  They awarded $10,000 in prize money at the two-day event.

November 5, 1988, Churchill Downs and Kentucky held their 1st Breeders’ Cup World Championship.  In the 5th edition, fans witnessed some of the greatest performances in the sport’s history on this rainy day.  Alysheba, who, under dark skies, won the $3 million Classic, (dubbed the “Midnight Classic”) to capture the Horse of the Year title.  Trainer D. Wayne Lukas became the 1st trainer to win three BC races on a single card.  Julie Krone became the 1st women BC jockey to ride three races.  But the day’s most dramatic moment came in the $1 million Distaff.  Undefeated Personal Ensign, trained by Lexingtonian Shug McGaughey III, will go down in history as one of BC’s most signature moments.

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November 5, 1991, Kentuckians elected Brereton Jones, the 58th governor of Kentucky, over Larry Hopkins.  Incumbent Governor W. Wilkinson could not seek a 2nd term due to term limits.  Jones received 540,468 to Hopkin’s 294,452 votes.

November 5, 1994, Europeans took a liking to the Churchill Downs turf course for the 11th Breeders’ Cup.  The Distaff paid large and Pat Day won both 2-year-old races.

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Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Falmouth native Dontaie Allen, born in 2000.  The 2019 Kentucky Mr. Basketball recently transferred from UK to WKU.

November 5, 2007, John Ferguson, representing Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, outlasted John Magnier of Coolmore to land English champion Playful Act (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells).  When the dust settled, the Keeneland toteboard read $10.5 million, demolishing the previous record of $9.4 million for a broodmare achieved by Magical Romance at the 2006 Tattersalls December sale.

Friday, November 5, 2010, the 27th Breeders’ Cup in Louisville got an early jolt by Shared Account, at 46-1, denying Midday a repeat in the Filly and Mare Turf.  Fans enjoyed six races on Friday, capped off by the Ladies Classic and eight races the following day.  They raced under the lights for the 1st time.

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Saturday, November 5, 2011, for the 2nd year in a row Churchill Downs hosted Breeders’ Cup.  Saturday’s card included nine races for the 28th edition. 

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November 5, 2012, Mandy Pope of Whisper Hill Farm paid $10 million for 2011 Horse of the Year Harve de Grace at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale in Lexington.  The price ranked 3rd behind $10.5 million for Playful Act (IRE) in 2007 mare and $14 million for Better than Honour in 2008.

On November 5, 2013, Senator Rand Paul acknowledged he made mistakes in crediting sources.  This came after a steady stream of allegations that he copied the works of others in his books, speeches, and written articles.

November 5, 2013, 40 protestors bounded together by faith, opposed the Bluegrass Pipeline Project in a Capitol Hill rally.  The protestors also delivered a petition with 36,250 names opposing the 24-inch diameter pipeline that runs 150 miles from Bracken County to Breckinridge County.

Saturday, November 5, 2016, the 33rd Breeders’ Cup World Championships ended on Saturday with nine races.  Nearly 73,000 fans packed Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, a new record for Saturday since the event expanded to two days.  In the Classic, Dubai World Cup (G1) winner California Chrome went off as the 9-10 favorite over 8-5 Arrogate and 8-1 Frosted, in a nine-horse field.

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On November 5, 2017, House Speaker Jeff Hoover resigned from his leadership position after acknowledging he settled sexual harassment claims from one of his staffers.  Hoover denied the charges but said he sent inappropriate consensual text messages.

November 5, 2019, Kentuckians voted.  The predictions were about 31% of the 3,451,537 voters would turn out, the same as 2015.  Kentucky had some of the most restrictive laws in the country pertaining to early voting, absentee voting, and the times polls closed on Election Day.  Kentucky is one of nine states that do not allow either early in-person or absentee voting by mail without an accepted excuse.  However, the shutdowns forced them to be flexible.

November 5, 2019, Andy Beshear defeated Governor M. Bevin to become Kentucky’s 63rd governor.  Beshear campaigned on day one he would disband the Kentucky Board of Education and replace them with what he claimed would be individuals who care more about children than pushing charter schools.