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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

November 7, 1825, around two o’clock in the morning, Jereboam Orville Beauchamp, a young southern Kentucky lawyer, knocked on Colonel Solomon P. Sharp’s door in downtown Frankfort and plunged a dagger deep into Sharp’s chest.  The murder becomes known as the Kentucky Tragedy or Beauchamp-Sharp Tragedy.  Anna Cooke Beauchamp directed the chain of events.  Anna had been an admirer of Sharp until Sharp denied being the father of her stillborn child.  Later, Anna begins a relationship with Cooke and agrees to marry him on the condition that he kills Sharp to avenge her honor.  Anna and Jereboam married in June 1824, and 17 months later, the tragedy occurred.  Sharpe played a prominent figure in Kentucky politics as a Representative, Congressman, and Attorney General.  On the morning of the scheduled execution, Anna and Jereboam attempted suicide in his cell with a knife.  Anna survived, and jailers loaded Jereboam on a cart to be taken to the gallows and hanged before he bled to death.

November 7, 1852, Madison County native Joshua H. Bean passed away.  Bean served with Zachary Taylor in the Mexican–American War and went to California in 1849 and San Diego in 1850, where he traded and owned saloons.  The California state legislature incorporated San Diego in 1850 and Bean became their 1st mayor until 1851.  As mayor, he illegally “sold” City Hall and city pueblo land to himself and a friend.  Bean later died in an ambush just outside Mission San Gabriel in 1852 during an argument over a woman.

November 7, 1986, the Kentucky State College (UK) football team beat Central University (EKU) 62-0.

November 7, 1899, Kentuckians voted in one of America’s most hotly contested gubernatorial elections, William S. Taylor (R) vs. William Goebel (D).  Governor William O. Bradley (R) stepped down due to term limits.

November 7, 1912, Deputy Sheriff Edward Neece, Bell County Sheriff’s Department, died from a gunshot at Brownet’s Creek near Pineville on a Sunday morning while attempting to serve a warrant for selling illegal liquor.

November 7, 1928, Constable Samuel Newton Fannin, Boyd County Constable’s Office, died from a gunshot on 15th Street in Ashland, quelling an argument on election night.  Constable Fannin intervened as two men from different political parties argued about the day’s election.

November 7, 1928, Chief of Police Fred E. Stanley, Floyd County Police Department, died from a gunshot by the father of a boy he had arrested.  When the Chief refused to return the boy’s gun to the father the man shot him.

November 7, 1929, Patrolman Poley Lloyd Faulkner, Winchester Police Department, died when he and two officers attempted to arrest a man for drunk and disorderly conduct after the suspect left a saloon.

November 7, 1932, Deputy Constable Booker Van Buren Wright, Letcher County Constable’s Office, died when he went to a house to arrest a suspect on a warrant.  When Deputy Wright arrived at the suspect’s home, near Haymond, the suspect opened fire.

November 7, 1944, Alben W. Barkley won re-election to his Class III Senate seat with 54% of the vote, to stay Senate Majority Leader.

November 7, 1949, Lexington native Vertner Woodson Tandy passed away in Manhattan.  In 1906, he and six others founded the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Cornell University.  The seven men are affectionally known as The Seven Jewels.  He served as the 1st treasurer and designed the fraternity pin.  He also became the 1st African American registered architect in New York State.

November 7, 1950, Marine Corps James D. Welsh from Owensboro in Daviess County died fighting in the Korean War.

November 7, 1951, Army SGT Henry C. McKinney from Rowan County died fighting in the Korean War.

November 7, 1956, John Sherman Cooper began his last term as a Class II U.S. Senator.  He served a total of 20 years and 174 days.  The 3rd longest behind Mitch and W. Ford.

Kentucky Trivia:  Senator Cooper served three terms, all in Class II.  Each time, two senators served in between his tours. From his first term to the present:  Cooper, Chapman, Underwood, Cooper, Barkley, Humphreys, Cooper, Huddleston, McConnell.

November 7, 1968, Deputy Sheriff Oscar Burkhart, Harlan County Sheriff’s Office, died attempting to transport a prisoner to the county jail.  The prisoner’s parents opened fire on Deputy Burkhart’s patrol car, firing over 50 rounds.  Police captured all the suspects a short time later.

November 7, 1970, Governor L. Nunn proposed that 35 east-central counties in Kentucky proclaim a national recreation area.  He told the Natural Bridge Association at Natural Bridge State Park that it would help receive federal grants.  Nunn also announced a $1 million building program for the park for a 400-person convention building.

November 7, 1970, Kentucky’s Medicaid program struck two barbiturates from the approved drug list: Pentobarbital, or “yellow jackets,” and secobarbital, also called “red devils.”  Eventually, pharmaceutical companies replaced barbiturates with opioids.  Today, individuals rotate between government and pharmaceutical professions which makes it hard to separate the two entities.

November 7, 1979, Trooper Edward Ray Harris, Kentucky State Police, died from a gunshot making an arrest in LaRue County.  Officers later shot and killed the assailant.

November 7, 1985, a truck crossed the one-lane bridge on KY 2014 over the Cumberland River near Fourmile in Bell County.  At that time, the state Transportation Department prepared to offer the structure for sale to build a new bridge.  The Louisville Bridge and Iron Cot originally built in it 1873 and replaced in 1993.

November 7, 1989, Louisville native Gerald A. Neal became the 1st African-American to be elected to the Kentucky Senate.  He has represented Louisville ever since.

November 7, 1995, Louisville native John Patrick Goggin, 90, died in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

November 7, 1995, Paul Patton and Stephen Henry received 500,605 votes, Larry Forgy and Tom Handy received 479,227 votes, and Gatewood Galbraith and Jerry Hammond received 3,965 votes.  Patton became the 59th governor.  A new law allowed him to succeed himself.

November 7, 1998, Breeders’ Cup single-day record crowd of 80,452 witnessed two memorable performances by 6-year-old Da Hoss and Skip Away.  Da Hoss came off a two-year lay-off with one prep for the Mile.  BC announcer Tom Durkin called Da Hoss’s feat “the greatest comeback since Lazarus.”  The Classic featured one of the best fields assembled: the 1997 Derby winner Silver Charm, the last two Belmont Stakes winners Touch Gold and Victory Gallop, and the defending Classic winner Skip Away.  This was the 15th edition.

Sprint
Turf
Classic

November 7, 2000, the battle for control of the state senate ended after the most expensive legislative race in Kentucky’s history.  The two candidates, in far eastern Kentucky’s 31st Senate District, reported spending $917,250, beating the record by $200,000.  The elephants had a two-seat majority thanks to two members switching parties.  Also, a Fulton County school board election ended in a tie; a coin toss decided the race.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Ashland native Anthony Reeves, born in 2001.

November 7, 2004, Marine Lance CPL Sean M. Langley, 20, of Lexington died fighting in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Saturday, November 7, 2009, Zenyatta became the 1st female to win the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Classic.  She carried 124 lbs. and won by one length over Gio Ponti, earning $2,700,000 of the $5,000,000 purse.  She also became the 1st horse to win two different Breeders’ Cup races winning the Ladies Classic in 2008.  Zenyatta won 19 consecutive races in a 20-race career.  This was the 26th edition of the World Championship Races.

Dirt Mile
Turf
Classic

Sunday, November 7, 2010, Frank Stronach brought Awesome Feather for $2.3 million at Lexington’s Fasig-Tipton, two days after she won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.  Dubai Majesty, who won the Filly & Mare Sprint, also sold for $1.1 million.  Gabby’s Golden Gal, the 10th-place finisher in the Filly & Mare Sprint, sold for $1.2 million.

November 7, 2014, a federal appeals court upheld gay marriage bans in Kentucky and three other states.

2:00 p.m., November 7, 2016, a massive fire broke out at Heaven Hill Distillery in Bardstown.  Warehouse One made from old wooden timbers aged approximately 20,000 thousand, 53-gallon white oak barrels filled with whiskey.  The barrels held 100 and 125 proof which made them highly flammable.  By 2:15, the fire engulfed the entire warehouse.

November 7, 2018, a few Kentucky lawmakers requested a judge to keep sealed sexual harassment allegations from the public.  They claimed the sworn testimony of a former female staffer who accused them of sexual harassment was too graphic and highly embarrassing.

November 7, 2019, a fire caused significant damage to a GenCanna hemp processing facility in Winchester.  Employees inside the facility said it caught fire at 8:15 PM, with no injuries reported.  GenCanna Global USA Inc., a prominent Kentucky producer of cannabidiols, filed bankruptcy three months later.

On November 7, 2020, officials declared Joe Biden President after reaching the required electoral votes, four days after the election.  His running mate history as the 1st woman and 1st woman of color to be Vice President.  Meanwhile, in Kentucky, the virus continued to spread.  Governor A. Beshear, “We need everyone to wear a mask and follow the red zone recommendations and other guidelines, like limiting travel and social distancing so that we can stop this alarming escalation of cases.”

Positives:  2,162 / 119,661
Deaths:  17 / 1,561 – 1st Death 3/16/20
50&over: 1,521 / 49-30: 38 / 29&under: 2

Saturday, November 7, 2020, Keeneland hosted day two of the Breeders Cup with participants and essential personnel only.  Authentic became the 4th horse to win the Derby and the Classic in the same year, following Sunday Silence (1989), Unbridled (1990), and American Pharoah.  A May foal in 2017, the four-month pandemic postponement of this year’s Derby undoubtedly allowed him to mature mentally and physically before being asked to race in the two biggest races within two months.

Distaff
Turf
Classic