Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

When I do good, I feel good.  When I do bad, I feel bad.  That’s my religion.  Abraham Lincoln

September 22, 1842, Illinois State Legislature Abraham Lincoln met Illinois State Auditor James Shields on the “field of honor” to duel.  Published letters written by Abe and Mary Todd attacking Shields for his politics and women’s pursuit fueled the duel.  In August, Lincoln got upset that the Illinois State Bank went bankrupt and announced that it would no longer accept its own paper currency from private citizens.  This set the duel in motion.  Lincoln set the parameters and it was to be fought with large cavalry broadswords, in a pit, divided by a board that no man could step over.  In creating such parameters, Lincoln aimed to disarm his opponent using his superior reach advantage and avoid bloodshed on either side.  On the day of the duel, the combatants met at Bloody Island, Missouri.  As the two men faced each other, with a plank between them that neither was allowed to cross, Lincoln swung his sword high above Shields to cut through a nearby tree branch.  This act demonstrated the immensity of Lincoln’s reach and strength.  It was enough to show Shields that he was at a fatal disadvantage.  With the encouragement of bystanders, the two men called a truce.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Danville native, Hugh Lenox Scott, born in 1853.  Scott was a U.S. Army officer who graduated from West Point.  He served as superintendent of West Point from 1906 to 1910 and was Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army from 1914 to 1917.

On September 22, 1902, Louisville won the bid to host the Kentucky State Fair by utilizing the Churchill Downs facility.  The racetrack proudly opened its gates for its 1^st fair and welcomed 75,000 fairgoers in six days.  The featured events included horse shows, steam auto races, and the head-on collision of two freight trains.

State Fair Trivia:  Kentuckians formed a fair in 1816, just five years after the U.S.’s 1^st fair in Massachusetts.  Fayette County farmer Colonel Lewis Sanders led the occasion (no known relation to Col. H Sanders of KFC).  The event did not become an official state fair until 1902 and moved from city to city until 1907 when Louisville became the fair’s permanent home.  Churchill Downs has hosted the fair on three occasions, particularly during World War II.  The fair moved to its site at the Kentucky Exposition Center in 1956.

September 22, 1917, secret agents from Lexington’s Commission on Social Hygiene visited Belle Brezing’s house at 153 Megow St.
Madam Belle Brezing by Buddy Thompson pg 123

September 22, 1922, Deputy James Holiday, Perry County Sheriff’s Office, died when he and another deputy responded to a domestic disturbance between a husband and wife.  As the deputies approached the front door the husband immediately opened fire, striking Deputy Holiday four times.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Louisville native Gerald A. Neal, born in 1945, the 1^st African American man elected to the Kentucky State Senate.

September 22, 1950, Army PVT John Grey Arnett from Wolfe County, Army SFC Henry C. Gamble from Jefferson County, Army SGT Elmo Porter from Owsley County, Army SGT Herman R. Taylor from Logan County, all died fighting in the Korean War.

September 22, 1951, Army PVT Glenn W. Fannin from Perry County died fighting in the Korean War.

September 22, 1962, Charley Bradshaw coached his 1^st game as UK’s head football coach.  He tied Florida State at home 0-0.  He would be shutout two more times and tie once more in the season.  The Wildcats finished the 1962 season with a 3-5-2 record.

September 22, 1966, Marine Corps SGT Billy Brown King from Elizabethtown died in the Vietnam War.

September 22, 1969, Army CPL Glenn Martin Bradley from Owensboro and Army CPL James Irvine Yates from Mt. Eden in Spencer County, both 20-years-old, died in the Vietnam War.

September 22, 1970, Army SSG Bobby George Fields from Letcher County died in the Vietnam War.

September 22, 1970, V.P. Agnew spoke in Louisville for two hours at a luncheon, where he criticized the FCC for defending rock lyrics and their pro-drug message.

September 22, 1971, the Louisville Colonels played in the 2^nd ever ABA vs. NBA preseason exhibition game.  Over 13,800 fans watched the Colonels defeat the Baltimore Bullets 111–85 in Freedom Hall in the ABA’s 1^st win against the NBA.  The ABA’s Dallas Chaparrals lost to the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks 106-103 the night before, in the 1^st matchup between the two leagues.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Bowling Green native Gary Barnidge, born in in 1985.  Gary had a standout season with the Cleveland Browns in 2015, surpassing 1,000 receiving yards.  He was selected in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft after playing college football at Louisville.

September 22, 1985, six went to post in the Ruffian Handicap (G1) at Belmont Park.  The Gene Klein entry of Lady’s Secret and Life’s Magic went off at 4-5.  It would be easy for Lady’s Secret who made it seven wins in a row.

September 22, 2000, President Clinton announced a special commission to help tobacco farmers.  Governor Patton urged the President to take some affirmative steps to address the tobacco situation.  Patton, in the same week, announced a program to ease farmers out of growing tobacco.

September 22, 2011, a Lexington Federal Judge released two men on bail while awaiting sentencing for running an oil and gas scam that bilked investors out of $38 million.  One defendant, Gary Milby from Campbellsville, appeared on MTV’s reality show, My Super Sweet 16, where he gave his daughter a helicopter ride and a new BMW.

September 22, 2014, President Barack Obama bombed another country, this time Syria.

September 22, 2015, Ford Motor Co. announced they would expand the size of their stamping facility, body shop and materials handling department at their Kentucky truck plant.

September 22, 2017, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer declared it “Statesman” day to recognize the movie Kingsman’s: The Golden Circle.  British spies come to Kentucky to team up with their U.S. counterparts, called the “Statesmen.”  Brown Foreman’s Old Forester Statesman, along with other Brown Foreman swag, was seen throughout the movie.

September 22, 2020, the U.S. death toll surpassed 200,000.  “This is a major challenge of our lifetimes,” Governor A. Beshear said, and “we’re going to be judged in part by how many Kentuckians and how many Americans we let die.”  The statement may have been overdramatic but the governor got caught up in the moment.

Positives:  824 / 62,731
Deaths:  7 / 1,119 – 1st death 3/16/20
50&over:  1,088 / 49-30: 30 / 29&under: 1

September 22, 2021, a 16-year-old Eastern High School student died and two other teens were injured after someone drove by a school bus stop and shot them.