Kentucky Trivia
On November 14, 1779, surveyors Walker and Smith walked off course while establishing the border between Kentucky and Tennessee. In what is now Simpson County and Robertson County, Tennessee, a pronounced dip pointed south created a triangular-shaped portion of land known as the “Simpson County Offset.”
November 14, 1806, Kentucky created Casey County from Lincoln County and named it in honor of William Casey, Revolutionary War Colonel. Liberty is the county seat. Other cities and towns located in the county include: Bethelridge, Clementsville, Creston, Dunnville, Middleburg, Phil, Jacktown, Teddy, Upper Tygart, Walltown, Windsor and Yosemite. The 46th county created covers 446 square miles.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Louisville native Joshua Fry Speed, born in 1814. A businessman and confidant of Abraham Lincoln, he studied at a private school and then at St. Joseph’s Academy in Bardstown (1832-33). He left Louisville in 1835 for Springfield, Illinois, where he and Lincoln became friends. During the Civil War, Lincoln offered him the position of Treasury Secretary, but each time Speed declined. However, he did serve as the President’s adviser on western affairs. In 1842, J.F. Speed returned to Louisville to marry Fannie Henning.
On November 14, 1914, Kentucky shutout Louisville 42-0 in Lexington, setting the “Governor’s Cup” overall record at Kentucky 3 and Louisville 0.
November 14, 1925, Sheriff Joe Morgan of the Leslie County Sheriff’s Office died in Hyden by a prominent citizen over an election dispute. The suspect barricaded himself in the Citizens National Bank as fighting broke out among local citizens, some who wanted to lynch the suspect, and others who considered him a hero for killing the sheriff. The governor called out the Kentucky National Guard who restored law and order and arrested the suspect.
On November 14, 1925, Frank Yount struck oil at the Spindletop field in Beaumont, Texas.
November 14, 1950, Kentucky’s Department of Finance cracked down on an unidentified ring of bootleggers selling state-owned Buicks on the “black market.” The state also addressed the rampant use of state vehicles for personal use.
On November 14, 1955, Kentucky announced a $3 billion highway improvement plan, while 740 Kentucky teachers demanded a pay raise immediately.
On November 14, 1966, Muhammad Ali (27-0) fought Cleveland “Big Cat” Williams (65-5-1) in the Houston Astrodome. Williams, 33, once a formidable fighter, was worn out by this time. He had been shot in the stomach by a police officer, attacked by a girlfriend with a meat cleaver, and gone toe-to-toe twice with Liston, being KO’d early in both fights. Ali became concerned that Williams might be badly hurt if the fight took too long. An indoor-record 35,460 saw Ali, in his own words, “the night I was at my best.” Howard Cosell told boxing writer Thomas Hauser, “The greatest Ali ever was as a fighter was against Williams. That night, he was the most devastating fighter who ever lived.” He also did the Ali Shuffle for the 1st time as a pro before knocking out Williams in the 3rd round lived.
November 14, 1967, Army SP5 Paul E. Johnson from Lookout in Pike County died fighting in the Vietnam War.
November 14, 1973, was not a good day for President Nixon. The Ashland Oil, Inc. Chairman told the Senate Watergate Committee that his firm made an illegal corporate contribution to Nixon’s reelection campaign. Chairman Atkins pleaded no contest and received a $1,000 fine in a Kentucky federal court two days earlier. On the same day in Washington, D.C., a federal court ruled that it was illegal for Nixon to fire the Watergate prosecutor.
November 14, 1976, the primary phase of Jefferson County’s Swine Flu immunization campaign ended with 47% taking the vaccine. Epidemiologists stated 60-70% of a community must take the shot to stop a pandemic.
November 14, 1980, Governor John Y. Brown, Jr. ordered the state to find new jobs for 28 long-time workers who lost their state jobs by his administration’s cuts in state employees. Governor Brown laid off more than 900 workers in his first 11 months in office.
November 14, 1980, U.S. District Judge Bernard T. Moynahan Jr. ruled that ex-Governor J. Carroll’s son had to appear before a special federal grand jury investigating corruption in state government; apparently, the father and son had joint business ventures together.
November 14, 1980, Col. Harland Sanders, who rallied in his fight against leukemia, appeared to be losing a battle with pneumonia, according to his family. He would pass one month and one day later.
November 14, 1984, The Courier-Journal ended a five-day, five-report expose titled Up in Smoke. The articles addressed the troubled tobacco industry and the changes ahead. The farmers’ #1 concern was the federal government would stop buying their product.
November 14, 1993, The Kentucky Cycle opened on Broadway. The production explored the American West mythology through the intertwined histories of three fictional families struggling over a portion of land in the Cumberland Plateau. The play won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
November 14, 1994, an 11-year-old Breckinridge Elementary School student found a $40,000 diamond and turned it in. After the press hounded him for weeks, he called off his parade and shopping spree.
November 14, 1997, George Edward Arcaro, known professionally as Eddie Arcaro, passed away. The Hall of Fame jockey once won more American classic races than any other jockey in history. He is the only rider to have won the Triple Crown twice; 1941 on Whirlaway and 1948 on Citation. His other Kentucky Derby wins were Hoop Jr. (1945) and Hill Gail (1952).
On November 14, 2000, Florida officials demanded a written explanation of why they should accept late new vote totals for the presidential election held on Tuesday, November 7 between Bush and Gore. Meanwhile, elementary students from Nicholasville visited the clean and rejuvenated land in Martin County where the infamous coal-sludge spill occurred.
November 14, 2004, Adair County native Evelyn West a.k.a. Evelyn “$50,000 Treasure Chest” West and “The Hubba-Hubba Girl,” died. The burlesque legend of the forties, fifties, and sixties was a fixture in St. Louis and got hauled to jail at least a half dozen for obscenity. Evelyn West was best known for her large (39½ inch) bustline and insured them for $50,000 through Lloyd’s of London in 1947. Quite the comedian, she would often quip to her audience, “I know you’re looking at my shoes.”
November 14, 2008, a jury ordered a Kentucky KKK grand wizard Ron Edwards and two former lieutenants to pay 19-year-old Jordan Gruver $1.5 million for lost wages and medical expenses and $1 million in punitive damages. The racists beat him close to death at a county fair.
November 14, 2011, locals convicted two more Western Kentucky Amish men in Graves County for refusing to put slow-moving vehicle emblems on their buggies. They faced jail after refusing to pay fines and court costs. The 26-year-old Amish man, who belonged to the strict old Swartzentruber Sect, refused to obey the court, stating the emblems were “loud, flashy color” and violated the community’s rules requiring the rules of using subtle colors.
November 14, 2011, the controversial question of whether to ban anti-bleeding medication (Lasix) on race day at Kentucky tracks came before the state horse racing commission, exposing the same split among regulators as in the racing industry itself.
Kentucky Trivia: In 2020, Kentucky banned using Lasix on race day for two-year-olds. Horses in the 2021 Kentucky Derby ran without Lasix for the 1st time when Kentucky refused the drug on race day for graded stakes races. The goal is a complete elimination by July 1, 2022. The last horse to win the Derby without the drug was Grindstone in 1996.
November 14, 2013, Mitch joked with the press about how bad HealthCare.gov operated under President Obama. The senator had already accepted $75k from a health insurance firm that got paid $155 million to fix the technical problems.
November 14, 2019, Governor Matt Bevin FINALLY conceded he lost reelection eleven days after Kentuckians voted and before officials completed the recanvas.
On November 14, 2020, the state reported positive coronavirus cases quadrupled since mid-August in Kentucky nursing homes. These senior living facilities accounted for 60% of Kentucky deaths related to the flu strain. For the 2nd day in a row, the one-day record for positive cases got broken with 3,303 cases. Meanwhile, locals read about a 2015 no-knock warrant the Lexington police served on the wrong house.
Positives: 3,303 / 136,137
Deaths: 11 / 1,658 – 1st Death 3/16/20
50&over: 1,617 / 49-30: 39 / 29&under: 2
November 14, 2021, on Meet the Press, Chuck Todd asked, “Do you regret giving credibility to the Steele Dossier?” Rep. A. Schiff replied, “I don’t.”
November 14, 2022, Rep. J. Comer (R-Ky.), told Just the News he had evidence that showed even though Dr. Anthony Fauci was warned the virus likely originated from a lab leak in Wuhan, China, he constructed, with the aid of federally funded private scientists, a counternarrative that COVID-19 evolved naturally from animals.