Skip to content

TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to George Rogers Clark, born in 1752 in Albemarle County, VA.  At 20, George made his 1st trip into Kentucky via the Ohio River at Pittsburgh.  He spent the next two years surveying land and learning about the area’s natural history and Native American customs.  At 22, Clark’s military career began as a captain.  He rose to be the highest-ranking American Military Officer on the Northwestern Frontier during the American Revolutionary War.  In 1778, Clark traveled down the Ohio River and stopped at the Falls of the Ohio.  He brought with him many soldiers and families who wanted protection from the Natives.  He named their starting point “Corn Island.”  Clark set up camp there, marking Louisville’s 1st settlement, earning one of his many nicknames, “Father of Louisville.”

November 19, 1804, John Caldwell, the 2nd Lt. Gov. of Kentucky, died in office, the 1st and only Kentucky Lt. Gov. to do so.  He served under Governor C. Greenup, the 3rd governor.  John Caldwell is the namesake of Caldwell County.

November 19, 1806, Henry Clay, a Democratic-Republican, became a U.S. Senator for the 1st time, despite being younger than the constitutional age minimum.  The Kentucky legislature elected him to the Class III seat to replace John Adair’s term after the Burr Conspiracy.  Clay served four Senate terms, one in Class II and three in Class III, for a total of 16.5 years.  His 3rd term lasted 11 years as a Whig, 20 years before the Civil War.

November 19, 1863, President A. Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address.

Tuesday, November 19, 1889, another Battle on Broadway occurred, seven days after the inaugural event.  Agricultural & Mechanical College of Kentucky/Kentucky State/(UK) defeated Kentucky University (Transy), 7-1, to tie the football series.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Winchester native John Allen Tate, born in 1899 and Poet Laureate from 1943 to 1944.  During a summer visit with the poet Robert Penn Warren in Kentucky, he began a relationship with writer Caroline Gordon, whom he married years later.  In 1928, along with other New York City friends, he went to Europe.  In London, Tate visited with T. S. Eliot, whose poetry and criticism he greatly admired.  In 1928, Tate published his 1st book of poetry, Mr. Pope and Other Poems, which contained his most famous poem, “Ode to the Confederate Dead.”  That same year, Tate also published a biography, Stonewall Jackson: The Good Soldier.

November 19, 1909, Patrolman William Murphy, of the Louisville Police Department, died while investigating the sounds of gunfire near 19th Street and Baird Street off duty.  When he arrived at the scene he located a shooting victim and was told that the shooter, the victim’s neighbor, had just entered his house.  When Patrolman Murphy went to the suspect’s door and identified himself the man shot him, fatally wounding him.  The suspect was apprehended but had his case dismissed on the technicality that Patrolman Murphy had no right to enter his home.

In November 1933, the Kentucky Association disbanded, sold the track’s grandstand, clubhouse, and demolished the stables.  Due to financial difficulties, the 65 acre Lexington club disbanded 107 years after it began to construct a federal low-cost housing project.  Keeneland’s front gatehouses with initials K.A. are among the few known markers left over from the historic track. Horse Racing in Central Kentucky and Jefferson County; Marjorie Rieser University of Louisville

November 19, 1945, Governor S. Willis appointed William A. Stanfill to fill Senator Happy Chandler’s Class II seat in Washington.  William served less than a year.

November 19, 1948, mule-drawn wagons hauled 21,000 pounds of tobacco into the Geary-Wright Tobacco Warehouse at 1086 South Broadway in Lexington.  R. E. Tipton of Belmont Farm grew the crop.

November 19, 1951, the UK Wildcats accepted an invitation to play in the Cotton Bowl, its 3rd straight major post season football game.

November 19, 1952, Army CPL Lawrence A. Unsell from Campbell County died fighting in the Korean War.

November 19, 1953, the 1st three African American attorneys became members of the Louisville Bar Association.

November 19, 1955, Blanton Collier’s Kentucky Wildcats ended their season by beating #17 Tennessee Volunteers 23-0.  Earlier in the season, they tied #14 Auburn Tigers.  The Wildcats finished the year with a 6-3-1 record.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Frankfort native, Miss Elizabeth, born in 1960, an UK graduate in Communications.

November 19, 1966, Army PFC Marion Watkins from War Creek in Breathitt County died fighting in the Vietnam War.

November 19, 1967, Marine Corps SSGT Arthur J. Sanders from Ashland died fighting in the Vietnam War.

November 19, 1977, UK beat Tennessee to win their 9th game in a row to go 10-1 for Fran Curci.  The Cats finished 6th in the final AP Poll; however, they were placed on NCAA probation in December 1976, primarily recruiting violations.  Since the days of Babe Parilli and Bob Gain, the best Wildcat football team was ineligible for either the league championship or a bowl trip.

November 19, 1980, Stripes starring Bill Murray and Harold Ramis filmed at Fort Knox.

November 19, 1983, the Kentucky Center for the Arts held its grand opening in Louisville.  The legislature established the Center as “the Commonwealth’s official performing arts center.”  The Kentucky Center is the largest state-built arts facility in the country and built through a unique partnership of state, county, city, and private funds.  Kentucky Center is one of only four performing arts centers in the U.S. with a fully staffed, comprehensive education program.

November 19, 1988, Coach Claiborne’s Cats lost to Tennessee 24-28 in Knoxville.  A week before the game, tragedy hit as two of Kentucky’s players died in an alcohol-related car crash.  Kentucky’s Athletic Director, Charles Newton, decided that the traditional beer barrel awarded to the winner was not appropriate considering the circumstances.  The two teams canceled the ceremony, and both schools later agreed to end the 72-year tradition permanently.

November 19, 1996, Space Shuttle Columbia STS-80 lifted off with Franklin Story Musgrave on board; Story grew up in Franklin.

November 19, 2000, Owensboro native Darrell Waltrip drove in his last race at the NAPA 500 on the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

November 19, 2010, a coal company owner donated $1 million of a $2.3 million Harlan County High School football stadium, the county’s 1st track and field stadium and one of the state’s best.

November 19, 2013, KySat-2, a CubeSat re-designed by Kentucky Space successfully launched and activated on aboard a Minotaur.

November 2016, Coach Stoops, after four years, won six games in a season and became bowl eligible for the 1st time since 2010.  Kentucky lost in Jacksonville, Florida, to Georgia Tech in the TaxSlayer Bowl 33-18.  Meanwhile, Governor M. Bevin flew in the state’s private plane to Adventureland Park in Iowa with four bottles of Maker’s Mark, one of 67 out-of-town trips he made in two years.

November 19, 2018, Dunbar Grad and UK student Hadeel Abdallah became a Rhode Scholar, the 1st female and the 10th UK student, the last one selected in 1955.  On the same day, a Central Kentucky farmer pleaded guilty to stealing $2.6 million through insurance fraud.

November 19, 2020, the coronavirus pandemic began to peak in more ways than one.  The governor announced more record-breaking numbers, and the other Frankfort political party denounced the state’s mounting restrictions.

Positives:  3,649 / 148,390
Deaths:  30 / 1,742 – 1st Death 3/16/20
50&over: 1,696 / 49-30: 43 / 29&under: 3

November 19, 2021, the state’s ethics commission officially alleged that Alison Lundergan Grimes improperly used her office for personal and political purposes when she served as Secretary of State.  Also, a jury cleared Kyle Rittenhouse after he shot three white men; two died.  The jury agreed he killed in self-defense in riots over a white cop who killed a black man.