Kentucky Trivia
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Murray native Nathan Beverly Stubblefield, born in 1860. Nathan invented the acoustic telephone, where wire carried sound vibrations directly between two sound boxes.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Fayette County native Sarah Gibson Blanding, born in 1898. Born on a tobacco farm, she received her B.A. from UK. While there, she coached and then played under Coach “Happy” Chandler on the women’s basketball team. Upon graduation, UK appointed Blanding as acting dean of women, becoming the youngest dean in the country at 24. Blanding obtained her Master’s Degree in P.S. at Columbia University in 1926. In 1941, she became the 1st female dean of Cornell University. In 1946, she became the 1st President of Vassar College. NY Governor Dewey appointed her as Director of Human Nutrition for NY. She enjoyed the distinction of becoming one of the 1st women to serve in important U.S. government administrative posts, and the War Department decorated her with awards for exceptional civilian service. President Roosevelt appointed her to the Committee on Welfare and Recreation and the Economic Cooperation Commission. President H. Truman picked her for the Commission on Higher Education. She sat on the 1st Board of Foreign Scholarships, administering Fulbright Scholarships, and the National Committee that chose the 1st Marshall Fellowships. She received 18 honorary degrees from various colleges and universities. UK named Blanding Tower in her honor, which no longer stands.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Murray native Felix Holt, born in 1898. His first novel, The Gabriel Horn (1951), which critics credited as one of the year’s significant works, depicts Kentucky frontier life in the Jackson Purchase area during the Nineteenth century westward migration. It eventually sold over one million copies and in 1954 became a major motion picture, The Kentuckian, starring Burt Lancaster.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Paris native Allan W. “Doc” Lavin, born in 1911 and a graduate of Athens High School in Lexington. Mr. Lavin was the racing secretary at Churchill Downs from 1974 till his death in 1956. He also served as racing secretary at Oaklawn Park for over 16 years.
November 22, 1913, Kentucky and Louisville met for their 2nd football game, this time in Louisville’s Eclipse Park. The Wildcats won for a 2nd time, in a shutout 20-0.
November 22, 1928, Constable Will Thornsberry, Knott County Constable and his cousin, Justice of the Peace AJ Thornsberry, died in an ambush while on their way to destroy a moonshine still near Prestonsburg. The murderer served two years.
November 22, 1943, Governor K. Johnson dedicated the Irvin S. Cobb Bridge in Paducah. The bridge connects Paducah and Brookport, Illinois, and is also known as the Brookport Bridge, Blue Hummer Bridge, or the Pudacah-Ohio River Bridge. Named after the most famous Paducah citizen, Mr. Cobb, this was just one of many entities bearing his name. Others included a hotel, a flower, a towboat, a burgoo, and a cigar, to name a few. However, the Irvin S. Cobb Bridge was likely the last thing named for Paducah’s favorite son; he died about four months later. Unfortunately, he was so ill at the time of the dedication that he could not attend.
November 22, 1951, Army SGT J.P. Hatcher from Bullitt County and Army PVT Roy Lucas, Jr. from Grayson County both died fighting in the Korean War.
November 22, 1955, Andrew Cap Tilles, the “A” in CATS, passed away in his hometown of St. Louis. CATS, an investment syndicate, became known in the media as the “Big Three” after its three principal partners: Louis A. Cella, Samuel W. Adler, and A.C. Tilles. By WWI, the Big Three had acquired almost every major non-coastal horse race track in the country, except Hawthorne and Churchill Downs. As CATS President, Tilles revolutionized the horse racing industry by introducing electricity to the game, developing the modern system of licensing bookmakers, and holding the 1st-ever recorded night racing.
On November 22, 1958, Coach Blanton Collier defeated the Volunteers 6-2 in Shields–Watkins Field in Knoxville. In five tries, Coach Collier beat the Vols four times.
On November 22, 1963, an assassin shot President J.F. Kennedy in Dallas, and President Lyndon B. Johnson became the 36th U.S. President.
November 22, 1965, Muhammad Ali (22-0) fought Floyd Patterson (43-4) in the Las Vegas convention center. Patterson, on the comeback trail after two losses to Liston, said in a pre-fight interview, “This fight is a crusade to reclaim the title from the Black Muslims. As a Catholic, I am fighting Clay (he persisted in calling Ali by his birth name) as a patriotic duty. I am going to return the crown to America.” Ali toyed with Patterson throughout the fight before winning on a 12th round TKO.
November 22, 1966, Marine Corps LCPL Jay C. Tipton from Newport died fighting in the Vietnam War.
November 22, 1967, Army CPL James L. Travis, Jr. from Shelbyville and Army WO1 Robert W. Watts from Owensboro died fighting in the Vietnam War.
November 22, 1968, Marine Corps PFC Willie C. Hamilton from Louisville died fighting in the Vietnam War.
November 22, 1969, Army CPL Keith Colwell from Austin in Barren County died fighting in the Vietnam War.
November 22, 1970, Army CPL Robert D. Kavich from Jefferson County died fighting in the Vietnam War.
November 22, 1985, Eddie Sutton coached his 1st regular reason basketball game as UK’s head coach, defeating Northwestern State 77-58.
November 22, 1986, Mike Fields, 9, of Elkhorn City, returned with an armful of gifts and a smile as he left the Santa Train. The train headed toward Virginia after its last Kentucky stop at Elkhorn City.
November 22, 1989, UK graduate Story Musgrave served aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery STS-33 flight, which launched at night from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. This classified mission operated payloads for the military.
November 22, 1997, Tim Couch and Peyton Manning shook hands after the Volunteers’ 59-31 win over the Wildcats at Commonwealth Stadium. The much-hyped game featured the two Heisman aspirations — combining to throw for 1 yard short of 1,000 yards.
November 22, 2005, Kentucky ordered Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield to refund $23.7 million to more than 80,000 people. The health insurer overcharged their customers; Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!
November 22, 2009, Stacey Boik caught a state record Blue Sucker that weighed 8.34 pounds from the Ohio River.
November 22, 2012, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission changed SOPs following at least four errors since state veterinarians took over injecting racehorses with Lasix in October 2012.
Sunday, November 22, 2020, most churches canceled their services while others defied the state’s mandate to close all sanctuaries till December 13. Meanwhile, in Todd County, at least one restaurant resisted the no inside eating mandate and served their customers in the warmth. Appearing on Face the Nation, Dr. Fauci said, “Help is on the way in the form of the vaccine, and if an overwhelming majority of the people get vaccinated with a highly efficacious vaccine, we can reasonably quickly get to the herd immunity that would be a blanket of protection for the country.”
Positives: 2,194 / 158,100
Deaths: 4 / 1,787 – 1st Death 3/16/20
50&over: 1,740 / 49-30: 44 / 29&under: 3
Video: Dr. Fauci Says Herd Immunity is NonsenseOn November 22, 2021, Governor A. Beshear stated, “This pandemic isn’t done with us, and hospitalizations are creeping up, they are moving up.” Around 2,650,800 (59%) Kentuckians had received a vaccination.
November 22, 2022, John Y. Brown Jr., the smashing multimillionaire who built Kentucky Fried Chicken into an international success, then won the Kentucky governor’s seat in a whirlwind campaign with his celebrity wife, died in his hometown of Lexington.