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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia

November 26, 1840, President-elect William Henry Harrison passed through Lexington and stayed with Dr. Benjamin Dudley of Transylvania University.  Harrison, who served the least time of all U.S. Presidents, died four months and nine days later.

November 26, 1923, Deputy Sheriff Charles Willard McKinney, Letcher County Sheriff’s Office, died from a gunshot arresting a drunken man in Neon.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Hopkinsville native Edward “Ned” Thompson Breathitt, Jr., born in 1924.  The 47th individual to be governor, his was the 51st administration.  In 1966, Breathitt secured a major civil rights bill to prohibit discrimination in employment and public accommodations, a tough strip-mining act, a compulsory automobile inspection act, an agency to regulate the use of natural resources, and greater regulation of political contributions and expenditures.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Louisville native Conrad Bachmann, born in 1932.  Mr. Bachmann began his acting career with his appearance in the Dobie Gillis series.  Although living in California since 1957, his heart belonged to Kentucky.  Conrad worked diligently for such charities as the Ned Beatty Hope for Children Classic Charity and the Louisville Easter Seals.

November 26, 1950, Army PVT David F. Bradshaw from Jessamine County, Army PFC Robert A. Faulkner from Marion County, Army PFC Joseph W. Grause Jr. from Breckinridge County, Army PVT William C. Jeffrey from Bath County, and Army SFC Howard R. Jeffrey from Bell County all died fighting in the Korean War.

November 26, 1951, Army PFC Dan O. Alfred from Kenton County died fighting in the Korean War.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Paducah native Marcy Walker, born in 1961.  Marcy won a Daytime Emmy Award for her Santa Barbara role as Eden Capwell.  She also played Liza Colby on All My Children.

November 26, 1966, Sheriff Walter Emery Meek of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, died while serving a lunacy warrant on a mentally deranged man behind the Paul B. Hall Medical Center.  The subject committed suicide after murdering Sheriff Meek.

On November 26, 1973, America’s largest earth-moving venture began in Pikeville.  The Pikeville Cut-Through Project, also known as the “Eight Wonder of the World” wrapped up in 1987.

On November 26, 1980, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis filmed a scene for Stripes at Fort Knox.  Kentucky 1st Lady Phyllis George Brown and the Kentucky Film Commission lured production to Kentucky.  The Kentucky Film Commission coordinated with the state to give unemployed Kentuckians 1st preference for extra work on the film.  The film crew hired 1,700 Kentuckians.

Saturday, November 26, 1983, in the 1st regular-season meeting in 61 years, #2 Kentucky and #6 Louisville met in Rupp Arena.  The Wildcats rolled 65-44.  Louisville won earlier in the year in the NCAA Mideast Regional Finals in Knoxville 80-68 in overtime.

November 26, 1991, Tom Tewes posed with a few of his turkeys at Tewes Turkey Farm in Erlanger.

November 26, 1994, Cigar won the 2nd race in his 16-win streak by capturing the GI NYRA Mile at Aqueduct, beating Devil His Due.  N.Y. racing renamed the NYRA Mile to the Cigar Mile after his retirement.

November 26, 1994, Howard Schnellenberger coached his final game as head coach of the Louisville Cardinals beating Tulsa 34-27.  He compiled a 52-47-2 record over nine years.

November 26, 2000, Florida certified George W. Bush the winner of their electoral votes, to officially defeat Al Gore Jr. for the U.S. presidency, despite losing the popular vote.  The “Decider” would become an international war criminal.

November 26, 2005, Red Fox native Patty Amburgey toured the press around her Knott County farm to show the damage by Eastern Kentucky’s gas and oil drilling boom.  The state issued 1,700 drilling permits in 2005, 400 more than in 2004, making close to 50,000 active wells in the state.

November 26, 2012, Governor S. Beshear’s administration settled a lawsuit with Ron Mills, the head of the cabinet’s Division of Mine Permits, a politically-appointed position.  Mills alleged the state fired him in 2009 for refusing to issue illegal mining permits.  Mills’s lawyers claimed that Beshear wanted a more efficient permit process for his political donors.

November 26, 2016, UofL and KY met for the 29th time.  The 23rd time in the modern era.  The Cats won 41-38.  Future Heisman winner Lamar Jackson’s storybook season ended on a low note when he fumbled in the red zone with minutes left in the game.  Kentucky recovered, drove down the field, and Austin MacGinnis connected on a 47-yard field goal with 12 seconds to go to give the Wildcats, massive underdogs at Cardinal Stadium, a win over #11 Louisville.

On November 26, 2018, AG A. Beshear wrote Kentucky legislatures asking them to legalize casinos and sports betting to raise money to save Kentucky’s ailing public pension system.

On November 26, 2019, Kentucky’s Medicaid program revealed it could save nearly $240 million on prescription drugs cost by eliminating middlemen known as Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) and returning to its former “free-for-service” system of directly reimbursing pharmacists for each prescription.

November 26, 2020, a federal judge told Governor A. Beshear he could not close religious schools to help curb the coronavirus.  Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court told N.Y. they could not stop citizens from worshiping together.  For the 2nd day in a row, the number of new cases and deaths the governor announced differed from the official tally given later.  The governor reported 3,408* new cases and 26* deaths.

Positives:  3,870* / 170,009
Deaths:  32* / 1,867 – 1st Death 3/16/20
50&over: 1,820 / 49-30: 44 / 29&under: 3

* The state added more new cases and deaths after the governor made his daily announcement.

November 26, 2022, Kentucky defeated #25 Louisville 26-13.  Wildcat Matt Ruffolo won the 12th Howard Schnellenberger award.  UK is up 19-15 overall, and Louisville leads in the modern era, 15-13.