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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

November 27, 1863, General John Hunt Morgan and six officers made a daring escape from an Ohio prison.  They tunneled from an air shaft beneath their cells into the prison yard and scaled the walls.  The Yankees recaptured two of Morgan’s men, but the General and the rest of his men returned to the South via a train to Cincinnati.  Coincidentally, the same day Morgan escaped, his wife gave birth to a daughter, who died shortly afterward before he returned home.

November 27, 1869, Samuel Smith Nicholas, the University of Louisville’s 1st president, died.  President from 1846-47, the new university consisted of the recently merged Louisville College and the Louisville Medical Institute.  He established the new law school, which met in the Jefferson County Courthouse, and granted degrees to the 1st graduating class.  In 1849 he became a member of the Kentucky constitutional convention.  Nicholas, a slave owner, argued for gradual emancipation, and as the Civil War grew inevitable, he authored several books on constitutional law and later turned down a nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. He rests in the Cave Hill Cemetery.

November 27, 1896, Kentucky State College (UK) lost to the Louisville YMCA football team, 4-30, to close out a losing season.

November 27, 1906, the Carnegie Corporation of New York awarded Hickman in Fulton County $10,000 to build a new library.

960px Hickman Carnegie Library
By Nyttend

November 27, 1919, Coach Andrew Gill’s Kentucky Wildcats shutout the Tennessee Volunteers 13-0 in their last game of the season to go 3-4-1.

November 27, 1924, Coach Fred Murphy’s Wildcats beat the Volunteers 27-6 in their next to last game of the season and ended up with a 4-5 record.

November 27, 1943, Deputy Charlie Ramsey, Rockcastle County Sherriff’s office, succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained ten days earlier while investigating a disturbance in Mt. Vernon.  A soldier, who was home on furlough, became involved in an argument on a public street.  A third man walked up and took sides against the soldier.  As Deputy Ramsey approached the group, the 3rd man suddenly pulled out a .32 caliber revolver, shot the soldier, and then shot Deputy Ramsey.

November 27, 1950, Earle Chester Clements, the 47th governor, resigned to become the 32nd Class III Kentucky U.S. Senator, which he held for 22 months.

November 27, 1950, Lawrence Winchester Wetherby took the oath of office to become Kentucky’s 48th governor when Governor C. Clements resigned.

Kentucky Trivia:  Because three of Wetherby’s close family members had been killed in automobile accidents on the state’s roadways, improving roads was a high priority.  Wetherby authorized the building, re-building, or re-surfacing of nearly 6,000 miles of roads during his administration.  He won reelection the following year to remain number the 48th governor.

November 27, 1950, the following Kentuckians died in the Korean War: Army PFC Clayton Overbee from Perry County, Army CPL Ralph K. Caudill from Lincoln County, Army PFC Ellis H. Copeland Jr. from Jefferson County, Marine Corps PFC Ray Palmer Fairchild from Salyersville in Magoffin County, Army PFC Royce C. Gibson from McCreary County, Army PVT Robert E. Smalley from Fleming County and Army PFC Lloyd D. Stidham from Breathitt County, Army PVT Asher B. Sublett from Warren County, Army SGT Jack O. Tye from Harlan County, Army CPL Charles A. Williams from Nicholas County, Army PFC Richard H. Woodford from Menifee County and Army CPL Alfred B. Adams from Laurel County.  Lloyd D. Stidham’s remains were identified on April 3, 2009 and he was buried in Nicholasville on April 13, 2009.

November 27, 1951, buyers bought Kentucky burley tobacco at an all-time high state-wide average of $54.09 a hundred pounds on the opening day of the 1951 crop.  The previous high was $51.90 in January 1948.

November 27, 1962, the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus performed at the State Fairgrounds, their 1st time back since 1950.

November 27, 1960, the 1961 Burley-tobacco season opened strong at Louisville’s three warehouses when buyers paid an average of $66.89 a hundred pounds, 80 cents above last year.  Tobacco companies declared the crop one of the finest in a while.

November 27, 1970, the Kentucky Court of Appeals made two rulings.  First, a journalist must reveal the identity of persons they see committing a crime but reaffirmed an existing law granting reporters the right to refuse disclosure of sources who may confidently give them information.  The second ruling stated women would not be awarded alimony if they were the faulty party in a divorce.

November 27, 1976, the Wildcats played their 1st game in Rupp Arena.  #6 Kentucky beat Wisconsin 72-64.  Rick Robey scored the 1st points and was the high scorer with 13, followed by the Goose Givens with 12.  Both players had double-doubles.  Coach Joe B. Hall secured the win in front of 23,266 spectators.  The snack stands ran out of hot dogs by half-time.

Kentucky Trivia: The men’s UK basketball team played their final game in Memorial Coliseum five days earlier in an exhibition game against Marathon Oil. However, they would return for one more postseason game in 2009 due to a scheduling conflict with the Boys’ Sweet 16 Basketball tournament.

November 27, 1985, oil and gas production began along a protected section of the Rockcastle River.

November 27, 1993, Kentucky had little trouble in subduing Louisville for the 4th straight year, defeating the Cards 78-70 in Rupp Arena.  Tony Delk and Clifford Rozier were high scorers.

November 27, 1995, the state released the final vote tally for the governor’s race, and it was closer than first thought.  Patton received 500,787 votes to Forgy’s 479,227, and Galbraith had to pay a fee to know his vote tally of 3,965.  This became the 3rd closest race behind the 1943 (Willis) and 1963 (Breathitt) races.

November 27, 2001, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky sued four counties that posted the Ten Commandments in public buildings, broadening a battle that began in 1999.

November 27, 2001, Louisville Mayor Dave Armstrong released a $250 million proposal to attract the Charlotte Hornets.  He wanted the team to pay for a 3rd.

November 27, 2005, twenty-nine Kentucky State Police Officers left for Mississippi to preform law-enforcement duties along the ravaged Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.

November 27, 2009, Coach Kragthorpe coached his last game for the Louisville Cardinals in a losing effort against Rutgers 34-13.  His three years with Cardinals resulted in a 15-21 record.

November 27, 2010, a small comic shop in Bullitt County held a Pokemon Card contest.  More than 30 children, teens, and adults gathered to compete and test their strategies.

November 27, 2010, Derby hopefuls took to the GII Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes for two-years-olds.  The 2009 winner, Super Saver, went on to win the roses.

November 27, 2014, Park City native Joe Duvall ended 53 years of service to Mammoth Cave.  Earlier in the week, 19 people followed him in his last tour, his favorite tour, the Historic Tour, which he says, “was just like all the others.”

November 27, 2014, the city of Louisville told Uber and Lyft they could not pick up passengers at the airport; they could drop them off only.

November 27, 2015, nine go to post in the Grade I $500,000 Clark Handicap Stakes at Churchill Downs, one of America’s oldest horse races that began in 1875.

November 27, 2018, the Bevin administration told the press they would move ahead with implementing an overhaul to Kentucky’s Medicaid program, adding work requirements and other changes before citizens could receive medical attention.

November 27, 2020, President D. Trump still would not admit he lost the presidential election but did admit he would leave the White House if the Electoral College (EC) affirmed the win.  He stated a lot could happen before the EC met on December 14.

Positives:  1,747 / 171,755
Deaths:  4 / 1,871 – 1st Death 3/16/20
50&over: 1,824 / 49-30: 44 / 29&under: 3

November 27, 2021, counterculture icon and Brooksville native Ed McClanahan died in his Lexington home at age 89.  Known as “Captain Kentucky” he would frequently wear costumes, an experience he recalled in his 1985 memoir, Famous People I Have Known.