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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia

November 30, 1822, Kentucky created Calloway County from Hickman County and named it in honor of Richard Callaway, pioneer.  Murray is the county seat.  Other cities and towns include: Hazel, Dexter, Almo, Backusburg, Blood, Boatwright, Coldwater, Crossland, Elm Grove, Faxon, Five Points, Harris Grove, Hico, Kirksey, Lynn Grove, Midway, New Concord, Penny, Protemus, Shiloh, Stella, Wadesboro and Wiswell.  Calloway County, the 72nd county created, covers approximately 411 square miles.

November 30, 1864, Lyon County native Andrew Jackson Smith, an African-American soldier, received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions in the Battle of Honey Hill in South Carolina.  When the rebels killed the color bearer in a swamp, Smith took up the battle flags and carried them through the remainder of the fight.  Jackson’s father owned his enslaved mother.

November 30, 1906, 200 hooded men rode silently, in a column of twos, down Princeton’s Main Street in the early morning.  Minutes before, several of these men had occupied the police station, disarmed the local police, seized the telegraph/telephone offices, captured the fire station and shut off the city water supply.  It was all done with admirable precision.  They targeted the American Tobacco Company’s two large warehouses; all part of the Black Patch War.  They placed sticks of dynamite under the stored tobacco within and doused the buildings with kerosene.  The men then threw torches into the structures and watched as 400,000 pounds of tobacco, worth upwards of $100,000, smoldered and burned.  Then, three long whistle blasts drew the men together and they sang “The fires shine bright on my old Kentucky home” – then slowly rode out of town.

November 30, 1908, Constable W. B. White, Metcalfe County Constable’s Office, died in Edmonton by a subject whom he had encountered earlier in the day at another location.  At approximately 5:00 pm, the man found Constable White in front of the People’s Bank and immediately opened fire, shooting him.

November 30, 1911, Kentucky defeated Louisville on the gridiron 12-0 in Lexington.  The series stood at 5-3-1 in favor of Kentucky, and each of the nine times they played, at least one team scored zero points.

November 30, 1916, at Waite Field in Knoxville, the Wildcats tied the Volunteers in one of college football’s major upsets.  The Vols, going into the last game of the season, were unbeaten and had only given up 13 points in two games the entire season.  The series now stood at 7-5-2 in Kentucky’s favor.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Cynthiana native Joe B. Hall, born in 1928.

November 30, 1930, Deputy Sheriff Thomas Lucas, Knott County Sheriff’s Office, succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained on November 22, while attempting to arrest a man in the Upper Caney area of Knott County.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Columbia native Steven Absher Hamilton, born in 1934.  From 1958 to 1960, he played power forward/center for the Minneapolis Lakers and was on the team that lost to the Boston Celtics during the 1959 NBA Finals.  He also played 12 MLB seasons, mainly as a relief pitcher, including a stint with the New York Yankees in 1968.  Steve had one complete game shutout against the Cleveland Indians.

On November 30, 1938, Dagwood Bumstead, husband of Blondie, was first personified by Corbin, native Arthur Silverlake, later shortened to Arthur Lake.  After appearing in silent films, radio productions, and a handful of movies, directors cast Arthur as Dagwood for 28 Blondie films produced by Columbia Pictures between 1938 and 1950.

November 30, 1944, Frankfort native Albert B. Fall died.  A U.S. senator from New Mexico and the Secretary of the Interior under President Warren G. Harding, he is best known for his involvement in the Teapot Dome scandal; he was the only person convicted in the affair.  The epithet “fall guy” is said to derive from his surname, but this phrase was in use well before the scandal.

November 30, 1948, Night Policeman Jesse Starks, Benton Police Department, died with his service weapon after responding to a disturbance at a local theater.  When he arrived at the scene, he discovered the theater ejected his son-in-law for causing a disturbance.  The son-in-law and five other relatives then killed Officer Starks.

November 30, 1950, the following died fighting in the Korean War: Marine Corps PVT Warren Bowling from Hiram in Harlan County, Army PFC Carl S. Curl from Meade County, Air Force A1C John W. Gahan from Louisville, Army PVT Clyde Hamilton from Floyd County, Army CPL Paul W. Hamilton from Pendleton County, Army PFC Howard T. Harper from Muhlenberg County, Army PFC Randolph Hayes from Floyd County, Army PFC John H. Maggard from Elliott County, Army PVT Gerald W. McLean from Harlan County, Army PVT Ronald Miniard from Leslie County, Army PFC Burl Mullins from Pike County, Army SGT Thomas F. Nunes from Christian County, Army SGT Watson F. Parrish from Cumberland County, Army PFC John W. Richardson from Montgomery County, Army PFC Cornelius L. Rickert from Campbell County, Army CPL James R. Robertson from Daviess County, Army CPL Herman Saylor from Harlan County, Army CPT Samuel R. Simpson from Boyd County, Army CPL Willie Smith from Clark County, Army CPL George W. Tharp from Boone County, Army CPL James L. Trent from Hardin County, Army PVT Charles H. Ward from Pike County, Army CPL Bennie M. Williamson from Pike County, and Army SGT Robert B. Yonts from Letcher County.

November 30, 1952, Navy FA William E. Jones from Mt. Sterling died fighting in the Korean War.

November 30, 1967, Army 1LT Kenneth R. Shoemaker, Jr. from Owensboro died fighting in the Vietnam War.

November 30, 1968, Army PFCs James E. Glisson from Benton in Marshall County and Jerry W. Jefferson from Paris both died fighting in the Vietnam War.

November 30, 1970, Army PFC Douglas S. Bridges from Louisville and Army SFC Robert S. Geer from Elizabethtown and Army CPT John C. Stringer II from Hazard all died fighting in the Vietnam War.

November 30, 1977, the Wildcat mascot greeted Art Still as the 6’7” defensive end took the field against Tennessee in his final college game at Commonwealth Stadium.  Kentucky won, 21-17.  The Kansas City Chiefs drafted him 2nd overall in 1978.  He never left the team and retired in 1987.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Richmond native Robert Kirkman, born in 1978.  Robert is best known for co-creating The Walking Dead, Invincible, Tech Jacket, Outcast, and others for Image Comics; he also wrote Ultimate X-Men, Irredeemable Ant-Man, and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics.

November 30, 1990, a judge sentenced Orin E. Atkins, the former Chairman of Ashland Oil, to two years probation and 600 hours of community service for trying to sell confidential company information to Iran.  Atkins also paid $2 million in restitution.

November 30, 2006, over 10,600 fans watched Trinity beat Ryle for the State High School 4A Championship football game, the 48th edition of the tournament.

November 30, 2010, WikiLeaks brought attention to the U.S. interference in European investigations seeking accountability for “war on terror” by releasing secret communications.  During the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, two foreign journalists died, and three others were wounded when a U.S. tank fired on the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad.  Spain issued an international arrest warrant for three U.S. soldiers.  However, cables showed that the U.S. aggressively fought to have Spanish officials drop the case. U.S. Ambassador Eduardo Aguirre emphasizes: “While we are careful to show our respect for the tragic death of Couso and the independence of the Spanish judicial system, behind the scenes, we have fought tooth and nail to make the charges disappear.”

On November 30, 2018, we learned that 70,237 Americans died from overdoses in 2017, a 10% rise from the previous year.  Kentucky ranked 5th behind WVA, OH, PA, and D.C.  Deaths from synthetic opioids known as fentanyl rose 45% in one year.  The CDC reported that 1,566 Kentuckians overdosed.  

November 30, 2019, Kentucky celebrated their 45-13 win over Louisville in the 26th edition of the modern-day Governor’s Cup in Lexington.  The 2nd win in a row for the Cats brought the overall series record to 17-15 in favor of the Blue.  In addition, Lynn Bowden received the 10th Howard Schnellenberger Award.

On November 30, 2020, AG D. Cameron stated that individuals who reported other people or businesses to the state for failing to comply with COVID restrictions should not be granted anonymity.  Afterward, the governor announced that November had the most positive cases and deaths since the state kept records.  In the next few days, more fatalities and positive records would fall.  Also, on this day, a judge heard arguments from the owner of a Lexington coffee shop who refused to close their doors to customers as ordered by the state.

November 30, 2021, convicted felon Jerry Lundergan reported to the Federal Correctional Institute (FCI) in Ashland to serve a 21-month sentence.  A court convicted him on ten charges of making illegal corporate campaign contributions, some of which for his daughter.  The political convict will be out soon, and the over/under to get back into trouble is two years.

November 30, 2022, UofL’s board of trustees elected Kim Schatzel as the school’s 19th president and the 2nd woman to lead the Kentucky university.  The previous president, Neeli Bendapudi, resigned to lead Penn State.