On September 23, 1913, Lexington’s grand premier of the Ben Ali Theater featured a vaudeville act, The Passing Show of 1912 . The stage was said to be one of the finest in the south with a $1,500 velvet curtain. Guests dressed in black tie and exquisite gowns for the occasion.
On September 23, 1918, mail motor service began in Kentucky , between Lexington, Louisville, and Cincinnati, under the direction of the Post Master General.
September 23, 1921, Deputy Sheriff Walter Nathaniel Campbell, Perry County Sheriff’s Office , died by a gunshot by a suspect and his two sons, who were angry after their property had been raided as part of a moonshining investigation.
September 23, 1933, Kentucky opened their football season at home against Maryville with a 46-2 rout . Coach Harry Gamage took his team to a 5-5 record for the season.
September 23, 1934, Sheriff John C. “Johnnie” Morris, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department , died from a gunshot as he and his deputy attempted to arrest three men for creating a disturbance.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Lexington native Les McCann , born in 1935. Les is a Jazz artist who recorded the top-selling Swiss Movement and its platinum hit, Compared to What . He also dabbled in R&B and soul. His 1973 Live at Montreux and Layers was critically acclaimed.
September 23, 1946, Adolph Rupp and his son Herky ride in their new car , which the Junior Chamber of Commerce presented to the coach at the Lafayette Hotel. Herky died in 2016.
September 23, 1947, Rosin native Bill Monroe and The Blue Grass Boys released Blue Moon of Kentucky . Considered a bluegrass waltz, Kentucky adopted it as their official bluegrass song in 1988.
September 23, 1950, Marine Corp SGT Roy Wilbur Wood, from Walton in Boone County , died fighting in the Korean War.
September 23, 1951, Army CPL Willard C. Pullen from Hardin County died while fighting in the Korean War.
September 23, 1964, Indian Knoll received admission to the List of National Historic Landmarks . Located along the Green River in Ohio County, the site holds a special place in the history of North American archaeology.
September 23, 1966, Army PVC Larry Lee Reynolds from Kings Mountain died in the Vietnam War. Larry was 21-years-old.
September 23, 1967, Marine CPL Paul Lee Price from Owensboro died in the Vietnam War. Paul was 20-years-old.
On September 23, 1968, Kentucky Educational Television (KET) aired for the 1st time . In Ashland, Bowling Green, Lexington, Madisonville, Morehead, Owenton, Somerset, and Elizabethtown, citizens viewed the programming. O. Leonard Press and Paul G. Blazer made it happen.
September 23, 1969, 20-year-old Army PVT John Edward Cottingham from Newport and 21-year-old Army PFC Marvin Gene Stephens from Burlington , died fighting in the Vietnam War.
September 23, 1971, William Gilbert Barron from Louisville passed away. He was an American comedian, actor, writer and film director known for his comic sneeze routines. He appeared in over 200 feature films, short subjects and television shows starting in 1929.
September 23, 1972, the Colonels hosted the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks for an exhibition game in Frankfort . Julius Erving played for the Hawks, posting 28 points and 18 rebounds in 42 minutes. The Hawks prevailed, 112–99.
On September 23, 1974, 120 members of the press and a dozen Congressmen became the first members of the public to walk along the dingy, gray, and cream walls and into the strongbox of Fort Knox. The government wanted to assure everyone that the ingots, worth $499,823,244.85, had not left the country. A conspiracy theorist, Dr. Peter Beter, made the claim on national TV. The next lucky visitors came in 2017.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Brian Joseph Brohm , born in Louisville in 1985. Brohm led the Trinity Shamrocks to the 4-A state title in 2001, 2002 and 2003. He was the MVP of all three title games, the most exciting of which was a 59–56 victory over Louisville Male High School and 2002 Mr. Football, Michael Bush.
September 23, 1989, folk singer Bradley Kincaid passed away . “The Mountain Boy with His Houn’ Dog Guitar and Old Mountain Songs” recorded over two hundred songs and published thirteen songbooks during his lifetime. He joined the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971.
On September 23, 1990, the principal owner of Riverside Downs, Henderson’s struggling harness track, answered the phone at his Florida home. The federal investigation into that phone call inflicted considerable damage on the Kentucky General Assembly and profoundly changed the political culture in Frankfort. Senator Helen Garrett of Paducah, the Democratic whip, made the call; that instigated the BOPTROT investigation.
On September 23, 1999, when the last hammer fell at the Keeneland sale, several records fell after 3,013 horses sold for $233 million in 11 days. “It was a huge sale,” said W.B. Rogers Beasley. Twenty-three horses sold for over $1 million; the previous was 17. The average price rose 30% to $77,357.
September 23, 2006, Army CPL Windell J. Simmons, 20, of Hopkinsville , died from a bomb in Iraq while fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
On September 23, 2009, the U.S. Capitol hung a refurbished Henry Clay in the U.S. Senate , an 11’x7′ portrait of Henry Clay, near the opulent Brumidi Corridor . Completed over 150 years ago by Phineas Staunton (1817-67), the painting had been all but forgotten and left to molder in a basement in upstate New York. “Clay deserves this recognition because he is eternally and deservedly associated with the art of legislative compromise,” says Richard Allan Baker, former historian of the U.S. Senate.
Henry Clay in the U.S. Senate by Phineas Staunton
On September 23, 2014, UK harvested its first hemp crop at its Spindletop Research Farm. A federal farm bill allowed them to grow the illegal weed on a trial basis for the first time in 50 years. Half of the 15 different Kentucky crops had been harvested. The Jackson County crop was the only one that reported theft.
September 23, 2016, Kailash Satyarthi, who won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end child slavery, visited kindergarteners at Lexington’s Maxwell Spanish Immersion Magnet School. The students, through song and presentations, celebrated Satyarthi’s work and accomplishments in the global campaign to end child slavery and exploitative child labor.
On September 23, 2021, the U.S. vaccination drive against the coronavirus began a major new phase when government advisors recommended booster doses of Pfizer’s vaccine despite doubts the extra shots would do much to slow the spread. You had to wait six months after the 1st shot. The panel made no recommendations for boosters on the other two vaccines. Meanwhile, the governor claimed hospitals were ill-equipped to sustain the current number of flu patients. In the same briefing, he said Kentuckians testing positive for the virus had plateaued.
On September 23, 2022, Thomas Masie had a lot on his mind.
