Kentucky Trivia
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Gabriel Slaughter, born in 1767 . A farmer by trade, he migrated to Kentucky in 1799/1800 to become our 7th governor and the 1st to ascend to the office upon the sitting governor’s death. He never shed the title of “acting governor” given to him by his enemies. He was also on the 1st board of trustees of Georgetown College.
December 12, 1794, the Kentucky legislature chartered the Kentucky Academy under the Transylvania Presbytery. The Squire’s Sketches of Lexington by J. Winston Coleman, Jr.; pg: 22
December 12, 1803, Kentucky created Greenup County from Mason County and named it in honor of Christopher Greenup, Kentucky’s 3rd governor. Greenup is one of three county seats in Kentucky to share its name with its county; the other two being Harlan and Henderson. Other localities include Bellefonte, Flatwoods, Lloyd, Raceland, Russell, South Portsmouth, South Shore, Worthington, and Wurtland. Greenup County, the 45th county created, covers 350 square miles.
Kentucky 1803 By David Benbennick December 12, 1825, Kentucky created Laurel County from Whitley, Clay, Knox, and Rockcastle Counties. Locals named it for the Mountain Laurel trees prominent in the area. London is the county seat. Other localities include East Bernstadt, North Corbin, Keavy, and Laurel River Lake. Laurel County, the 80th county created, covers 434 square miles.
By David Benbennick December 12, 1861, the Battle of Gradyville, a minor Civil War skirmish in Adair County, occurred.
December 12, 1864, General Hylan P. Lyon, with 800 Confederate soldiers, invaded Kentucky and burned the Hopkinsville Courthouse in Christian County to enforce CSA draft laws. In 23 days, Gen. Lyon burned seven Kentucky courthouses used by Union forces; Hopkinsville was the first.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Covington native Ben Lucien Burman , born in 1895. His Catfish Bend book series sold in 11 different languages.
December 12, 1899, Town Marshal T. Edward Park ended his watch in Irvine County . Marshal Park died arresting a man, creating a disturbance. Despite being mortally wounded, Marshal Park returned fire and wounded the subject.
December 12, 1907, Officer Charles Hoard, Hopkinsville Police Department , died by one of three men he had arrested for drunkenness. One suspect, a popular young attorney, claimed self-defense and posted a $5,000 bond. His 1st trial ended with a hung jury. His 2nd trial resulted in an acquittal. After the trial the suspect’s health began to fail, and he shot himself.
December 12, 1911, Kentucky swore in Richmond native James B. McCreary as the 37th governor. He joined a select group who served two nonconsecutive terms as governor (Shelby, Helm, and Chandler). When he served as the 27th governor, he was the 25th individual to hold the office.
Kentucky’s 1911 Inauguration December 12, 1939, Governor Keen Johnson took the oath of office for the 2nd time after winning the general election as a Democrat . As Lt. Governor, he took the oath two months earlier when Happy Chandler resigned to become a U.S. Senator. Born in a two-room cabin at Brandon’s Chapel in Lyon County, the journalist benefited when the Chandler/Laffoon factions split the Democratic Party.
Kentucky’s 1939 Inauguration Localtonians acknowledge the birthday of Casey County native Wallace Wilkinson , Kentucky’s 57th governor, born in 1941.
December 12, 1942, more than 20,000 people turned out to watch Calumet Farm’s Whirlaway win the inaugural Louisiana Handicap at the Fair Grounds Race Course . The newly formed Thoroughbred Racing Association staged the event as a war-relief effort. It would be his last race in a brilliant career. In 1942 he earned his 2nd straight Horse of the Year title.
December 12, 1950, Army PFC James E. Bryant from Harlan County , Army PFC James D. Gayhard from Perry County , Army PFC Ova L. Haire from Breckinridge County , Army PVT Donald Maddox from Fleming County , Army PFC Chester Rice from Bell County , Army PFC Charles L. Simpson from Bath County , Army PFC Forrest Thomasson from Ohio County and Army SGT Arthur Junior Wooten from Lawrence County all died in the Korean War.
December 12, 1967, Park (Barren County) native Louie B. Nunn became the 52nd Kentucky governor . Governor Nunn oversaw the University of Louisville’s entry into the state’s public university system.
December 12, 1969, Muhammad Ali debuted in the new Broadway musical Buck White in the George Abbott Theater in New York City. The show had a short run, performed for one week, though opening night was a success.
December 12, 1970, fans paid $4 to watch the Kentucky / Indiana basketball game in Memorial Coliseum on close circuit television . Kentucky won 95-93 in OT at the Bloomington Indiana Fieldhouse.
December 12, 1973, the House on the Hill burned crepair 43 years after Belle Brezing died in it . Thompson-Riley Auctioneers administered the final disposition of artifacts three months after the fire and then razed it.
December 12, 1985, Arrow Air Flight 1285R, an international charter flight carrying U.S. Army personnel from Cairo, Egypt, to their home base in Fort Campbell , stalled, crashed, and burned about half a mile from the runway, killing all 248 passengers and eight crew members on board. As of 2023, it is the deadliest aviation accident on Canadian soil.
On December 12, 1990, arsonist set fifty fires along the edge of Robinson Forest in retaliation against UK’s opposition to a strip-mining project in the forest; they felt UK cost them their jobs. Rain helped contain the fire to 300 to 500 acres.
December 12, 1995, Fallsburg (Lawrence County) native Governor Paul Edward Patton became Kentucky’s 59th governor .
December 12, 2002, Commissioner Ray B. Franklin, Kentucky Office of Charitable Gaming , succumbed to injuries sustained eight days earlier from an automobile accident on I-64 in Frankfort.
December 12, 2017, the UK Board of Trustees approved a plan to demolish the Blanding-Kirwan Towers at an estimated cost of $15 million compared to the $126 million to renovate. The trees planted in 1969 would remain.
December 12, 2019, Governor A. Beshear signed an executive order that restored voting rights to more than 140,000 non-violent felons who served their sentences. Later that night, the last full moon of the decade shined bright.
December 12, 2020, a man ex-Governor M. Bevin pardoned for killing his infant son woke up in jail after being arrested for assault, domestic violence, and 1st degree strangulation.
Sunday, December 12, 2021, Governor A. Beshear appeared on Meet the Press to discuss the Western Kentucky tornadoes that swept through two days earlier.
December 12, 2022, women took control for the 1st time as editor of the Wall Street Journal and mayor of Los Angeles. America bombed Syria, Ukraine asked for more money, the outgoing governor of Arizona stocked shipping containers on the border in protest of Washington’s border policies, and the city of Richmond, Virginia, the Capital of the Confederacy during the US Civil War, removed its last Confederate statue.
