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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

March 22, 1782, in the Battle of Little Mountain, seven of Captain James Estill’s axmen, out of 25, died in desperate hand-to-hand fighting with a band of 25 marauding Wyandots.

On March 22, 1833, the Kentucky Colonization Society sent approximately 100 freedmen to New Orleans, where they embarked for Liberia on April 20.  An affiliate of the American Colonization Society, the Kentucky organization favored the emancipation of slaves but focused its efforts on ridding Kentucky of freed Blacks.

On March 22, 1857, Sheriff James Land and Deputy Jessie Arvin, Estill County Sheriff’s Department, died taking a prisoner to jail near Old Landing.  The murderer hung 68 days later.

March 22, 1871, Governor John W. Stevenson, to protect African-American voting rights, received a bill he requested that offered rewards for “the apprehension of perpetrators of election-related violence.”  Stevenson also recommended that carrying concealed weapons on Election Day be outlawed.

March 22, 1873, the General Assembly passed “an act to provide for a geological survey and mineralogical survey of the state.”

March 22, 1930, the Corinth boys from Grant County and the Hazard girls from Perry County won the 12th State Basketball Championship.  Corinth made three baskets in the last minute to defeat Kavanaugh 22-20.

Kentucky Trivia:  Besides winning the handsome silver trophy, Corinth won the Best Sportsmanship Team, part of the annual awards given by the Y.M.C.A.  Harry Hardin of the Tolu team won the individual Best Sportsmanship Award, and Teddy Hornback won a silver regulation-size basketball for coaching the boys’ state champs.

On March 22, 1937, Bill Freeman shot his brother near the barn door.  There are still markings in the wood where the bullet(s) hit.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Louisville native Rudy Rucker, born in 1946. 

March 22, 1953, Army SGT Johnie B. Bullock from Pulaski County and Army PFC Charles Coleman from Jefferson County died in the Korean War.

March 22, 1954, Frankfort passed a joint resolution honoring the many contributions of Matthew Lyon (1749-1822).  He founded the town of Eddyville, which he made into a commercial center, mainly through his enterprises.  Matthew Lyon was the 2nd U.S. Congress member to represent two different states in the House, Vermont then Kentucky.

Saturday, March 22, 1958, St. Xavier won its 3rd title when they defeated Daviess County 60-49 for the Boys’ State Basketball Championship in Memorial Coliseum.  The title returned to Louisville after a 13-year hiatus.  Clark County defeated Monticello for 3rd place.  Four Black players, all from Hazard, were the 1st members of their race to make the “all-tournament team,” aka “the mythical best 10.”

March 22, 1958, Kentucky’s Fiddling Five basketball team won the school’s 4th NCAA Tournament, beating Seattle 84-72 for Coach Rupp’s last NCAA championship.  Temple and Kansas St. completed the final four in Freedom Hall.  The win gave Rupp his most coveted title, which he vowed to win after the NCAA suspended UK’s 1953 season.  This NCAA tournament involved 24 schools.

March 22, 1962, Lexington native Hal Price Headley, owner of Beaumont Farm, passed away at the Keeneland Race Course.  He died of a heart attack while returning from the track to Barn Q with his horses and daughter.  Headley was considered the guiding force in Keeneland’s foundation.  The Alcibiades Stakes, named for Headley’s foundation broodmare, was won by his “Rash Statement” in 1959.  He bred 88 stakes winners in all.

March 22, 1967, Army PFC Jacob A. Horn from Inez in Martin County died in the Vietnam War.

March 22, 1967, Muhammad Ali (29-0) fought Zora Folley (74-7-4) in Madison Square Garden.  Just before the fight, Ali lost his appeal against his 1-A classification for the draft and was ordered to appear in Louisville on April 11 for induction into the U.S. Army.  In the 1st heavyweight title fight in the Garden in 15 years, Ali dropped Folley in the 4th round, then knocked out the 35-year-old in the 7th round with a quick right.  This would be Ali’s last fight for three-and-a-half years.

March 22, 1968, Army MSG Estevan Torres from Hopkinsville in Christian County died in the Vietnam War.

March 22, 1969, Army SGT Steven D. Hooper from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.

March 22, 1971, Army SP4 Terry W. Doan from Elizabethtown in Hardin County died in the Vietnam War.

March 22, 1971, celebrating their 2nd KHSAA Boys’ State Basketball Championship, the Louisville Male High School retired the players’ numbers for both championship years.  Before he let the entire student body out early for the day, Principal Sanders also spoke of the school’s Brook and Breck newspaper, which won national recognition.

March 22, 1984, Kentucky played Louisville in the NCAA Mideast Regional Semifinals in Rupp Arena.  Joe B. defeated Denny 72-67.  Kentucky would lose to Georgetown in the Final Four.

March 22, 1985, less than an hour after his Kentucky team had been eliminated from the West Regional in Denver, Coach Joe B. Hall announced his retirement.

March 22, 1986, Pulaski County defeated Louisville High School Pleasure Ridge Park 47-45 in Rupp for the Boys’ State Basketball Championship in front of an estimated 18,000.

Kentucky Trivia:  Pulaski County guard Shannon Fraley hit a running flip shot in the lane with 10 seconds left which provided the winning points in the Maroons’ state title victory over PRP and, in the process, made his father, Dave, a state title-winning coach.

March 22, 1986, Monticello native Harriette Simpson Arnow died.  She attended Berea College, the University of Louisville, and then worked two years as a rural Pulaski County teacher before moving to Cincinnati.  In 1935, she published her 1st works in Esquire two short stories, “A Mess of Pork” and “Marigolds and Mules,” under the pen name H. L. Simpson, sending a photo of her brother-in-law to disguise her gender.

March 22, 1991, General Colin Powell informed America that U.S. troops would stay in Iraq for months to keep the pressure on Saddam Hussein.  In 2003, the general lied to Congress and the American people, about weapons of mass destruction, to justify a full-out war in Iraq.

March 22, 1991, a group of architects and engineers who contributed $60,000 to Martha Layne Collins’s gubernatorial campaign received a lucrative, no-bid design contract for a state prison.  There was a dispute if the money was given all in one day.

March 22, 2003, Mason County with Chris Lofton defeated Ballard in the Boys’ Sweet 16 Basketball Tournament finals in Rupp Arena with 18,957 watching.  Lofton led the Royals to its 1st state basketball title with a record-tying nine three-pointers in the 86-65 championship game.

Kentucky Trivia:  Chris Lofton’s nine three-pointers in the state finals (en route to 39 points) vs. Ballard tied the Sweet 16 record that Clay County’s Richie Farmer also set against Ballard (en route to 51 points) in the 1988 state championship game.

March 22, 2008, around 17,663 spectators watched the Mason County Royals defeat Covington’s Holmes Bulldogs 57-48 in Rupp Arena for their 2nd KHSAA Boys’ State Basketball Championship title.

Kentucky Trivia: Darius Miller of Mason County in the semis against Elliott County: Clinging to a two-point lead with 7 seconds remaining, Miller hit two free throws to cap the Royals’ rally from a seven-point, fourth-quarter deficit against Elliott County, 66-62.

March 22, 2008, Elizabeth Whitcomb Lampton died on her farm, Elmendorf, at age 74, from a carriage accident.  Her husband, who bought the Fayette County farm in 1997, died six months later, also on the property.

March 22, 2013, to help the stressed state treasury, the Kentucky Lottery Board voted to sell scratch-offs on-line and start a new game called Keno.

Kentucky Trivia: On the 1st day of sales in 1989, over 5,000 licensed retailers sold more than $5 million in tickets.  The 1st week of sales generated $27 million, which placed Kentucky’s lottery as a leader in 1st week sales per capita.

On March 22, 2015, Mitch reiterated that the Senate would not consider President Obama’s nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court and the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.  President Obama made little pushback because his party thought this issue would get people to the polls to vote “blue.”  Instead, Americans got desperate for Hope and Change, so they picked a game show host instead of the veteran politician.

March 22, 2015, Owensboro defeated Bowling Green 74-58 with zero lead changes for the Boys’ Sweet 16 Basketball Championship with 11,435 fans in Rupp Arena.  Rod Drake, who played for Owensboro’s 1980 state championship team, coached his alma mater to the Sweet 16 title 35 years later.

In a March 22, 2017, interview with Chuck Todd on MSNBC, Rep. A. Schiff claimed there was “more than circumstantial evidence now” that Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia.  Todd followed up by asking if he had seen direct evidence of collusion.  Schiff responded that there was “evidence that is not circumstantial and is very much worthy of investigation.”  Rep. Schiff pushed the Trump-Russian collusion with gusto on legacy media.  In a rare move the House censored Schiff for his actions as ranking member of the Intelligence Committee.

On March 22, 2019, U.S. Attorney General William Barr wrote a letter to the Judiciary Committee stating that Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III had concluded his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and related matters and found nothing to bring criminal charges. The U.S. government closed the inquiry.

March 22, 2020, Senator Rand Paul became the 1st sitting member of the U.S. Senate to test positive for coronavirus.  He did attend the Speed Art Museum fundraiser.  In Kentucky, the governor, without a mask, reported 16 new cases, totaling 103 positive cases and three deaths, in a state Capitol news conference.  America reported just over 400 deaths.  Governor A. Beshear told non-essential retail business to close by 8:00 p.m.

The final game of the Sweet 16 High School Basketball Championship, scheduled for March 22, 2020, did not occur.  Instead, President D. Trump and Dr. Fauci closed down society, printed nearly $6 trillion, and pushed an experimental vaccine for a flu strain.

On March 22, 2021, Kentucky’s coronavirus positivity continued to drop for the 10th week.  After a controlled start, Frankfort began to let any 18-year-old or older sign up for the vaccine months ahead of the initially scheduled date because not enough customers wanted it.

March 22, 2021, Governor A. Beshear vetoed bills limiting his power to pardon and the right to appoint a U.S. Senator.  Meanwhile, two Centre College students raised money to remove Capt. Robert Logan’s statue from a church.

March 22, 2022, eight high-profile bills advanced in Frankfort’s last week of legislation.  They included medical marijuana, reducing unemployment benefits, cutting the state income tax, the budget, charter schools, more restrictions on public assistance, ending coronavirus emergency orders, and a $1.5 billion tax rebate that would benefit high-wage earners hit hard by the shutdowns.

On March 22, 2023, Twitter lit up over more Dr. Fauci revelations.  Thousands retweeted the same message.  Anthony Fauci admitting last year that people hospitalized with covid were placed on mechanical ventilators “very, very readily” which “might’ve caused more harm than good.”

On March 22, 2023, Rand Paul had an exchange with Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel over COVID-19 vaccine side effects in relation to myocarditis, “I spoke with your president just last week and he readily acknowledged, in private, that yes there is an increased risk of myocarditis.  The fact that you can’t say it in public is quite disturbing.”

March 22, 2024, If Governor Andy Beshear can keep true to his post, he could go places. Easier said than done.