Tidbits

Kentucky Trivia & Tidbits

Looking for Kentucky trivia? Try our list Kentucky little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

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Kyle Raymer, 17, of Brandenburg (pop. 2,049), hooked the 2008 National Guard Junior World Championship in his age division with three bass weighing 3 pounds, 14 ounces. Held in 2008 at Lake Monticello in South Carolina, the contest highlights up-and-coming bass fishermen. Raymer received a $5,000 scholarship and merchandise from sponsors.
The art of naturally curing and aging country hams is practiced by Nancy Newsom Mahaffey to produce Col. Bill Newsom's Aged Kentucky Country Hams, a business begun in 1917 by her grandfather. The hams are sold at Newsom's Old Mill Store in Princeton (pop. 6,536).
Leonard "Lonnie" Burr Babin, born in 1943 in Dayton (pop. 5,966), was one of the original Mouseketeers, who appeared in the first four seasons (1955-1959) of the popular ABC variety show The Mickey Mouse Club, created by Walt Disney.
Centre College in Danville (pop. 15,477) is among a handful with a columbarium, a memorial wall to accommodate ash-filled urns.
Kentenia State Forest in Harlan County (pop. 33,202) is the oldest state-owned forest, acquired in 1919 as a gift from Kentenia-Cantron Corp. The forest encompasses 4,277 acres on Pine Mountain.
Brigitte Nguyen, 28, of Lexington, won $50,000 for her recipe for Chinese Chicken Burgers with Rainbow Sesame Slaw, ground-chicken burgers with an Asian flavor, at the 48th National Chicken Cooking Contest in San Antonio, Texas, in May.
John Fox Jr., who wrote the early-1900s bestselling novels The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come and The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, was born in 1862 in Bourbon County (pop. 19,360). The John Fox Jr. Genealogical Library is in Paris (pop. 9,183).
—Found only in the Red River Gorge area in east-central Kentucky, white-haired goldenrod is distinguished by its yellow flowers and long, soft white hairs covering its leaves and stems.
—In Louisville, some potholes have been filled by Kentucky Fried Chicken, which is headquarted in the city, and stamped with "Re-freshed by KFC."
—State Poet Laureate Gurney Norman's 1972 novel, Divine Right's Trip, originally was published in the margins of the Last Whole Earth Catalog, which sold 2 million copies. Norman is director of creative writing at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.
—The oldest male gorilla in a North American zoo is Timmy, who celebrated his 50th birthday in January at the Louisville Zoo.
—The first coach in the history of the National Collegiate Athletic Association to coach 1,000 games at the same school was Edgar Diddle at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green (pop. 49,296). He coached from 1922 to 1964.
—The state has 13 remaining covered bridges and three of them are in Fleming County (pop. 13,792), the state's "Covered Bridge Capital." Flemington County's bridges are the Goddard White Covered Bridge, Grange City Covered Bridge and Ringo's Mill Covered Bridge.
–The orange and black–veined viceroy butterfly was designated the official state butterfly in 1990.
—Built in 1802, the Green County Old Courthouse in Greensburg (pop. 2,396) is the oldest courthouse west of the Allegheny Mountains.
—Abraham Lincoln's beloved teacher, Mentor Graham, born about 1800 near Greensburg (pop. 2,396), moved to Illinois about 1826. He later taught Lincoln surveying and grammar in New Salem, Ill.
—The penny's first design change in 50 years depicts a log cabin, which represents Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace near Hodgenville (pop. 2,874). The penny went into circulation Feb. 12, the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth.
—The Lexington Public Library is the oldest library in the state, beginning as a subscription library with the purchase of 400 books for $500 in 1795 and becoming a free public library in 1898.
—Travis Fessler of Florence (pop. 23,551) stuffed 11 Madagascar hissing cockroaches into his mouth in October to top a Guinness World Record. The roaches were at least 2˝ inches long, stayed in his mouth for at least 10 seconds and emerged alive. The previous roaches-in-mouth record was nine bugs.
—At Sights Denim Systems in Henderson (pop. 27,373), new blue jeans get sanded, stonewashed and stressed to give the appearance of old denim jeans. The company “ages” jeans for Levi’s, Ralph Lauren and other clothing companies.
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