Kentucky Trivia & Tidbits

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

—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.

first appeared: 6/14/2009

—The oldest male gorilla in a North American zoo is Timmy, who celebrated his 50th birthday in January at the Louisville Zoo.

first appeared: 5/31/2009

—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.

first appeared: 5/17/2009

—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.

first appeared: 5/3/2009

–The orange and black–veined viceroy butterfly was designated the official state butterfly in 1990.

first appeared: 4/19/2009

—Built in 1802, the Green County Old Courthouse in Greensburg (pop. 2,396) is the oldest courthouse west of the Allegheny Mountains.

first appeared: 4/5/2009

—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.

first appeared: 3/22/2009

—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.

first appeared: 3/8/2009

—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.

first appeared: 2/22/2009

—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 2½ inches long, stayed in his mouth for at least 10 seconds and emerged alive. The previous roaches-in-mouth record was nine bugs.

first appeared: 2/8/2009

—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.

first appeared: 1/11/2009

—The state’s first powered flight was made in 1908 by Matthew Sellers when he flew his four-winged quadraplane, powered by a Dutheil-Chalmers engine, near Grahn in Carter County (pop. 26,889).

first appeared: 12/29/2008

—Before the advent of mechanically refrigerated railroad cars, Fulton (pop. 2,775) became known as the “Banana Capital of the World” because freight loads of bananas arrived there from New Orleans and were re-iced before shipping onward.

first appeared: 11/30/2008

—A 40-foot memorial carillon that plays patriotic and memorial music to honor military veterans was dedicated July 4 at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery West in Hopkinsville (pop. 30,089). The American Veterans National Service Foundation partners with local organizations to erect the carillons and installed the first, in 1949, at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

first appeared: 11/16/2008

—In 1925, Mary Breckinridge founded Frontier Nursing Service in Leslie County (pop. 12,401) and introduced the profession of nurse-midwifery in the United States. Nurse-midwives on horseback brought health care to women and children living in remote areas.

first appeared: 11/2/2008

—The hottest temperature ever recorded in the state was 114 degrees on July 28, 1930, in Greensburg (pop. 2,396). LOUISIANA—Mel Ott, who was 17 when he signed with the New York Giants in 1926, played his entire major league career with the team until 1947. Ott was born in 1909 in Gretna (pop. 17,423).

first appeared: 10/19/2008

—The first African elephant to be born at the Louisville Zoo and in the state is Scotty, birthed on March 18, 2007. The newborn weighed 285 pounds.

first appeared: 10/5/2008

—Built about 1790 by William and Lucy Clark Croghan, Locust Grove mansion in Louisville was a stopping point for explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and hosted three U.S. presidents: James Monroe, Andrew Jackson and Zachary Taylor. The restored mansion is a museum, which relates the story of Louisville’s founder, George Rogers Clark, and early Kentucky history.

first appeared: 9/21/2008

—The only fatality of the 1804-1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition was Kentucky native Sgt. Charles Floyd, born in 1782, who is believed to have died of a ruptured appendix.

first appeared: 9/7/2008

—The state is the nation’s largest supplier of wild ginseng, which sells for as much as $1,000 a pound to Asian markets. The wild roots are revered for their medicinal properties.

first appeared: 8/24/2008

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