Kentucky Trivia & Tidbits - Page 16

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

Big Bone Lick State Park, near Union (pop. 1,348), contains remains of ancient giant mammoths and mastodons and is recognized by the scientific world as the birthplace for American vertebrate paleontology, the study of prehistoric life.

first appeared: 5/27/2001

Whitney M. Young Jr., an educator, civil rights leader, and president of the National Urban League, grew up on the campus of the Lincoln Institute of Kentucky near Simpsonville (pop. 907). Young received the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award, from President Johnson in 1968.

first appeared: 5/20/2001

Military officer Hugh Lenox Scott (1855-1934) was born in Danville (pop. 16,500). He reached the rank of major general in the U.S. Army and was named superintendent of West Point Military Academy in 1906.

first appeared: 5/13/2001

Eighteen life-size statues, called “the strange procession that never moves,” surround the tomb of Col. Henry G. Wooldridge at Maplewood Cemetery in Mayfield (pop. 10,400). They include two statues of Wooldridge, as well as those of his mother, brother, sisters, nieces, and dogs.

first appeared: 5/6/2001

Charles W. Anderson Jr., the first African-American to be elected to a Southern state legislature during the 20th century, was born in Louisville in 1907.

first appeared: 4/29/2001

Kentucky’s last stagecoach line, the Concord Coach, ran the 20 miles between Monticello (pop. 5,630) and Burnside (pop. 734) from 1896 to 1911.

first appeared: 4/22/2001

Duncan Hines, whose name is synonymous with baking, was born in 1880 in Bowling Green. He and his wife, both food enthusiasts, compiled a list of their favorite eateries for family and friends. In 1949, Hines and a food co-op representative formed what eventually became the Duncan Hines brand name.

first appeared: 4/15/2001

Benton (pop. 3,899) is the home of “The Big Singing,” an event celebrating Southern Harmony, a musical style that uses geometric- shaped notes, rather than the familiar do-re-mi scale. The first Big Singing was in 1884.

first appeared: 4/8/2001

At the first Kentucky Derby in 1875, Oliver Lewis, an African-American jockey, won the race while riding the horse Aristides.

first appeared: 4/1/2001

Hidden River Cave is located beneath the town of Horse Cave (pop. 2,284) in south-central Kentucky. The cave once was the source of drinking water and hydroelectricity for Horse Cave.

first appeared: 3/25/2001

The homeplace of Capt. John Jouett, known as the Paul Revere of the South, is in Versailles (pop. 7,269). Jouett rode all night through Virginia in 1781 to warn Gov. Thomas Jefferson and Virginia legislators of the approaching British.

first appeared: 3/18/2001

Martha Layne Collins, Kentucky’s first woman governor, was born in Shelby County (pop. 29,100). She served as governor of the commonwealth from 1983-1987.

first appeared: 3/11/2001

Kentucky has 120 counties. Jefferson County is the largest with 672,104 residents, while Robertson County is the smallest with a population of 2,209.

first appeared: 3/4/2001

Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., born in Munfordville (pop. 1,556), was the highest-ranking officer to die in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. He was a lieutenant general, but in 1945 Congress posthumously promoted him to the rank of general.

first appeared: 2/25/2001

Harriette Simpson Arnow, born in 1908 in Wayne County (pop. 18,800), was a Kentucky author known for her award-winning novel The Dollmaker, which was produced as a television movie in 1983.

first appeared: 2/18/2001

Steve Cauthen, born in Covington (pop. 40,300) in 1960, became the youngest jockey to win the Triple Crown when he won in 1978 on Affirmed.

first appeared: 2/11/2001

Garrett Augustus Morgan, born in 1877 in Paris (pop. 8,730), was an African American inventor who patented the world’s first gas mask in 1912.

first appeared: 2/4/2001

—George Washington Buckner was born near Greensburg (pop. 1,990) in 1855. He was the first African American to be appointed as a diplomat to a foreign country, serving as U.S. Minister to Liberia from 1913-15.

first appeared: 1/28/2001

Cloverport (pop. 1,207) was founded in 1798 as Joe’s Landing, named after its founder, Joe Huston, who operated the first ferry along this portion of the Ohio River.

first appeared: 1/21/2001

Alben W. Barkley, born in Graves County (pop. 33,550), was the oldest U.S. vice president. Barkley was 71 when he and President Harry Truman took office in 1949.

first appeared: 1/14/2001

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