A SHORT HISTORY OF KENTUCKY

A SHORT HISTORY OF KENTUCKY
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Today's history lesson:
* The bloodiest civil war battle was fought in
Perryville , Kentucky ..

*The first town in the United States to be named for the first president
was Washington , Ky. It was named in 1780.

*1792 - Kentucky was the first state on the western frontier to join the
Union

*In the War of 1812 more than half of all Americans killed in
action were Kentuckians.

*1816 - (first promoted) Mammoth Cave , with 336+ miles of mapped
passages, is the world's longest cave. It is 379 feet deep and
contains at least 5 levels of passages. It's second only to Niagara Falls
as the most popular tourist attraction in the US .. It became a National
Park on July 1, 1941.

*The first American performance of a Beethoven symphony was in
Lexington. KY in 1817.

*Begun in 1819 the first commercial oil well was on the
Cumberland River in McCreary County .

* Kentucky is the state where both Abraham Lincoln, President of
the Union , and Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, were
born. They were born less than one hundred miles and one year apart.

*1856 - The first enamel bathtub was made in Louisville

*In 1873, Louisville druggist John Colgan invented something that
you can find in any just about every grocery store in the world, chewing
gum.

*1883 - The first electric light bulb was shown in Louisville .
Thomas Alva Edison introduced his invention to crowds at the Southern
Exposition.

*1887 - Mother's Day was first observed in Henderson by teacher
Mary S. Wilson . It became a national holiday in 1916.

*The radio was invented by a Kentuckian named Nathan B.
Stubblefield of Murray in 1892. This was three years before Marconi made his claim to the invention.

* Pike County the world's largest producer of coal is famous for
the Hatfield-McCoy feud, an Appalachian vendetta that lasted from the
Civil War to the 1890s.

*1893 - 'Happy Birthday to You', probably the most sung song in the
world, was written by two Louisville sisters - Mildred and Patricia Hill.

*Late 19th century - Bibb lettuce was first cultivated by Jack Bibb
in Frankfort , Kentucky

*1896 - The first (known) set of all male quintuplets was born in
Paducah .

*Carrie Nation the spokesperson against rum, tobacco, pornography,
and corsets was born near Lancaster in Garrard County .

*1926 - A Hot Brown is a hot sandwich originally created at the
Brown Hotel in Louisville , Kentucky , by Fred K. Schmidt.

*.1934 - Cheeseburgers were first tasted at
Kaelin's Restaurant in Louisville .

*1937 - The first Wigwam Village Motel, with units in the shape of
a 'teepee', was built by Frank A. Redford in Cave City, KY.

*The world's largest baseball bat, a full one hundred twenty (120)
feet tall and weighing 68,000 pounds, can be seen at the Louisville
Slugger Museum in Louisville (Jefferson Co.).

*Chevrolet Corvettes are manufactured only in Bowling Green .

* Covington (St. Mary's Cathedral-Basilica of the Assumption) is
home to the world's largest hand blown stained glass window in existence. It
measures an astounding 24 feet by 67 feet and contains 117 different
figures.

*The world's largest crucifix, standing at sixty feet
tall, is in Bardstown (Nelson Co.).

* Fort Knox holds more than $6 billion worth of gold - the
largest amount stored anywhere in the world.

*The JIF plant in Lexington is the world's largest peanut
butter producing facility.

* Kentucky has more resort parks than any other state in the
nation.

*Middlesboro is the only United States city built inside a meteor
crater.

* Newport is home to The World Peace Bell, the world's largest
free-swinging bell.

*Pikeville annually leads the nation (per capita) in consumption of
Pepsi-Cola.

*Post-It Notes are made exclusively in Cynthiana , KY.

* Shaker Village ( Pleasant Hill ) is the largest historic
community of its kind in the U.S.

* Christian County is 'wet', while Bourbon County is 'dry'.
('wet 'sells liquor; 'dry' does not)

* Barren County has the most fertile land in the state.

* Lake Cumberland has more miles of shoreline than the state of
Florida

* Kentucky is best known for its beautiful blue-hued grass.

* Cumberland is the only waterfall in the world to
regularly display a Moon bow. It is located just southwest of Corbin.

*Thunder Over Louisville is the opening ceremony for the Kentucky
Derby Festival and is the world's largest fireworks display.

*The only monument south of the Ohio River dedicated to Union Soldiers
who died in the Civil War is located in Vanceburg.

* High Bridge located near Nicholasville is the highest railroad
bridge over navigable water in the United States ..

*The Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington has 82 stained-glass
windows including the world's largest hand-blown one.
The window measures 24 feet wide by 67 feet high and depicts the
Council of Ephesus with 134 life-sized figures.

*The Lost River Cave and Valley Bowling Green includes a cave with
the shortest and deepest underground river in the world. It contains
the largest cave opening east of the Mississippi .

*The Kentucky Derby is the oldest continuously held horse race in
the country. It is held at Churchill Downs in Louisville on the first
Saturday in May.

* Kentucky is the horse capitol of the world.

*Mohammed Ali, The Greatest and most recognized face in the world
was born in Louisville , KY.

*To some people, there are only three things that matter in the state of Kentucky : Bourbon, Basketball, and Horse racing.