Timeline of Kentucky history
Encyclopedia
Early history
- Before 1750, Kentucky was populated nearly exclusively by CherokeeCherokeeThe Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
, ChickasawChickasawThe Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...
, ShawneeShawneeThe Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
and several other tribes of Native AmericansNative Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
See also Pre-ColumbianPre-ColumbianThe pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
- April 13, 1750 • While leading an expedition for the Loyal Land Company in what is now southeastern Kentucky, Dr. Thomas WalkerThomas Walker (explorer)Dr. Thomas Walker was a physician and explorer from Virginia who led an expedition to what is now the region beyond the Allegheny Mountains area of British North America in the mid-18th century...
was the first recorded American of European descent to discover and use coalCoalCoal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
in KentuckyKentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
;
- By 1751 surveyor-explorer and Indian scout Christopher GistChristopher GistChristopher Gist was an accomplished American explorer, surveyor and frontiersman. He was one of the first white explorers of the Ohio Country . He is credited with providing the first detailed description of the Ohio Country to Great Britain and her colonists...
, representing the Ohio CompanyOhio CompanyThe Ohio Company, formally known as the Ohio Company of Virginia, was a land speculation company organized for the settlement by Virginians of the Ohio Country and to trade with the Indians there...
, together with a bonded African, mapped the Ohio River area from its headwaters (near today's PittsburghPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
) and crossed into what is now Kentucky.
Seven Years War / French and Indian War
- 1754 The PiquaPiquaPiqua may refer to:*Pekowi, a band of the Shawnee Native American tribe and the origin of the word "Piqua"Communities in the United States:*Piqua, Kansas*Piqua, Kentucky*Piqua, OhioOther...
, of the ShawneeShawneeThe Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
nation, abandoned Eskippakithiki, "place of blue licks" - or Little Pict Town as the European traders called it. This may also have been the town that the Wyandot (of the IroquoisIroquoisThe Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
nations) referred to as Kentucky or "Meadow" and so the name for the nearby river came to serve as the name for the whole area. Eskppakithiki was probably the last permanent non-European town in the area that became Kentucky; later European-American settlers called the well-kept farmlands around the stockaded village location the "Indian Old Fields."
- 1767 Daniel BooneDaniel BooneDaniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
led his first band of hunters as far west as what is now Floyd County, KentuckyFloyd County, KentuckyFloyd County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1800. As of 2000, the population was 42,441. Its county seat is Prestonsburg. The county is named for Colonel John Floyd .-History:...
and hunted along the Big Sandy River.
- 1769 Judge Richard Henderson financed a venture proposed by John Finley to find the Cherokees' Warriors Path through a gap in the Cumberland Mountains; Finley convinced his friend Daniel Boone to lead a hunting party on a long huntLonghunterA Longhunter was an 18th-century explorer and hunter who made expeditions into the American frontier wilderness for as much as six months at a time...
in Kentucky, including John Stuart, Boone's brother-in-law; they cleared a trail through the Cumberland GapCumberland GapCumberland Gap is a pass through the Cumberland Mountains region of the Appalachian Mountains, also known as the Cumberland Water Gap, at the juncture of the U.S. states of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia...
; on December 22, a Shawnee war party confiscated their store of pelts, warning them not to return, but Daniel Boone, his brother Squire and John Stuart remained in Kentucky for two more years, exploring and hunting - tales of these exploits drew the attention of easterners eager for new lands to settle.
Lord Dunmore's War
- June 16, 1774 • James HarrodJames HarrodJames Harrod was a pioneer, soldier, and hunter who helped explore and settle the area west of the Allegheny Mountains. Little is known about Harrod's early life, including the exact date of his birth. He was possibly underage when he served in the French and Indian War, and later participated in...
and 37 men, while on a surveying expedition ordered by Lord Dunmore, royal governor of VirginiaJohn Murray, 4th Earl of DunmoreJohn Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore was a British peer and colonial governor. He was the son of William Murray, 3rd Earl of Dunmore, and his wife Catherine . He is best remembered as the last royal governor of the Colony of Virginia.John was the eldest son of William and Catherine Murray, and nephew...
, claimed the territory in what is now Mercer County, KentuckyMercer County, KentuckyMercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 20,817. Its county seat is Harrodsburg. The county is named for General Hugh Mercer...
as the first English settlement west of the Alleghenies, Harrod's Town; in July they abandoned the few buildings there when called into military service, but returned the next spring with women (like Ann Kennedy Wilson Poague Lindsay McGinty) to build up what became a bustling frontier town at Old Fort HillOld Fort Harrod State ParkFort Harrod is a park located in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. It was named after James Harrod, who led an early party of settlers into Kentucky. The park encompasses , and features a reconstruction of Fort Harrod, the first permanent settlement in the state of Kentucky.-Attractions:The reconstructed...
.
Revolutionary War
- March 10, 1775 • Daniel BooneDaniel BooneDaniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
along with 35 axmen begin to blaze a trail from Fort Chiswell through Cumberland GapCumberland GapCumberland Gap is a pass through the Cumberland Mountains region of the Appalachian Mountains, also known as the Cumberland Water Gap, at the juncture of the U.S. states of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia...
into central Kentucky. Financed by the Transylvania Company, the trail eventually came to be known as the Wilderness RoadWilderness RoadThe Wilderness Road was the principal route used by settlers for more than fifty years to reach Kentucky from the East. In 1775, Daniel Boone blazed a trail for the Transylvania Company from Fort Chiswell in Virginia through the Cumberland Gap into central Kentucky. It was later lengthened,...
.
- June 1775 • Led by Major John Morrison, a small band of Virginia militia including Levi Todd and William McConnell camped at a spring near Elkhorn CreekElkhorn CreekElkhorn Creek is an stream running through several counties in central Kentucky in the United States. It derives its name from the shape, as seen on a map, of its main stem with its two primary forks....
. Upon hearing about the Battle of Lexington, a skirmish between the British and the MinutemenMinutemenMinutemen were members of teams of select men from the American colonial partisan militia during the American Revolutionary War. They provided a highly mobile, rapidly deployed force that allowed the colonies to respond immediately to war threats, hence the name.The minutemen were among the first...
of Lexington, MassachusettsLexington, MassachusettsLexington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,399 at the 2010 census. This town is famous for being the site of the first shot of the American Revolution, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.- History :...
, the soldiers named their campsite LexingtonLexington, KentuckyLexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
in honor of the first military conflict in the American Revolution; McConnell built a cabin on the site (later called McConnell's Station); Lexington, KentuckyLexington, KentuckyLexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
was one of the first permanent settlements by the English moving west into the frontier territory of what was then at the center of a colonial war between France, England and Spain.
- 1777 • Levi ToddLevi ToddLevi Todd was an 18th century American pioneer who, with his brothers John and Robert Todd, helped found present-day Lexington, Kentucky and were leading prominent landowners and statesmen in the state of Kentucky prior to its admission into the United States in 1792.He was also the grandfather of...
moved to Kentucky and settled in Harrodsburg where he became the first clerk of Kentucky County in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
- May 27, 1778 *(1778) George Rogers ClarkGeorge Rogers ClarkGeorge Rogers Clark was a soldier from Virginia and the highest ranking American military officer on the northwestern frontier during the American Revolutionary War. He served as leader of the Kentucky militia throughout much of the war...
arrives at the Falls of the Ohio and establishes Corn IslandCorn Island (Kentucky)Corn Island is a now-vanished island in the Ohio River, at head of the Falls of the Ohio, just north of Louisville, Kentucky.-Geography:Estimates of the size of Corn Island vary with time as it gradually was eroded and became submerged. A 1780 survey listed its size at...
settlement.
- 1779 • Lexington Station is established on the "Town Branch" of Elkhorn Creek; refurbished by Col. John Todd (Virginia)John Todd (Virginia)John Todd was a frontier military officer during the American Revolutionary War and the first administrator of the Illinois County of the U.S...
in 1781 as a blockhouse fort; the town of Lexington was established in 1782.
- August 19, 1782 • The Battle of Blue LicksBattle of Blue LicksThe Battle of Blue Licks, fought on August 19, 1782, was one of the last battles of the American Revolutionary War. The battle occurred ten months after Lord Cornwallis's famous surrender at Yorktown, which had effectively ended the war in the east...
in what is now Robertson CountyRobertson County, KentuckyRobertson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2010, the population was 2,282. Its county seat is Mount Olivet, Kentucky. The county is named for George Robertson, a Kentucky Congressman from 1817 to 1821. Robertson is a prohibition or dry county...
, was the last major conflict of the American Revolutionary WarAmerican Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
; Col. ohn Todd, co-founder of the town of Lexington, is one of the dead.
Between the wars
- October 1, 1789 • Jenny Brevard WileyJenny WileyJenny Wiley was a legendary pioneer woman who was taken captive by native Americans in 1789. Wiley endured the slaying of her brother and children and escaped after 11 months of captivity...
, mother of four children and pregnant with her fifth at the time, was kidnapped from her home in Virginia by a war party of Cherokees, Shawnees, Wyandots and Delawares; forced to work for her captors at Little Mud Lick Creek in Johnson County, KentuckyJohnson County, KentuckyJohnson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1843. As of 2000, the population was 23,445. Its county seat is Paintsville...
, she escaped and returned to her husband, eventually returning to live with her new family in the same area where she had been held as a slave. Jenny Wiley State Resort ParkJenny Wiley State Resort ParkJenny Wiley State Resort Park, originally known as Dewey Lake State Park, located at Prestonsburg, Kentucky, is a mountain resort park located on the shores of Dewey Lake. It is named for Virginia "Jenny" Wiley, a pioneer woman and Indian captive...
near Dewey LakeDewey LakeDewey Lake, located near Prestonsburg, Kentucky in Floyd County, is part of the integrated flood reduction system operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers for the entire Ohio River Basin...
in eastern Kentucky and the Jenny Wiley StakesJenny Wiley StakesThe Jenny Wiley Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the second week of April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky...
thoroughbred race at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, KentuckyLexington, KentuckyLexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
are named after her.
- June 1, 1792 • Kentucky became the fifteenth state to be admitted to the union and Isaac ShelbyIsaac ShelbyIsaac Shelby was the first and fifth Governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky and served in the state legislatures of Virginia and North Carolina. He was also a soldier in Lord Dunmore's War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812...
, a military veteran from Virginia, was elected the first Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
- 1795 • Free Frank McWorterFree Frank McWorterFree Frank McWorter was an American slave who bought his own freedom and in 1836 founded the town of New Philadelphia in Illinois; he was the first black to found a town in the United States before the American Civil War...
builds and manages a farming settlement in Pulaski County, KentuckyPulaski County, KentuckyPulaski County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 63,063 in the 2010 Census. Its county seat is Somerset6. The county is named for Count Kazimierz Pułaski. Most of the county is a prohibition or dry county...
while enslaved by his father, George McWhorter; his saltpeterSaltpeterSaltpeter or saltpetre often refers to:*Potassium nitrate, or the mineral niter, the critical oxidizing component of gunpowder, and a food preservative.It may also refer to:...
factory becomes highly profitable during the War of 1812War of 1812The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
and by 1817 he had earned enough money of his own to purchase his wife Lucy from her master, and in 1819 bought his own freedom from his father, earning the moniker Free Frank; he traded his saltpeter plant in 1829 in exchange for the freedom of his eldest son Frank and moved with his family to IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, continuing to purchase the freedom of his relatives.
- December, 1811 through February, 1812 • A series of EarthquakeEarthquakeAn earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
s, some estimated at near 9.0 on the Richter scale, strikes the New Madrid Seismic ZoneNew Madrid Seismic ZoneThe New Madrid Seismic Zone , sometimes called the New Madrid Fault Line, is a major seismic zone and a prolific source of intraplate earthquakes in the southern and midwestern United States, stretching to the southwest from New Madrid, Missouri.The New Madrid fault system was responsible for the...
creating a "Hell on Earth" scenario for Early Kentuckians, both Native and European.
- 1818 • The portion of Kentucky west of the Tennessee riverTennessee RiverThe Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
was purchased from the ChickasawChickasawThe Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...
by U.S. President Andrew JacksonAndrew JacksonAndrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
, hence the name of this region — The Jackson PurchaseJackson PurchaseThe Jackson Purchase is a region in the state of Kentucky bounded by the Mississippi River to the west, the Ohio River to the north, and Tennessee River to the east. Although technically part of Kentucky at its statehood in 1792, the land did not come under definitive U.S. control until 1818, when...
.
- May 27, 1830 • A veto by President Andrew Jackson prevented the federal funding of refurbishing of the Maysville RoadMaysville Road vetoThe Maysville Road veto occurred on May 27, 1830, when President Andrew Jackson vetoed a bill which would allow the Federal government to purchase stock in the Maysville, Washington, Paris, and Lexington Turnpike Road Company, which had been organized to construct a road linking Lexington and the...
from the Ohio RiverOhio RiverThe Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
to LexingtonLexington, KentuckyLexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
since, according to Jackson, the bill only benefited the Commonwealth of Kentucky; this was a personal and political blow to Henry Clay and the Whig Party's American SystemAmerican System (economic plan)The American System, originally called "The American Way", was a mercantilist economic plan that played a prominent role in American policy during the first half of the 19th century...
.
- February 2, 1833 • Kentucky's legislature passed the Non-Importation Act was part of a national trend to strengthen the laws regarding slavery and the rising efforts for personal liberty, including the increased efforts within the Underground RailroadUnderground RailroadThe Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
freedom movement in which the state of Kentucky focused as an important crossroads. The act was repealed in 1849 as part of the work in building the state's new constitution.
- January 1856 • Margaret GarnerMargaret GarnerMargaret Garner was an enslaved African American woman in pre-Civil War America who was notorious - or celebrated - for killing her own daughter rather than allow the child to be returned to slavery. She and her family had escaped in January 1856 across the frozen Ohio River to Cincinnati, but...
led seven members of her family out of slavery in Kentucky, walking across the frozen Ohio RiverOhio RiverThe Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
from the CovingtonCovington, Kentucky-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,370 people, 18,257 households, and 10,132 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,301.3 people per square mile . There were 20,448 housing units at an average density of 1,556.5 per square mile...
side to Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati, OhioCincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
; but they are pursued by federal marshals and Archibald K. Gaines who surround the cabin where they are hiding; she tried to kill her two children and herself rather than surrender but succeeds only in killing her daughter Mary before being captured; her story became widely known and was immotalized in Toni Morrison's 1987 novel BelovedBeloved (novel)Beloved is a novel by the American writer Toni Morrison, published in 1987. Set in 1873 just after the American Civil War , it is based on the story of the African-American slave, Margaret Garner, who escaped slavery in 1856 in Kentucky by fleeing to Ohio, a free state...
.
Post Civil War period
- January 31, 1865 • The Constitutional Amendment ending slavery in the U.S. is passed and enough states ratify it by December - Kentucky's legislature, not under federal "reconstruction," refused to ratify the Thirteenth AmendmentThirteenth Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution officially abolished and continues to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, passed by the House on January 31, 1865, and adopted on December 6, 1865. On...
until Kentucky woman legislator, Mae Street KiddMae Street KiddState Representative Mae Street Kidd born in Millersburg, Kentucky was an innovative businesswoman, a civic leader, and a skilled politician during a time when both her gender and her inter-racial background made such accomplishments more difficult than they would be today...
won this battle in 1976.
- May 17, 1875 • The first Kentucky DerbyKentucky DerbyThe Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
was won by a colt named AristidesAristides (racehorse)Aristides was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the first Kentucky Derby in 1875.In 1875 the Derby was raced at a mile and a half, the distance it would remain until 1896 when it was changed to its present mile and a quarter...
ridden by African-American jockey, Oliver LewisOliver LewisOliver Lewis was an African-American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. In 1875, Lewis rode in the very first Kentucky Derby on the winning horse, Aristides...
in front of an estimated crowd of 10,000 people.
Twentieth century
- January 1937 • A massive floodOhio River flood of 1937The Ohio River flood of 1937 took place in late January and February 1937. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois, one million persons were left homeless, with 385 dead and property losses reaching $500 million...
occurs as the result of snowmelt and record rainfall effecting nearly every Kentucky town and city along the Ohio riverOhio RiverThe Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
, its tributaries and the MississippiMississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
.
- 1954 • A twelve-year-old then known as Cassius ClayMuhammad AliMuhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
approached a LouisvilleLouisville, KentuckyLouisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
police officer named Joe Martin to report that his bicycle had been stolen. Martin, then the coach of Louisville's city boxingBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
program, tells Cassius that instead of "whooping" the thief, he should learn to box. The next day, the boy takes his first boxing lessons, the first step on a journey that would take him to a legendary boxing career.
- February 28, 1958 • Prestonsburg bus disasterPrestonsburg bus disasterThe collision and plunge into a river involving a school bus near Prestonsburg, Kentucky on February 28, 1958, was the most disastrous bus accident in United States history.-Summary:...
— A school busSchool busA school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...
traveling on US 23 in Floyd CountyFloyd County, KentuckyFloyd County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1800. As of 2000, the population was 42,441. Its county seat is Prestonsburg. The county is named for Colonel John Floyd .-History:...
collides with a wrecker truck and plunges into a flooded Levisa Fork RiverLevisa Fork RiverThe Levisa Fork is a tributary of the Big Sandy River, approximately long, in southwestern Virginia and eastern Kentucky in the United States....
. The driver and 26 children drown in what remains the deadliest bus disaster in U.S. history.
- May 28, 1977 • Beverly Hills Supper Club fireBeverly Hills Supper Club fireThe Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in Southgate, Kentucky is the third deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. It occurred on the night of May 28, 1977, during the Memorial Day weekend...
— A fire at the Beverly Hills Supper Club, a nightclub in SouthgateSouthgate, KentuckySouthgate is a city in Campbell County, Kentucky, United States, a part of metropolitan Cincinnati, Ohio. The population was 3,472 at the 2000 census.-History:...
in Campbell CountyCampbell County, KentuckyCampbell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed on December 17, 1794, from sections of Scott, Harrison and Mason counties. As of 2010, the population was 90,336. Its county seats are Alexandria and Newport...
, kills 165 and injures over 200.
- May 14, 1988 • Carrollton bus collision — Larry Mahoney, intoxicated and driving the wrong way on Interstate 71Interstate 71Interstate 71 is an Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes/Midwestern and Southeastern region of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 64 and Interstate 65 in Louisville, Kentucky. Its northern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 90 in Cleveland,...
in Carroll CountyCarroll County, KentuckyCarroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky and located at the confluence of the Kentucky and Ohio rivers. It was formed in 1838 and named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last living signer of the Declaration of Independence. The population was 10,155 at the 2000 census...
, hits a converted school bus carrying a youth group from First Assembly of GodAssemblies of GodThe Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
in RadcliffRadcliff, KentuckyRadcliff is a city in Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 21,961 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Elizabethtown, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area....
. The crash and the ensuing fire kill 27, which equals the toll from the Prestonsburg disaster 30 years earlier.
- December 1, 1997 • Heath High School shootingHeath High School shootingThe Heath High School shooting occurred at Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky, United States, on Monday, December 1, 1997. Fourteen-year-old Michael Carneal opened fire on a group of praying students, killing three and injuring five more....
— Michael Carneal, an emotionally troubled freshman at Heath High School in McCracken CountyMcCracken County, KentuckyMcCracken County is a county located in the Jackson Purchase, the extreme western end of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 65,514. The county seat, largest city, and only incorporated community is Paducah....
, opens fire on a group of his fellow students who were leaving a preschool prayer meeting. Three are killed and five wounded, with one of the wounded left a paraplegic. Carneal is eventually sentenced to three concurrent life sentences plus 120 years.
- August 27, 2006 • Comair Flight 5191Comair Flight 5191Comair Flight 191, marketed as Delta Connection Flight 5191, was a scheduled United States domestic passenger flight from Lexington, Kentucky, to Atlanta, Georgia, operated on behalf of Delta Connection by Comair...
crashes shortly after takeoff from Blue Grass AirportBlue Grass AirportBlue Grass Airport is a public airport located in Fayette County, Kentucky, United States, 4 miles west of the central business district of the city of Lexington. The main terminal building was opened in 1977. The airport covers an area of and has two runways. It is also home to the Aviation...
in LexingtonLexington, KentuckyLexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
. Of the 50 passengers and crew on board, 49 are killed.
See also
- Historical outline of Kentucky
- History of KentuckyHistory of KentuckyThe history of Kentucky spans hundreds of years, and has been influenced by the state's diverse geography and central location.-Origin of the name:The name "Kentucky" derived from an Iroquois name for the area south of the Ohio River...