For those who live in Kentucky or are formerly from KY you might find this interesting. And for those who don’t, you might also find this interesting. 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 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. It 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 1980s and started over a pig.

*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.

*The “Old Fashion” drink was created in Louisville 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.

*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 grass.

* Cumberland is the only waterfall in the world to regularly display a Moonbow. 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.

*There are only three things that matter in the state of Kentucky – Bourbon, Basketball, and Horseracing.