149 Fun Facts About Lexington

Frontiersmen camping in Kentucky in June 1775 named their site after hearing news of what?

The camp was named Lexington after the Battle of Lexington, the opening clash of the Revolutionary War in Massachusetts; Kentucky became a state 17 years later, in 1792.

Lexington, Kentucky's city government has been merged with which county since 1974?

Lexington merged with Fayette County in 1974 to form the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, Kentucky's first consolidated city-county, run by a mayor and a nonpartisan council.

In 1958 Lexington enacted what national first to protect its surrounding horse farms?

Lexington drew the nation's first urban growth boundary in 1958, confining new development to an urban service area, which is why horse farms begin so abruptly at the city's edge.

Keeneland Race Course has held live meets in which two months since 1936?

Keeneland has run its two short meets in April and October since opening in October 1936; its period look is why most racing scenes in the 2003 film Seabiscuit were shot there.

Keeneland was the last track in North America to do what, holding out until 1997?

Keeneland ran without a track announcer until 1997, when it finally began broadcasting race calls over a public-address system; it is also home to the world's largest Thoroughbred auction house.

Which Triple Crown winner took the Breeders' Cup Classic when Keeneland hosted the event in 2015?

American Pharoah, the 2015 Triple Crown winner, closed his career by winning the Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland on October 31, 2015, completing racing's first Grand Slam.

The Kentucky Horse Park, opened in 1978, has a famous statue near its entrance of which horse?

Man o' War, winner of 20 of his 21 races, is buried beneath his bronze statue near the entrance of the Kentucky Horse Park, which opened in 1978.

In 2010 Lexington became the first city outside Europe to host which event?

The 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games at the Kentucky Horse Park were the first ever held outside Europe; the park also stages the Kentucky Three-Day Event each spring.

How many NCAA championships had the University of Kentucky men's basketball team won by 2025?

It also has the most all-time wins and best winning percentage in the sport, and was the first programme to reach 2,000 victories.

Rupp Arena, home of the Wildcats, is named after a coach known by what nickname?

Adolph Rupp, the Baron of the Bluegrass, coached Kentucky from 1930 to 1972 and won four national titles, prowling the sideline in his trademark brown suit.

By 2025, Kentucky's men's basketball national titles had been won by how many different coaches?

Five coaches have won Kentucky's titles: Adolph Rupp (four), Joe B. Hall (1978), Rick Pitino (1996), Tubby Smith (1998) and John Calipari (2012).

Which Lexington college, chartered in 1780, is Kentucky's oldest and the first west of the Alleghenies?

Transylvania University, chartered in 1780, is Kentucky's oldest college and the first west of the Allegheny Mountains; its pioneering medical department trained doctors from 1799 to 1859.

The Great Compromiser, whose Ashland estate is a Lexington landmark, was which statesman?

Henry Clay was Speaker of the House, Secretary of State, a Treaty of Ghent negotiator and a founder of the Whig Party.

Which First Lady was born in Lexington in 1818, the daughter of a wealthy banker?

Mary Todd Lincoln was born in Lexington on December 13, 1818, to banker Robert Smith Todd; her girlhood home on West Main Street is now a museum.

Lexington native Thomas Hunt Morgan won a 1933 Nobel Prize for work with which organism?

His Fly Room at Columbia proved that genes are carried on chromosomes; he was a nephew of Confederate raider John Hunt Morgan.

Isaac Burns Murphy, the Lexington-raised jockey, achieved what distinction?

Isaac Murphy, who won the Kentucky Derby in 1884, 1890 and 1891, was the first jockey inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame when it opened in 1955.

By federal law, bourbon must be made from a grain mixture that is at least what percentage corn?

Federal standards require bourbon's grain mash to be at least 51 percent corn and aged in new charred oak; Congress declared it a 'distinctive product of the United States' in 1964.

The Bourbon Trail tourism programme was launched in 1999 by which body?

The association registered the phrase as a trademark; several trail distilleries lie within an hour of Lexington.

Which Oscar-winning actor was born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1961?

George Clooney was born in Lexington on May 6, 1961, the son of broadcaster Nick Clooney, and grew up in Augusta, Kentucky; he won an Oscar for Syriana and another as a producer of Argo.

Despite its name, Kentucky bluegrass, which gives Lexington's region its nickname, is native to where?

Europe and North Africa, plus North Asia; the name comes from its seed heads, which look blue when the plant grows to its natural two or three feet.

A factory in Lexington produces more of what than any other plant in the world?

Peanut butter: the Jif plant on Winchester Road is the world's largest peanut-butter factory, a Procter & Gamble plant until the J.M. Smucker Company bought the brand in 2002.

Lexmark, the printer company headquartered in Lexington, was spun off in 1991 from which corporation?

Lexmark was spun off from IBM in March 1991, when IBM sold its Lexington typewriter, keyboard and printer business to the investment firm Clayton & Dubilier.

The Toyota plant in the Lexington metro area, opened in Georgetown, chiefly builds which model?

Toyota's Georgetown plant, its first wholly owned US assembly plant, has built the Camry since production began in May 1988; it also makes its own four-cylinder and V6 engines.

A stuffed bear displayed in a Lexington mall inspired which 2023 film?

Cocaine Bear was inspired by a black bear that died in 1985 after eating cocaine dropped from a smuggler's plane; the taxidermied bear is displayed at the Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall.

In 2025, the Lexington Legends baseball team belonged to which independent circuit?

The Legends joined the independent Atlantic League, an MLB Partner League, in 2021 after losing affiliated status in the minor-league contraction; they played as the Counter Clocks in 2023 and 2024.

Kentucky's football stadium, formerly Commonwealth Stadium, took which company's name in 2017?

Commonwealth Stadium became Kroger Field in 2017 under a multi-year naming-rights deal with the Cincinnati-based grocer; it opened in 1973.

What was the horse that handed Man o' War his only defeat called, a name now a sports cliché?

Upset beat Man o' War in the 1919 Sanford Memorial Stakes at Saratoga, the champion's only loss; the result helped earn the track its nickname, the Graveyard of Champions.

The 1973 Triple Crown winner, buried near Lexington, won the Belmont by how many lengths?

Secretariat won the 1973 Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths in 2:24, a dirt record for a mile and a half; he stood at Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky, and is buried there.

What did Rupp's 1948 NCAA champion Wildcats go on to do that summer?

The London Olympics squad was built around Rupp's Fabulous Five.

Which Kentucky Wildcat was the consensus national player of the year in 2012?

Anthony Davis swept the 2012 national player-of-the-year awards as a freshman while leading Kentucky to the national title; Oscar Tshiebwe repeated the consensus honour in 2022.

The Kentucky Three-Day Event is held the weekend before which famous race?

The Kentucky Three-Day Event runs in late April, the weekend before the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday of May; Rolex sponsored the event from 1981 to 2017.

The Kentucky Horse Park's International Museum of the Horse is an affiliate of which institution?

The International Museum of the Horse became a Smithsonian Affiliate in 2001; the Kentucky Horse Park is also a working horse farm and an international competition venue.

Which Lexington, Kentucky native played Ernest P. Worrell in the 'KnowhutImean?' commercials and films?

Jim Varney, born in Lexington in 1949, played Ernest P. Worrell in hundreds of commercials and films such as Ernest Goes to Camp (1987), and voiced Slinky Dog in Toy Story.

On which date was the 'shot heard round the world' fired at Lexington, Massachusetts?

The first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired on Lexington Green at dawn on April 19, 1775, as about 700 British regulars marched to seize military supplies at Concord.

Before it was incorporated as Lexington, the Massachusetts town was a parish known by what name?

Lexington began as Cambridge Farms, an outlying parish of Cambridge set apart in 1691; the parish's meeting-house green became the Battle Green, now a National Historic Landmark.

Which two Confederate generals are buried in Lexington, Virginia?

The Shenandoah Valley town is home to the Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University.

Lexington, Virginia is best known as the home of the Virginia Military Institute and which university?

Washington and Lee University began as Augusta Academy in 1749, was renamed for George Washington after his 1796 endowment gift, and added Lee's name after he died as its president in 1870.

Which pioneer blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap in 1775?

Daniel Boone was working for Judge Richard Henderson's Transylvania Company, the same name later given to Lexington's university.

Adolph Rupp played his own college basketball at which school, under coach Phog Allen?

Rupp was a reserve on Phog Allen's University of Kansas teams of 1922 and 1923, both later named Helms national champions, before coaching in Lexington for 41 seasons.

Lexington's metro area is the second-largest in Kentucky after which city?

Louisville's metro is Kentucky's largest; Lexington's six-county metropolitan area had about 517,000 residents at the 2020 census.

What was Lexington, Kentucky's population at the 2020 census?

Lexington counted 322,570 residents in the 2020 census, making it Kentucky's second-largest city after Louisville and one of the 60 largest cities in the United States.

Which frontiersman led the party that camped at the future site of Lexington, Kentucky in June 1775?

Their camp on Elkhorn Creek is now McConnell Springs park; Kentucky was still part of Virginia's Fincastle County.

How many original settlers signed the Lexington Compact on January 25, 1780?

The Articles of Agreement handed out half-acre "In" lots and five-acre "Out" lots to each share.

Which body chartered the town of Lexington, Kentucky on May 6, 1782?

The Virginia General Assembly chartered Lexington on May 6, 1782, when Kentucky was Virginia's western district; Kentucky became a separate state in 1792.

What was the caravan of 600 Virginia pioneers led by preacher Lewis Craig in 1781 called?

The Travelling Church, some 600 Baptists from Spotsylvania County, reached Kentucky in December 1781; Craig later founded South Elkhorn Baptist Church near Lexington in 1783.

Which congregation founded by Peter Durrett around 1790 is the third-oldest of its kind in the US?

First African Baptist Church, gathered by Peter Durrett about 1790, is the third-oldest Black Baptist congregation in the United States; by 1850 it was the largest church in Kentucky.

Which Lexington planter became the first millionaire west of the Alleghenies?

John Wesley Hunt, a hemp and horse trader, is called the first millionaire west of the Alleghenies; his 1814 Gratz Park home, Hopemont, is now the Hunt-Morgan House museum.

Which epidemic killed about 500 of Lexington's 7,000 residents within two months in 1833?

Cholera swept Lexington in June and July 1833, killing about 500 of roughly 7,000 residents; London Ferrill of First African Baptist was among the few clergy who stayed to serve the sick.

Which militia unit nicknamed the "Silk Stocking Boys" fought in the War of 1812?

The Lexington Light Infantry, the 'Silk Stocking Boys', marched north in 1812; its captain, Nathaniel G. S. Hart, was killed as a prisoner after the January 1813 Battle of the River Raisin.

Which Kentucky governor called out the National Guard during the 1920 Will Lockett trial riot?

Governor Edwin P. Morrow sent the National Guard to protect the February 1920 trial; guardsmen fired on the mob, killing six, and federal troops under General Leonard Wood kept martial law for two weeks.

What was the nickname of the pioneering federal drug-rehabilitation hospital opened in Lexington in 1935?

The United States Narcotic Farm, known as Narco, opened in 1935 and treated addicts including William S. Burroughs and Chet Baker; it later became the Federal Medical Center, Lexington.

Which five counties join Fayette in the Lexington metropolitan area?

Clark, Jessamine, Bourbon, Woodford and Scott counties join Fayette in the Lexington-Fayette metropolitan area, which had 516,811 residents at the 2020 census.

What is Lexington's record high temperature, set in July 1936?

Lexington's record high of 108 °F was set on July 10, 1936, during the Dust Bowl heat wave; the record low is −21 °F, from January 24, 1963.

Which mattress brand was founded in Lexington in 1992, using foam developed from NASA research?

Tempur-Pedic was founded in Lexington in 1992 to sell mattresses made of viscoelastic foam originally developed from NASA research; its parent company kept its headquarters in the city.

Which restaurant chain moved its headquarters to Lexington in 2011?

A&W Restaurants moved its headquarters from Louisville to Lexington in 2011 after a franchisee group bought the chain from Yum! Brands; Italian chain Fazoli's is also based in the city.

Which maker of large industrial ceiling fans is headquartered in Lexington?

Big Ass Fans, founded in Lexington in 1999 as the HVLS Fan Company, took its name from customers' description of its 24-foot ceiling fans; Link-Belt cranes are also made in the city.

Which Lexington mayor, elected in 2010, proclaimed June 29, 2013 Pride Day?

Gray was openly gay; the city has an unusually high concentration of gay and lesbian couples for its size.

Which Gothic Revival villa designed by Alexander Jackson Davis houses the Lexington Art League?

Loudoun House, a Gothic Revival villa designed by Alexander Jackson Davis and completed in 1850 for Francis Key Hunt, is the home of the Lexington Art League.

Which downtown Lexington building, a 1960s sit-in site, was demolished for a parking lot in 2004?

The Woolworth's on Main Street, site of 1960 lunch-counter sit-ins and listed on the National Register for its civil-rights significance, was torn down for a parking lot in 2004.

Which club, founded in 2021, fielded Lexington's USL Championship and Super League teams in 2025?

Lexington SC, founded in 2021, fielded teams in the USL Championship and the women's USL Super League in 2025 and opened its own purpose-built stadium that year.

Which retired Kentucky Derby winner lived at the Kentucky Horse Park?

Funny Cide, the gelding who won the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, lived in the Kentucky Horse Park's Hall of Champions from 2008 until his death in 2023.

Which sport's global title event did Lexington host at Coolavin Park in 2017?

Lexington hosted the 2017 World Hardcourt Bike Polo Championship on Coolavin Park's dedicated courts, two years after staging the North American championship there.

Which summer basketball tournament at Douglass Park did Sports Illustrated cover in 1983?

The Dirt Bowl, a summer league played at Douglass Park since 1967, drew Sports Illustrated in 1983; its name comes from the park's original dirt courts.

Which 659-acre park is Lexington's largest?

Masterson Station Park, 659 acres on the city's northwest side, is Lexington's largest park; Smith Street Park, at 8,719 square feet, is the smallest.

Which 734-acre nature preserve lies along the Kentucky River Palisades in Lexington?

Raven Run Nature Sanctuary covers 734 acres of the Kentucky River Palisades in southern Fayette County; the 100-acre Arboretum sits beside the University of Kentucky.

Which $39 million private park opened on Lexington's Town Branch in August 2025?

It covers ten acres in the centre of downtown.

How many members sit on Lexington's Urban County Council?

The Urban County Council has 15 members: twelve elected from districts and three at-large; the top at-large vote-getter serves as vice mayor.

Which Republican was elected Lexington's mayor and re-elected in 2022 with 71% of the vote?

Linda Gorton, a registered Republican in a nonpartisan office, was first elected mayor in 2018 and won a second term in 2022 with about 71% of the vote over David Kloiber.

Which statewide public broadcaster is headquartered in Lexington?

KET reaches all 1.6 million television households in the state.

Which two interstates skirt Lexington?

I-75 and I-64 run along the city's edges; the lack of freeways inside Lexington causes notable congestion for its size.

Which four airlines flew from Blue Grass Airport in 2025?

Allegiant, American, Delta and United served Blue Grass Airport in 2025; the airport sits directly across Versailles Road from Keeneland Race Course.

Which 2006 crash at Blue Grass Airport killed 49 after a wrong-runway takeoff?

Comair Flight 5191 crashed on August 27, 2006, after taking off from Blue Grass Airport's short Runway 26 instead of Runway 22, killing 49 of the 50 aboard; the short runway was later closed.

Which Normandy resort town has been Lexington's sister city since 1957?

Deauville, the Normandy seaside resort with its own racecourse and yearling sales, has been Lexington's sister city since 1957; Newmarket in England and County Kildare in Ireland are sister cities too.

How far is Lexington, Massachusetts from downtown Boston?

Lexington lies about 10 miles northwest of downtown Boston in Middlesex County; its 2020 population was 34,454.

In what year was Lexington, Massachusetts incorporated as a separate town?

It may be named for Lord Lexington or for Laxton in Nottinghamshire, England.

Which two alarm riders warned Hancock and Adams in Lexington on the night of April 18, 1775?

Paul Revere and William Dawes reached Lexington separately around midnight to warn Hancock and Adams; Samuel Prescott joined them on the road to Concord and was the only one to get through.

Roughly how many Lexington militiamen faced the British on the Common at sunrise on April 19, 1775?

About 77 militiamen stood on the Common at sunrise facing the British advance guard of several hundred regulars under Major John Pitcairn.

Who commanded the Lexington militia company on the Common in 1775?

A statue of Parker, erected in 1900, stands at the eastern corner of the Battle Green.

How many British soldiers were wounded in the opening skirmish on Lexington Common?

Only one British soldier was wounded on Lexington Common, while eight militiamen were killed and ten wounded; Major Pitcairn's horse was also hit before the column marched on to Concord.

Which Massachusetts holiday marks the Battle of Lexington with reenactments and a parade?

Patriots' Day festivities on the Battle Green include reenactments, historic house tours, concerts and a parade.

Which architect designed Lexington, Massachusetts' Peacock Farm neighbourhood, built 1952–58?

Architect Walter Pierce designed Peacock Farm's modernist split-level houses with developer Danforth Compton; the neighbourhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Which town's residents blocked a plan to extend the MBTA Red Line toward Lexington?

Arlington residents' opposition stopped the Red Line from continuing past Alewife toward Arlington Heights and Lexington; Lexington's own commuter rail service ended in 1981.

Lexington, Massachusetts hosted a Cold War test site for which prototype computer air-defence system?

An IBM prototype arrived in July 1955 for the "Experimental SAGE Subsector".

Which ancestry was the most reported in Lexington, Massachusetts in 2020?

Chinese (14.8%) narrowly edged Irish (14.3%), with Indian ancestry at 11.4%.

In what year did Lexington townspeople first buy land for a militia training ground, creating the Common?

In 1711 the townspeople bought about 1.5 acres by subscription as a militia training field, the origin of Lexington Common; they added another acre in 1722.

From which building did the Lexington militia emerge to face the British on April 19, 1775?

Parker's men waited in Buckman Tavern, across Bedford Street from the Common, and filed out to meet the British at dawn; the tavern is a National Historic Landmark.

Which sculptor created the 1874 Minute Man statue at Concord's Old North Bridge?

French later sculpted the seated Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial.

Which 1837 poem by Emerson coined "the shot heard round the world"?

Emerson wrote 'Concord Hymn' for the July 4, 1837 dedication of the Battle Monument at the North Bridge; Longfellow's 'Paul Revere's Ride' came later, in 1860.

How long is the Battle Road Trail between Lexington and Concord?

The Battle Road Trail runs five miles through Minute Man National Historical Park from Meriam's Corner in Concord to Lexington, passing the spot where Paul Revere was captured.

Which British officer led the 700 Regulars sent to Concord on April 18, 1775?

Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith of the 10th Foot commanded the column; Major John Pitcairn of the marines led its advance guard, and Earl Percy's relief brigade met the retreat at Lexington.

Roughly how many militiamen engaged 100 Regulars at Concord's Old North Bridge?

About 400 militiamen from Concord and nearby towns advanced on roughly 100 regulars at the North Bridge around 9:30 am, driving them back into Concord.

Which British general, military governor of Massachusetts, dissolved the provincial government before the battles?

General Thomas Gage, military governor from 1774, dissolved the Massachusetts assembly, and the colonists formed a Provincial Congress; Parliament declared the province in rebellion in February 1775.

What began after the British retreated to Charlestown following Lexington and Concord?

The siege of Boston began as thousands of militiamen ringed the town after the British column, about 1,700 men once Percy's brigade joined, had fought its way back to Charlestown.

Lexington, Virginia is the county seat of which county?

Lexington is the seat of Rockbridge County while being an independent city separate from it; its 2020 population was 7,320.

Which Union general raided the Virginia Military Institute during the Civil War?

Union General David Hunter's troops occupied Lexington and burned the Virginia Military Institute on June 12, 1864, during his advance up the Shenandoah Valley toward Lynchburg.

Which inventor, born in Rockbridge County, has a statue on the Washington and Lee campus?

Cyrus McCormick, who built his first mechanical reaper at Walnut Grove in Rockbridge County in 1831, was a Washington and Lee benefactor; his farm is now a Virginia Tech research center.

Which river forms the northeastern boundary of Lexington, Virginia?

The Maury River, a tributary of the James, bounds Lexington on the northeast; it was called the North River until renamed in 1945 for oceanographer Matthew Fontaine Maury.

Which Lexington, Virginia institution honours a Nobel Peace Prize-winning general?

The George C. Marshall Library on the VMI post holds the papers of Marshall, a VMI graduate of 1901 who won the 1953 Nobel Peace Prize for the Marshall Plan.

What was Washington and Lee University renamed in 1776 in a burst of revolutionary fervour?

Liberty Hall Academy was the name adopted in 1776; the school had begun as Augusta Academy in 1749 and became Washington Academy in 1798 after George Washington's endowment.

How much did George Washington give the future Washington and Lee in 1796?

Washington gave 100 shares of James River Company canal stock, worth $20,000, in 1796; the trustees renamed the school Washington Academy in 1798 in gratitude.

In what year was the Virginia Military Institute founded as America's first state military college?

VMI opened on November 11, 1839, on the site of a state arsenal in Lexington, as the nation's first state-supported military college; unlike other senior military colleges it enrols only cadets.

Roughly how many cadets did VMI enrol as of 2019?

VMI enrolled about 1,700 cadets in 2019, which makes it one of the smallest NCAA Division I schools.

Who founded the University of Kentucky in 1865 as the Agricultural and Mechanical College?

John Bryan Bowman created the Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1865 as part of his Kentucky University; it opened in 1866 with 190 students on the grounds of Henry Clay's Ashland estate.

Which federal law gave the University of Kentucky its founding support in 1865?

The Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862 funded the Agricultural and Mechanical College that became the University of Kentucky; Kentucky State University is the state's other land-grant school, under the 1890 act.

A 1909 football win over which team gave Kentucky its "Wildcats" nickname?

After Kentucky beat Illinois 6–2 in October 1909, Commandant Philip Corbusier told students the team had 'fought like Wildcats', and the name stuck.

What is the name of the University of Kentucky's largest library?

The William T. Young Library, opened in 1998 and named for the Lexington businessman who funded it, is UK's largest and a federal depository for the social sciences, humanities and life sciences.

Which Duke player's buzzer-beater beat Kentucky 104–103 in the 1992 East Regional final?

Christian Laettner's turnaround jumper at the overtime buzzer on March 28, 1992, ended Kentucky's season 104–103; the Wildcats' seniors were honoured as 'The Unforgettables'.

Which Kentucky championship team did Rupp nickname for its playful mistakes?

Rupp called his 1958 champions the Fiddlin' Five, saying they were fiddlers rather than violinists; at 23–6 they lost more games than any other Kentucky title team.

Why did Kentucky skip the 1954 NCAA Tournament?

The team had already sat out 1952–53 because of the point-shaving scandal.

Which broadcaster has both a retired jersey and a Naismith Hall of Fame place at Kentucky?

Cawood Ledford, the 'Voice of the Wildcats' from 1953 to 1992, has a retired jersey in Rupp Arena and received the Naismith Hall of Fame's Curt Gowdy Media Award; equipment manager Bill Keightley also has one.

How many games did Adolph Rupp win in his 41 seasons at Kentucky?

Rupp won 876 games against 190 losses from 1930 to 1972 and retired as the winningest coach in Division I men's basketball history.

Rupp coached four years at which high school before Kentucky?

Rupp coached Freeport High School in Illinois from 1926 to 1930, compiling a 66–21 record and a third-place state finish in 1929, before Kentucky hired him.

Which NCAA Final Four was held at Rupp Arena?

Rupp Arena hosted the 1985 Final Four, where eighth-seeded Villanova upset defending champion Georgetown 66–64 in the final.

What is Rupp Arena's official capacity?

It opened in 1976, a little over a year before Rupp died.

Which AHL hockey team played at Rupp Arena from 1996 to 2001?

The Kentucky Thoroughblades played in the AHL at Rupp Arena from 1996 to 2001; the franchise moved to Cleveland, then Worcester, and became the San Jose Barracuda in 2015.

Which Kentucky high school tournament is played at Rupp Arena?

The KHSAA boys' basketball Sweet Sixteen brings the state's 16 regional champions to Rupp Arena each March; the arena also hosted NCAA Tournament games as recently as 2013.

Which Lexington horseman led Keeneland's 1935 founding and served as its first president?

Hal Price Headley, owner of Beaumont Farm, led the group that founded the Keeneland Association in 1935 and served as its first president; the track opened in October 1936.

Where did Keeneland rank when the Horseplayers Association rated 65 North American tracks in 2009?

Keeneland ranked first when the Horseplayers Association of North America rated 65 tracks in 2009, helped by its low takeout and short boutique meets.

How long is Keeneland's spring race meet?

The fall meet runs 17 days with six Grade One Breeders' Cup preps.

How large is the Kentucky Horse Park?

The Kentucky Horse Park covers 1,224 acres off Iron Works Pike at Exit 120 of I-75, north of Lexington, on land that was once part of Walnut Hall Farm.

Which champion gelding lived at the Kentucky Horse Park from 1985 until his death in 2007?

John Henry, twice Horse of the Year (1981 and 1984), lived in the Kentucky Horse Park's Hall of Champions from 1985 until his death at 32 in October 2007.

Which 1970s handicap champion was the Kentucky Horse Park's first great resident, arriving in 1979?

Forego, three-time Horse of the Year from 1974 to 1976, arrived in 1979 and lived at the park until his death in 1997; Bold Forbes later joined him among its retired greats.

What does "Transylvania", the university's name, mean in Latin?

Transylvania is Latin for 'across the woods', from trans and silva; the university took its name from Richard Henderson's short-lived Transylvania Colony of 1775.

Where was Transylvania Seminary first located before moving to Lexington in 1789?

Classes began in 1785 in a log cabin at David Rice's home near Danville, in what is now Boyle County; after moving to Lexington in 1789 the seminary built on what is now Gratz Park.

How many US vice presidents count Transylvania University as their alma mater?

Two US vice presidents studied at Transylvania in the 19th century; the school also claims 50 US senators and 36 governors among its alumni.

Which enslaved woman sued Henry Clay for her freedom in 1829, decades before Dred Scott?

Charlotte Dupuy filed her freedom suit against Clay in Washington in 1829; she stayed there working for Martin Van Buren for 18 months while the case proceeded, and lost in 1830.

Roughly how many people did Henry Clay enslave at Ashland?

Clay enslaved as many as 60 people at Ashland at one time, and about 122 over his lifetime; they built the estate's buildings and grew its hemp.

Before the Todds bought it, the Mary Todd Lincoln House was an inn called what?

Built between 1803 and 1806 as an inn called the Sign of the Green Tree, the house was bought by Robert Todd in 1832; Mary lived there until moving to Springfield in 1839.

What distinction does the Mary Todd Lincoln House hold among historic sites?

The Mary Todd Lincoln House opened to the public on June 9, 1977, as the first historic site in America restored in honour of a First Lady.

Which two Confederate memorials were moved to Lexington Cemetery from downtown in 2018?

The statues of John C. Breckinridge and John Hunt Morgan were taken down from the old courthouse lawn in October 2017 and re-erected in Lexington Cemetery in 2018; the cemetery was founded in 1848.

Which tree does Lexington Cemetery claim as the world's largest, a claim disputed by the National Register of Big Trees?

The 170-acre cemetery holds more than 64,000 interments.

Which Pulitzer Prize did the Herald-Leader win in 1986?

The Herald-Leader's 1986 Pulitzer was for Investigative Reporting, for Jeffrey Marx and Michael York's series on boosters paying Kentucky basketball players; it added editorial writing in 1992 and cartooning in 2000.

Which company owns the Lexington Herald-Leader?

McClatchy has owned the Herald-Leader since buying Knight Ridder in 2006; its paid circulation is Kentucky's second-largest, after Louisville's Courier-Journal.

In what year did the Kentucky Theatre, a surviving movie palace, first open?

The Kentucky Theatre opened on Main Street on October 4, 1922; a 1987 fire in an adjacent restaurant closed it until a grand reopening in April 1992.

What scientific instrument hangs in the five-storey rotunda of Lexington's Central Library?

A Foucault pendulum swings through the five-storey rotunda of the Central Library on Main Street, beneath a frieze by sculptor Adalin Wichman depicting the history of the horse in the Bluegrass.

Lexington, North Carolina calls itself the capital of what?

Lexington, North Carolina calls itself the Barbecue Capital of the World for its pork-shoulder barbecue, served in town since Sid Weaver's stand in 1919; it hosts an annual Barbecue Festival each October.

Lexington County, South Carolina replaced which colonial township name in 1785?

Lexington County was created in 1785 from the old Saxe Gotha Township, a 1730s settlement of mostly German and Swiss colonists on the Congaree River.

Lexington, South Carolina is a suburb of which city?

Lexington lies about 12 miles west of Columbia, the state capital, and had 23,568 residents at the 2020 census.

What was the Essex-class carrier USS Lexington (CV-16) originally going to be named?

CV-16 was laid down as Cabot but renamed Lexington in June 1942 to honour CV-2, sunk at the Battle of the Coral Sea the month before; the name Cabot passed to a light carrier.

In which Texas city did USS Lexington (CV-16) become a museum ship in 1992?

Lexington has been a museum ship at Corpus Christi, Texas, since 1992, after nearly 30 years as the Navy's training carrier at Pensacola and decommissioning in 1991.

Which admiral used USS Lexington (CV-16) as flagship of the Fast Carrier Task Force?

Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher flew his flag in Lexington as commander of Task Force 58 during the 1944 Marianas campaign; she earned 11 battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation.

What was the nickname of the carrier USS Lexington (CV-2)?

CV-2 was 'Lady Lex'; converted from a battlecruiser hull under the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, she was commissioned in December 1927 and lost at the Coral Sea in May 1942.

Which Washington city's electricity supply did USS Lexington (CV-2) supplement during a 1929–30 drought?

Lexington moored at Tacoma from December 1929 to January 1930 and fed the city's grid from her turbo-electric plant after drought cut hydroelectric output.

Where was USS Lexington (CV-2) bound with Marine aircraft on 7 December 1941?

Lexington was ferrying 18 Marine SB2U Vindicator dive bombers to Midway Island when Pearl Harbor was attacked; the delivery was cancelled and she turned back to hunt for the Japanese fleet.

Which Lexington newspaper, founded by John Bradford in 1787, was Kentucky's first?

John Bradford printed the first issue of the Kentucky Gazette in Lexington on August 11, 1787, making it Kentucky's first newspaper, five years before statehood.

In which Virginia county was Lexington, Kentucky, considered to lie when it was named in June 1775?

In June 1775 Kentucky lay within Virginia's vast Fincastle County, which was split in 1776 to create Kentucky County; William McConnell's party camped near the Middle Fork of Elkhorn Creek.

In which month does Lexington hold the Festival of the Bluegrass, Kentucky's oldest bluegrass festival?

Early June: it runs three music stages plus a bluegrass camp for schoolchildren.

What is Lexington, Kentucky's average daily temperature in July, its warmest month?

July averages 76.7 °F and January 33.9 °F in Lexington's humid subtropical climate, with about 25 days a year at or above 90 °F.

Lexington's Union Station, demolished in 1960, had opened in which year?

Union Station opened in 1907 on East Main Street, serving the Chesapeake & Ohio and the Louisville and Nashville railways, and was demolished in 1960.