12 Things You Didn't Know About Kentucky
Just about every time I'm more than 500 miles away from my Kentucky home and I tell someone where I'm from, I can count on them saying something with the words Kentucky Derby in the sentence. If we end up talking for any amount of time questions about moonshine and most of the population going barefoot invariably come up. It's almost like Kentucky is still lost in some pre Civil War era where the rich folk ride around in horse drawn buggies while the women try to keep their hoop skirts from catching in the wheel spokes.
Over the years I've come up with some facts about my beloved Bluegrass State to pass along to those who have a sort of one dimensional perception of a place rich in its complexity.
1 - A Louisville druggist invented chewing gum.
2 - The electric light bulb was first publicly shown in Louisville.
3 - Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, was born in Fairview, KY about 125 miles west of Abraham Lincoln's birthplace in Hodgenville.
4 - The National Quilt Museum in Paducah is the world's largest.
5 - Kentucky has the most beef cattle east of the Mississippi River.
6 - Food Guru Duncan Hines was born in Bowling Green, KY.
7 - 95% of the world's bourbon is produced in Kentucky.
8 - The Song Happy Birthday was written by Louisville sisters Mildred and Patricia Hill.
9 - Johnny Depp, Ned Beatty, George Clooney, Warren Oates and Harry Dean Stanton were all born in Kentucky.
10 - All Chevrolet Corvettes are now produced in Bowling Green, KY.
11 - Mother's Day was first observed in Henderson, KY.
12 - The radio was invented by Kentuckian Nathan Stubblefield.
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