Kentucky, officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southern region of the United States, bordered by Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to the east; Tennessee to the south; and Missouri to the west. The bluegrass region in the central part of the state contains the state's capital, Frankfort, as well as its two largest cities, Louisville and Lexington. Together they comprise more than 20% of the state's population.[3] Kentucky is the 37th most extensive and the 26th most populous of the 50 United States.
Bourbon whiskey is a type of American whiskey, a barrel-aged distilled spirit made primarily from corn. The name ultimately derives from the French Bourbon dynasty, although the precise inspiration for the whiskey's name is uncertain; contenders include Bourbon County in Kentucky and Bourbon Street in New Orleans, both of which are named after the dynasty. Bourbon has been distilled since the 18th century. The name "Bourbon" was not applied until the 1850s, and the Kentucky etymology was not advanced until the 1870s. Although bourbon may be made anywhere in the United States, it is strongly associated with the American South and with Kentucky in particular. As of 2014, distillers' wholesale market revenue for bourbon sold within the U.S. was about $2.7 billion, and bourbon made up about two-thirds of the $1.6 billion of U.S. exports of distilled spirits. According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, in 2018 U.S. distillers derived $3.6 billion in revenue from bourbon and Tennessee whiskey sold in the United States.
Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me", "Mambo Italiano", "Tenderly", "Half as Much", "Hey There" and "This Ole House". She also had success as a jazz vocalist. Clooney's career languished in the 1960s, partly due to problems related to depression and drug addiction, but revived in 1977, when her White Christmas co-star Bing Crosby asked her to appear with him at a show marking his 50th anniversary in show business. She continued recording until her death in 2002.
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone became famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the Thirteen Colonies. Despite resistance from American Indians, for whom Kentucky was a traditional hunting ground, in 1775 Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky. There he founded Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements west the Appalachian Mountains. By the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 people entered Kentucky by following the route marked by Boone.
Ashland is a home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, in the United States. Ashland, the largest city in Boyd County, is located upon a southern bank of the Ohio River. The population was 21,684 at the 2010 census. Ashland is the smaller of two primary cities in the Huntington-Ashland metropolitan area, which is referred to locally as the "Tri-State area" and had a population of 361,487 in 2017, while the Kentucky portion was home to 110,641 in 2017. Ashland serves as an important economic and medical center for northeastern Kentucky and is part of the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Kentucky.
Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky, United States. As of 2019, its population of 70,543 made it the third-most-populous city in the state, after Louisville and Lexington; its metropolitan area, which is the fourth largest in the state after Louisville, Lexington, and Northern Kentucky, had an estimated population of 179,240; and the combined statistical area it shares with Glasgow has an estimated population of 233,560.
Kentucky Colonel is the highest title of honor bestowed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and one of a number of honorary titles of Colonel conferred by U.S. states. Commissions for Kentucky colonels are given by the governor and the secretary of state to individuals in recognition of noteworthy accomplishments, contributions to Kentucky society, remarkable deeds, and outstanding service to a community, state, or nation. The Governor of Kentucky bestows the honor of a colonel's commission, by issuance of letters patent.
Whitney Moore Young Jr. was an American civil rights leader. He spent most of his career working to end employment discrimination in the United States and turning the National Urban League from a relatively passive civil rights organization into one that aggressively worked for equitable access to socioeconomic opportunity for the historically disenfranchised.
Isaac Shelby was the first and fifth Governor of Kentucky and served in the state legislatures of Virginia and North Carolina. He was also a soldier in Lord Dunmore's War, the American Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812. While governor, he led the Kentucky militia in the Battle of the Thames, an action that was rewarded with a Congressional Gold Medal. Counties in nine states, and several cities and military bases, have been named in his honor. His fondness for John Dickinson's "The Liberty Song" is believed to be the reason Kentucky adopted the state motto "United we stand, divided we fall".
Artis Gilmore is a former American basketball player who played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). Gilmore was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on August 12, 2011.
John Vincent Calipari is an American basketball coach. Since 2009, he has been the head coach of the University of Kentucky men's team, with whom he won the NCAA Championship in 2012. He has been named Naismith College Coach of the Year three times, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.
Commonwealth is a term used by four of the 50 states of the United States in their full official state names. "Commonwealth" is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The four states – Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia – are all in the Eastern United States, and prior to the formation of the United States in 1776, were British colonial possessions. As such, they share a strong influence of English common law in some of their laws and institutions.
The Kentucky–Louisville rivalry refers to the rivalry between the University of Kentucky Wildcats (Kentucky) and the University of Louisville Cardinals (Louisville). The Kentucky–Louisville rivalry is one of the most passionate rivalries, especially in men's college basketball. It is considered one of the most intense rivalries in the NCAA. The intensity of the rivalry is captivated by the proximity of the two schools and the state of Kentucky's interest in college sports.
Fort Boonesborough was a frontier fort in Kentucky, founded by Daniel Boone and his men following their crossing of the Kentucky River on April 1, 1775. The settlement they founded, known as Boonesborough, Kentucky, is Kentucky's second oldest European-American settlement. It served as a major frontier outpost during the American Revolutionary War, and survived into the early 19th century before its eventual abandonment. A National Historic Landmark now administered as part of Fort Boonesborough State Park, the site is one of the best-preserved archaeological sites of early westward expansion by British colonists in that period. It is located in Madison County, Kentucky off Kentucky Route 627.
The Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League was a Class D minor league baseball circuit that went through six different lives. The first KITTY League played from 1903 through 1906. The next one ran from 1910 through 1914. The third try played a single season (1916). The circuit was revived in 1922 and lasted three years. The fifth KITTY League lasted the longest, playing from 1935 through 1955 with a break from 1943 to 1945 due to World War II. The league was also known briefly as the Kentucky–Indiana–Tennessee League, for during this time the league contained teams such as the Evansville Yankees from Evansville, Indiana. Unlike most leagues that were dormant for years in between playing, the KITTY was much the same from 1903 to 1955, through its inactive years. Clifton C. Gosnell was league president in 1906, after which the league stopped playing, and was president in 1910–1911 when play resumed. Then Dr. Frank H. Bassett was league president 1912–1914, 1916, 1922–1924, and 1935–1937, through the active times and the inactive. Hopkinsville, Kentucky was represented for 28 of the 31 active seasons of the KITTY League, while Paducah, Kentucky made it for 23.
The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team is an American college basketball team that represents the University of Kentucky. Kentucky is the most successful NCAA Division I basketball program in history in terms of both all-time wins (2,320) and all-time winning percentage (.765). The Wildcats are currently coached by John Calipari.
Belknap is an urban neighborhood three and a half miles east of downtown Louisville, Kentucky, USA. The neighborhood is bound by Bardstown Road, Douglass Boulevard, Dundee Road and Newburg Road. It is part of a larger area of Louisville called the Highlands. Belknap is often described as the neighborhood in the heart of The Highlands.
Andrew Graham Beshear is an American attorney and politician. Since December 2019, he has served as the 63rd Governor of Kentucky. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the son of Steve and Jane Klingner Beshear, the 61st Governor and first lady of Kentucky.
Kimberly Jean Davis is a former county clerk for Rowan County, Kentucky who gained international attention in August 2015 when she defied a U.S. federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She was defeated by Democratic challenger Elwood Caudill Jr. in the November 6, 2018 election and vacated the office on January 7, 2019.
Broad Bottom is an unincorporated community in Pike County, Kentucky, United States.
