Kentucky, officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Upland South 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 commonwealth contains the commonwealth's capital, Frankfort, as well as its two largest cities, Louisville and Lexington. Together they comprise more than 20% of the commonwealth's population. Kentucky is the 37th most extensive and the 26th most populous of the 50 United States.
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of one and a quarter miles (2.0 km) at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds and fillies 121 pounds.
Breathitt County is a county in the eastern Appalachian portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 13,878. Its county seat is Jackson. The county was formed in 1839 and was named for John Breathitt, who was Governor of Kentucky from 1832 to 1834. Breathitt County was a prohibition or dry county, until a public vote in July 2016 that allowed alcohol sales.
Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War. 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.
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of Kentucky's executive branch of government. 62 men and one woman have served as Governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-election once before becoming ineligible for four years. Throughout the state's history, four men have served two non-consecutive terms as governor, and two others have served two consecutive terms. Kentucky is one of only five U.S. states that hold gubernatorial elections in odd-numbered years. The current governor is Andy Beshear, who was first elected in 2019.
The Louisville and Nashville Railroad, commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States.
The Kentucky Headhunters are an American country rock and Southern rock band consisting of Doug Phelps, Greg Martin, and brothers Richard Young and Fred Young. They were founded in 1968 as Itchy Brother, which consisted of the Young brothers and Martin, along with Anthony Kenney on bass and vocals. Itchy Brother performed together until 1982, with James Harrison replacing Martin from 1973 to 1976. The Youngs and Martin began performing as The Kentucky Headhunters in 1986, adding brothers Ricky Lee Phelps and Doug Phelps to the membership.
Jared Raymond Lorenzen was an American football quarterback and administrator. Following a successful college football career at University of Kentucky, he played in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons with the New York Giants, who signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2004. At 285 lb, Lorenzen was the heaviest quarterback to play in the NFL. He was nicknamed Hefty Lefty because of his weight and being left-handed.
Bad Branch Falls State Nature Preserve is a 2,639-acre (10.68 km2) nature preserve in Letcher County, Kentucky. Originally dedicated by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves on September 26, 1985, the preserve originally covered 435 acres (1.76 km2) and included Bad Branch Gorge, a forested gorge with a 60-foot (18 m) waterfall tumbling over sandstone cliffs on the south face of Pine Mountain. Subsequent acquisitions have expanded the preserve west into the Presley House Branch watershed, northeast into the upper reaches of the Bad Branch watershed and a small portion of the north face of Pine Mountain. The preserve also protects Kentucky's only known nesting pair of common ravens. Bad Branch has been designated a Kentucky Wild River. There are 7.4 miles (11.9 km) of foot trails and bridges over uneven strenuous terrain.
The Kentucky State Police (KSP) is a department of the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, and the official State Police force of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, responsible for statewide law enforcement. The department was founded in 1948 and replaced the Kentucky Highway Patrol. The department's sworn personnel hold the title State Troopers and are addressed as Trooper and its nickname is The Thin Gray Line.
Cannonade was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known as the winner of the 1974 Kentucky Derby.
The Kentucky State Penitentiary (KSP), also known as the "Castle on the Cumberland," is a maximum security and supermax prison with capacity for 856 prisoners located in Eddyville, Kentucky on Lake Barkley on the Cumberland River, about 4.8 kilometres (3 mi) from downtown Eddyville. It is managed by the Kentucky Department of Corrections. Completed in 1886, it is Kentucky's oldest prison facility and the only commonwealth-owned facility with supermax units. The penitentiary houses Kentucky's male death row inmates and the commonwealth's execution facility. As of 2015 it had approximately 350 staff members and an annual operating budget of $20 million. In most cases, inmates are not sent directly to the penitentiary after sentencing, but are sent there because of violent or disruptive behavior committed in other less secure correctional facilities in the commonwealth. This was Kentucky's second penitentiary. The first Kentucky State Penitentiary in Frankfort was made uninhabitable from the 1937 flood.
The Kentucky Bourbon Trail is the name of a program sponsored by the Kentucky Distillers' Association (KDA) to promote the Bourbon whiskey industry in Kentucky. The KDA has registered the phrase "Kentucky Bourbon Trail" as a protected trademark.
The secretary of state of Kentucky is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is now an elected office, but was an appointed office prior to 1891. The current secretary of state is Republican Michael Adams, who was elected on November 5, 2019; he took office on January 6, 2020.
Lexington Brewing and Distilling Company is a brewery and distillery based in Lexington, Kentucky founded in 1999 by Pearse Lyons, the president and founder of animal nutrition company Alltech.
The series between two of the most victorious college basketball programs of all-time, Kentucky (1st) and North Carolina (3rd), has been a long and eventful one, although only in the mid-1960s was there a sustained series between the two which lasted through the early 1970s. That series was ended and another which began in the late 1980s was aborted early, before the current series started.
Cannabis in Kentucky is illegal for recreational use, though non-psychoactive CBD oil is legal in the state, and Kentucky has a lengthy history of cultivating industrial hemp for fiber since 1775.
Justify is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the thirteenth and most recent winner of the American Triple Crown. He also was the first horse since Apollo in 1882 to win the Kentucky Derby without racing as a two-year-old.
Jacqueline Coleman is an American educator and politician serving as the 58th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, since 2019. She has worked as an administrator, teacher, and basketball coach. Coleman is also the founder and president of Lead Kentucky, a nonprofit organization focused on education policy reform. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Medina Spirit is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2021 Kentucky Derby. He qualified for the race by winning the Robert B. Lewis Stakes and finishing second in both the San Felipe Stakes and Santa Anita Derby.
