February 27, 2025
Iran hostage crisis ends, 1981
A sign at 2950 Richmond Road in Lexington on Jan. 20, 1981, celebrated the release of 52 Americans held hostage by Iran for 444 days. The crisis began Nov. 4, 1979, after the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was taken over. Today, Burke furniture remains on Richmond Road, but the Godfather’s Pizza restaurant closed in the late 1980s. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
March of Dimes collection, 1953
Miss Catherine Cassidy, standing at right, and Mrs. Thomas Loasby, standing behind her, collected polio-fund contributions from spectators at the Strand theater on Jan. 15, 1953. Both are members of the Lexington Pilot Club, whose members collected for the March of Dimes at local theaters. Published in the Lexington Herald on Jan. 16, 1953. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Frankfort rally with Martin Luther King Jr., 1964
On March 5, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., baseball legend Jackie Robinson and Kentucky civil rights leaders led 10,000 people to rally at the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort in a peaceful demonstration, calling for a “good public accommodations bill” to prohibit segregation and discrimination in stores, restaurants, theaters and businesses. Here is another photo from the rally of King addressing the crowd. King’s birthday, Jan. 15, is honored as a national holiday on the third Monday in January. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Snowball fight, 1979
Tommy Gould, 13, of Lexington prepared for another round of snowball-throwing as he and his friends played in the snow in Jacobson Park in early February 1979. Photo by Christy Porter | Staff
Globetrotters at Rupp Arena, 1989
Harlem Globetrotter center “Sweet Lou” Dunbar got a spectator’s view of action from Jan Shuff’s lap before his team played the Washington Generals on April 9, 1989, in Rupp Arena. As they usually do, the Globetrotters beat the Generals in front of 4,000 fans, some of them still dressed in their Sunday best. Constant banter between center “Sweet Lou” Dunbar and announcer Jeff Beck and the referees kept young and old in hysterics. “What a clown; what a clown,” one fan repeated as Dunbar ridiculed the referees, the Generals players and spectators. The Globetrotters return to Rupp on Saturday, Jan. 16. Photo by David Perry | Staff
First Ford Edsel sold in Lexington, 1957
Nathan R. Garrison, right, a retired real estate broker, received the keys to the first Edsel sold in Lexington (a Ranger sedan), from Ralph Farmer Sr., the local Edsel dealer. The Edsel was made by the Ford Motor Co. during the 1958, 1959, and 1960 model years but never gained popularity with contemporary American car buyers and sold poorly. Published in the Lexington Herald-Leader on Sept. 8, 1957. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Miss America Venus Ramey, 1944
Venus Ramey, a native Kentuckian and Miss America for 1944, during a brief stop in Lexington in December 1944. At left is Ramey’s father, J.C. Ramey, of Waynesburg, and at right is her brother, J.W. Ramey. Ramey was born Sept. 26, 1924, in Ashland. She left the state to work for the war effort in Washington. She won the Miss District of Columbia pageant and then became Miss America. She was the first red-haired contestant to win the title. In 2007, on her farm in Lincoln County, at age 82 and balancing with a walker, she used a .38-caliber handgun to shoot out the tires of a car belonging to an intruder. She held the man until police arrived. She later appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, who asked her where she learned to shoot. “I’m from Kentucky,” she replied. Published in the Lexington Herald on Dec. 1, 1944. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Magoffin County alcohol sales, 1982
Don Bailey, owner of Parkway Liquors near Salyersville in Magoffin County, inspected the latest beer shipment on June 3, 1982. This photo ran with a story updating how alcohol sales are going after voters in Magoffin County magisterial District 3 overwhelmingly said yes to alcohol sales. The vote split the Eastern Kentucky county, with part of the dry county allowing liquor sales. Nearly all of the district’s five liquor stores and 16 beer carry-outs were located along KY 7. Many of them popped up as small, plywood-type buildings. A clerk at Parkway Liquors, close to a Mountain Parkway exit, called them “walk-in freezers with cash registers.” Today, all of Magoffin County is wet. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
David Bowie in Rupp Arena, 1987
David Bowie played before a crowd of 9,000 in Rupp Arena September 14, 1987, one stop of the Glass Spider Tour, which also featured guitarists Peter Frampton and Carlos Alomar. Bowie died Monday Jan. 11, after battling cancer for 18 months. He was 69. Photo by Steven R. Nickerson | Staff
Tates Creek Road, 1989
At left is part of Old Tates Creek Pike and at right is Tates Creek Road on Feb. 8, 1989. The view is from Jonestown Lane looking south. The property at left would later become the Glen Creek neighborhood. The right side of Tates Creek Road in this picture would become the site of a Lexington Public Library branch in 2001. In 1985, Tates Creek Road was widened from a two-lane road to five lanes from Armstrong Mill Road to past Man o’ War Boulevard to the Hartland neighborhood. Photo by Frank Anderson | Staff
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