March 14, 2025
Col. Sanders, Adrian ‘Odie’ Smith at Kentucky basketball game, 1966
Col. Harland Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Adrian ‘Odie’ Smith, a member of the University of Kentucky’s Fiddlin’ Five basketball team that won the 1958 national championship, attended UK’s game against Vanderbilt on Jan. 15, 1966, at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. Smith, who grew up in Farmington in Graves County, also was a member of the gold-medal winning 1960 U.S. Olympic basketball team. He then played in the NBA, and in 1966, he was named MVP of the NBA’s All-Star Game. He was awarded a new Ford Galaxie, which he still has, according to media reports. Herald-Leader Archive Photo.
Lyndon Johnson at funeral of Kentucky senator, 1951
From left, U.S. Sens. Dennis Chavez (D-N.M.), Ernest W. McFarland (D-Ariz., the Senate majority leader) and Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Texas, the Senate majority whip) talked during the funeral for Sen. Virgil Chapman of Kentucky on March 11, 1951, at the Lafayette Hotel in downtown Lexington. A 25-year veteran of Congress, Chapman was killed in an auto accident in Washington. He was a University of Kentucky law graduate and was buried in Paris Cemetery in Paris. Twelve years after this photo was taken, Johnson would become president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Secretariat arrives in Lexington, 1973
Secretariat arrived at Lexington’s Blue Grass Field on Nov. 12, 1973, to stand at stud at Claiborne Farm in Paris. A week earlier, he had taken his first plane ride, to Ontario, where he won his final race, the Canadian International at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto. After winning the Triple Crown, Secretariat ran six more races, winning four and finishing second in the other two. After retiring to stud, he remained at Claiborne until his death in 1989 at age 19. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Adolph Rupp, 1949
Legendary University of Kentucky basketball coach Adolph Rupp autographed a basketball to be awarded to youth organizations in the state for the sale of E bonds. Published in the Lexington Herald-Leader on June 26, 1949. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Blockbuster video store, 1999
Marley Sommer, 8, handed money to clerk Patrick Watson on June 1, 1999, at the Blockbuster video rental store on Richmond Road. Marley was with his mother, Melissa Sommer. Blockbuster closed all of its remaining stores in January 2014. Photo by David Perry | Staff
Cub Scout pack, 1951
Cub Scout Pack No. 5 of Woodland Christian Church planned a potluck supper in February 1951. From left, Joe White, Paul Reed, Tommy Treumpy, Fred Smith and A. C. Stagg Jr. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Girl Scout cookie sale, 1951
Girl Scouts got ready for a cookie sale in Lexington in February 1951. From left, Mary Stewart McCabe, Tay Maxon, Mrs. Richard C. Jett and Grace Miller. Published in the Herald-Leader on Feb. 25, 1951. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Do-it-yourself auto repair, 1985
Russell Templin went right to work on his car on Aug. 17, 1985, after it broke down on Main Street in Winchester. He had to get underneath the hood to get at the problem. His father, Harry, watched and offered advice while he worked. Photo by Bruce Thorson | Staff
Begley’s becomes Rite Aid, 1988
Red McDaniel and Paul Fletcher, employees of Smithers Sign Co., put up a new Rite Aid Pharmacy sign on April 28, 1988, at the former Begley drugstore in Imperial Shopping Center on Waller Avenue in Lexington. Rite Aid, at the time the nation’s largest drugstore company, bought Begley’s for $18.5 million in 1988. It won a nine-week takeover battle against SupeRx of Arizona, Georgia and Alabama Corp. Begley, which was based in Richmond, had 43 drugstores in Kentucky and 140 dry-cleaning outlets in 10 states under the name Big B One Hour Cleaners. The Begley Co. once employed 1,400 people. Photo by Michael Malone | Staff
Kentucky Theatre, 1952
Patrons lined up to watch The Big Sky in October 1952 at the Kentucky Theatre on Main Street in downtown Lexington. The Big Sky, an American Western based on the novel of the same name, was written by A.B. Guthrie, who was a reporter and editor for the Lexington Leader from 1926 to 1947. Guthrie published The Big Sky, his first novel, in 1947, and two years later published The Way West, which was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. The cast of The Big Sky, which was directed by Howard Hawks, included Kirk Douglas, Arthur Hunnicutt, Dewey Martin and Elizabeth Threatt. Admission was 70 cents for adults, 25 cents for children. Published in the Herald-Leader on Oct. 13, 1952. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
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Kentucky.com news feed
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