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Kentucky websites about places to go, things to do, vacation information, sports links, facts about the state, destinations, golf, business, and more. It is a land with diverse environments and abundant resources.
Daniel Boone first hunted bison, bear, deer, and wild turkey in the state's wilderness in 1767. He called the region a "second paradise." Mountainous in east; rounded hills of the Knobs in the north; Bluegrass in the heart of the state; wooded rocky hillsides of the western coal fields; and fertile farms in the southwest.
Kentucky is known as the "Bluegrass State", a nickname based on the fact that bluegrass is present in many of the lawns and pastures throughout the state. Bluegrass is not really blue--its green--but in the spring bluegrass produces bluish purple buds that when seen in large fields give a blue cast to the grass. Today Kentucky is known as the Bluegrass State.
Kentucky lies on the border of the historical North and South. During the Civil War, the state officially stayed in the Union, but many of Kentucky's citizens fought with the Confederate army. Ironically, Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln, the two opposing leaders in the Civil War, were both born in the state. They were born less than one hundred miles and one year apart.
The Kentucky Derby is the oldest continuously held horse race in the country. It is held at Churchill Downs in Louisville on the first Saturday in May. The Bluegrass Country around Lexington is home to some of the world's finest racehorses.
Mammoth Cave National Park is the world's longest cave and was first promoted in 1816, making it the second oldest tourist attraction in the United States. Niagara Falls, New York is first.
The song "Happy Birthday to You" was the creation of two Louisville sisters in 1893. Teacher Mary S. Wilson held the first observance of Mother's Day in Henderson in 1887. It was made a national holiday in 1916. Carrie Nation the spokesperson against rum, tobacco, pornography, and corsets was born near Lancaster in Garrard County.
The radio was invented by a Kentuckian named Nathan B. Stubblefield of Murray in 1892. It was three years before Marconi made his claim to the invention. The public saw an electric light for the first time in Louisville. Thomas Edison introduced his incandescent light bulb to crowds at the Southern Exposition in 1883. Post-It Notes are manufactured exclusively in Cynthiana. The exact number made annually of these popular notes is a trade secret.
More than $6 billion worth of gold is held in the underground vaults of Fort Knox. This is the largest amount of gold stored anywhere in the world.
Kentucky has been transforming into an industrial state over time. The state's manufacturing industries become more diversified every year. Examples include the growing aluminum industry in Louisville, the state's largest city, and the chemical plants located along the Ohio River.
The first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant owned and operated by Colonel Sanders is located in Corbin. Cheeseburgers were first served in 1934 at Kaolin's restaurant in Louisville.
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