1. On April 11, 1865, Abraham Lincoln's funeral train passed through several Kentucky cities, including Louisville and Lexington. Crowds gathered to pay their respects to the fallen president as the train made its way from Washington D.C. to Lincoln's final resting place in Springfield, Illinois.
2. In 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) announced that it would fund the construction of a new library in Paducah, Kentucky. The library, which eventually opened in 1938, was designed by architect Edward Durell Stone and remains a local landmark today.
3. On April 11, 1945, an explosion at the International Harvester plant in Louisville killed ten people and injured dozens more. The blast occurred when a gasoline tank caught fire and ignited nearby chemicals, causing a massive explosion that could be felt for miles around.
4. The Kentucky Derby Festival officially began on April 11, 1956, with the first ever "Festival of Arts" event. The festival has since grown to include a wide variety of events leading up to the Kentucky Derby, and is now one of the largest annual celebrations in the state.
5. An F4 tornado struck the town of Hodgenville, Kentucky on April 11, 1974, causing severe damage to homes and businesses. The tornado was part of a larger outbreak of 148 tornadoes that swept across 13 states over a 16 hour period, causing widespread destruction and claiming 319 lives.