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Ruby Laffoon (1869–1941) was an American politician and the 43rd governor of Kentucky , from 1931 to 1935. At age 17, Laffoon moved to Washington, D.C. to live with his uncle, U.S. Representative Polk Laffoon . In 1931, he defeated Republican William B. Harrison by what was then the largest margin of victory ever in a Kentucky gubernatorial election. To make up for a revenue shortfall during the Great Depression , Laffoon advocated the enactment of the state's first sales tax . This issue dominated most of his term in office and split the state Democratic Party and his own administration; the tax was defeated three times before he forged a bipartisan alliance to get it passed in a special legislative session in 1934. Term-limited by the state constitution , Laffoon supported political boss Tom Rhea to succeed him as governor, but Rhea was beaten by Lieutenant Governor Happy Chandler in the primary. Laffoon appointed a record number of Kentucky colonels , including Harland Sanders , who used the title "Colonel" when he opened his chain of Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants. (Full article... )
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1920 – The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (authors Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony pictured) was ratified, guaranteeing women's suffrage in America .
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