1. Kentucky became a state on January 15, 1792. At the time, it was the fifteenth state to be admitted to the Union. The state's nickname, the Bluegrass State, was officially adopted in 1954.

2. On January 15, 1862, the Battle of Mill Springs, also known as the Battle of Fishing Creek, took place in southern Kentucky. It was one of the first significant Union victories in the American Civil War, and paved the way for the eventual Union advance into Tennessee.

3. In 1929, the infamous "Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run" murdered his first victim on January 15 in Cleveland, Ohio. The killer, who remains unidentified, was believed to have been responsible for at least 10 murders in the Cleveland area between 1935 and 1938.

4. On January 15, 1955, legendary basketball coach Adolph Rupp won his 500th game as head coach of the University of Kentucky men's basketball team. Rupp went on to win a total of 876 games during his tenure, making him one of the most successful coaches in college basketball history.

5. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy chose a site in Paducah, Kentucky as one of three potential locations for a new uranium enrichment facility. The proposed $3.5 billion plant would have created hundreds of jobs in the area, but was eventually cancelled due to concerns about environmental impact and the availability of funding.