April 13th-Dr. Thomas Walker was the first recorded person to discover and use coal in Kentucky.

Lewis Evan's map showing coal in what is now the Greenup County and Boyd County area of Kentucky.

First commercial U.S. coal shipment.

Issac Shelby becomes the first Governor of Kentucky (1792-1796).

First commercial mine, known as the "McLean drift bank" opened in Kentucky, near the Green River and Paradise in Muhlenberg County.
328 short tons mined and sold in Kentucky.

2,000 tons of Kentucky production.

10,000 tons of Kentucky production.

100,000 tons of Kentucky production.

150,000 tons of Kentucky production.
Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad proposed.
Kentucky Geological Survey established.

Pre-Civil War Kentucky production record of 285,760 tons.

Kentucky-born Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th President of the United States (1861-65).

Surface mining begins near Danville, Illinois.

Post-Civil War Kentucky production decline to 150,582 tons.
St. Louis & Southern Railroad completed from Henderson to Earlington, Ky.

First train off the Big Sandy Railroad.

Coal mined with steam-powered shovel.

One million tons of Kentucky production.

Mechanical stokers introduced.
First coke ovens in west Kentucky.
Mine Ventilation Law.
First train from Williamson, West Virginia to Pike County, Kentucky.
Coal mining machines come into general use.

N&W Railroad's first mine at Goody in Pike County.
Hopkins County in west Kentucky leading coal producer in the state for 18 straight years.
Miner Pay Law.
United Mine Workers of America formed.
Machines developed to undercut coalbeds.
5,000 kilowatt steam turbine generates electricity.

Child Labor Law.Edgewater Coal Company's first production in Pike County.
First train off the Lexington and Eastern Railroad.
Independent Geological Survey established.

First train from the Cumberland Valley Railroad.
Fordson Coal Company's first production at Pond Creek.
Pike-Floyd Coal Company's first production at Betsy Layne.

World War I increases demand for coal; Kentucky production 20.3 million tons.
Short-flame or "permissible" explosives developed.
Mine Safety Law.

First pulverized coal firing in electric power plants.

Federal Mineral Leasing Act. 42.1 million tons of Kentucky production.

All-time high U.S. employment of 704,793 bituminous coal and lignite miners.
First dragline excavators built especially for surface mining.

Stock market crashes beginning the Great Depression.

Walking dragline excavators developed.

47.7 million tons of Kentucky production .

World War II - coal production in Kentucky rises to 72.4 million tons for the war effort.
Auger surface mining introduced.

Republic Steel Company's first production - Road Creek, Kentucky.
Post-War Marshall Plan - production rises to 88.7 million tons in Kentucky.
Continuous underground mining systems developed. Kentucky Water Contamination Legislation.

Kentucky Coal Association founded.

82.2 million tons of Kentucky production.

Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act.
Railroads converting from coal to diesel fuel.
Roof bolting introduced in underground mines.

Railroads began using unit coal trains.
First longwall mining with powered roof supports.
Kentucky Surface Mining Legislation.

Kentucky coal production exceeded 100 million tons.

National Historic Preservation Act.
C&O Railroad to John's Creek constructed - Pike County.

Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act.

Federal Clean Air Act.

Kentucky Coal Severance Tax established.
Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
Kentucky becomes the leading coal production state.

Endangered Species Act.
OPEC oil embargo: Coal production and prices rise.

Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act.

Congress enacts the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) Study, a 10 year research program, which invested $550 million for the study of "acid rain." Industries spend over $1 billion on Air Pollution Control Equipment during 1980.

OPEC cuts oil prices for first time.
Martha Layne Collins becomes Kentucky's first woman Governor (1983-87).
U.S. Clean Coal Technology Demonstration Program established $2.5 billion in Federal matching funds committed to assist the private sector to develop and demonstrate improved clean coal technologies.

Kentucky Supreme Court rules that the unmined minerals tax on coal is subject to the same state and local property tax rates as other real estate. TVA 160-MW Atmospheric Fluidized Bed Combustion Unit on line.
Wyoming displaces Kentucky as the leading coal producing state.

Federal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
Kentucky record production - 179.4 million tons (1990).
U.S. coal production exceeds 1 billion tons.

U.S. Energy Policy Act of 1992.

Western Kentucky CEDAR, Inc. was formed in Webster and Union Counties.

Workers' Comp Reform Laws are passed in Kentucky.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issues Order 888 addressing the issues of open access to encourage wholesale competition in the electric utility industry and FERC Order 889 requiring utilities to share information about available transmission capacity.

Coal Education web site ( www.coaleducation.org ) was introduced to the Internet.

The Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to re-introduce Elk into 14 East Kentucky Counties on post-mined lands, citing mountain-top removal areas and old mine benches as good elk habitat. This will be the only large free-ranging elk herd in the Eastern United States.

Kentucky Coal Association celebrates 50 years of service to the mining industry (1947-97).

Mountaintop mining comes under attack.

Federal Tax credit begins for use of coal fines in a non-conventional solid synthetic fuel.