Editor’s Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and kentucky.com each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city’s history – some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange.
Feb. 5, 1897: The American socialite, “Best Dressed Woman in the World” and philanthropist Countess Mona von Bismarck-Schönhausen, also known as Mona Bismarck, is born.
Mona Bismarck was born Mona Strader in Louisville. When her parents divorced in 1902, Mona and her brother were raised by their grandparents. When she was just 17, she married Henry Schlesinger, 18 years her senior and owner of Fairland Farm in Lexington, where her father was a professional horse trainer…