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.
Lexingtonian William Lipscomb was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work that helped chemists better understand how atoms bind together within molecules.
Lipscomb was born in Cleveland, Ohio on Dec. 9, 1919. A year later, his family moved to Lexington, where he received his first chemistry set at age 11. He lived here until 1941, when he received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Kentucky. He attended college on a music scholarship and played clarinet in the UK band…