Short answers, pulled from the story.
Louisville sits along the border between Kentucky and Indiana on the Ohio River, in north-central Kentucky at the Falls of the Ohio. It is an Upper South city, sometimes called one of the northernmost Southern cities or one of the southernmost Northern cities in the United States.
Louisville was founded in 1778 by Colonel George Rogers Clark, with the first European settlement in the vicinity established on Corn Island. It is one of the oldest cities west of the Appalachians. The Virginia General Assembly approved the town charter in 1780, naming the city after King Louis XVI of France.
The dominant local pronunciation is LOO-uh-vuhl, followed by LOO-ee-vil and LUUV-uhl, all three generally considered acceptable. The Louisville Visitor Center says only the rare LOO-iss-vil is completely unacceptable, though that is the correct pronunciation for several minor cities sharing the name.
Louisville is known as the home of boxer Muhammad Ali, the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Fried Chicken, the University of Louisville and its Cardinals, and Louisville Slugger baseball bats. It is also home to Fortune 500 companies Humana, BrightSpring Health Services, and Yum Brands, and to UPS's worldwide air hub.
The first Kentucky Derby was held on the 17th of May 1875, at the Louisville Jockey Club track, later renamed Churchill Downs. Ten thousand spectators watched the race, which a horse named Aristides won.
Since the 6th of January 2003, Louisville has merged its government with Jefferson County to form coterminous borders, creating the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government known as Louisville Metro. It was the second city in Kentucky to merge with its county, after Lexington joined with Fayette County in 1974.
The Great Flood of 1937 began after 19.17 inches of rain fell in January, and on January 27 the Ohio River crested at a record 57.15 feet, almost 30 feet above flood stage. The flood submerged 60 to 70 percent of the city, caused four days without power, forced the evacuation of as many as 230,000 residents, and killed 90 people.