By Linda Loons
America’s most famous horse race, the Kentucky Derby, has been held continuously since 1875 at Louisville, Kentucky, and has become one of the country’s largest civic celebrations (and betting opportunity). Not bad when you consider that the event lasts only two minutes!
Modeled on England’s Epsom Derby, it is for three-year-old Thoroughbreds and was originally run at a mile and a half (now at a mile and a quarter). Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark organized the first race, and since he wanted the occasion to be festive, he gave a Derby breakfast for his friends before the first running (mint juleps anyone?).
Dances, parties, and carnival-like gaiety have long been a feature of Derby week. The Derby is the first event in the “Triple Crown” series, followed by the Preakness (the second Saturday after the Derby) and the Belmont Stakes (the fifth Saturday after the Derby).
Try making your own Kentucky Derby Pie. And we also have a Mint Punch recipe.
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country music and gospel music singer and songwriter, as well as a film and television actor. Active since 1979, he has recorded over 20 studio albums and charted over 50 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including sixteen that reached the number-one position.
Travis’s commercial success began in the mid-1980s with the release of his album Storms of Life, which sold more than four million copies. Travis followed up his successful debut with a string of platinum and multi-platinum albums. By the mid-1990s, Travis saw a decline in his chart success. In 1997, he left Warner Bros. Records for DreamWorks Records; he signed to Word Records for a series of gospel albums beginning in 2000 before transferring back to Warner at the end of the 21st century’s first decade. Travis sold over 25 million records and has won seven Grammy Awards, eleven ACM Awards, eight Dove Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2016, Travis was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Major songs of his include “On the Other Hand“, “Forever and Ever, Amen“, “I Told You So“, “Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart“, and “Three Wooden Crosses“.
Travis is noted as a key figure in the neotraditional country movement, a return to more traditional sounds within the genre following the country pop crossovers of the early 1980s. He is considered an influence on later generations of country singers, and is noted for his baritone singing voice. Nearly all of his albums were produced or co-produced by Kyle Lehning, with frequent co-writing credits from Travis, Paul Overstreet, Don Schlitz, and Skip Ewing. Since surviving a near-fatal stroke in 2013, which severely limited his singing and speaking ability, he has released archival recordings and made limited public appearances. James Dupré has toured singing his songs with Travis’s road band.
Travis also holds several film and television acting roles, including the television movies Wind in the Wire and A Holiday to Remember, episodes of the television series Matlock, and the Patrick Swayze movie Black Dog.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Every year, my zucchini plants are killed by squash borers. Is there any way to prevent this?
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Windbag
Puzzle of the Day
What did Cinderella say when her photographs didn’t arrive?
Born
- Horace Mann (American educator) –
- Audrey Hepburn (actress) –
- Randy Travis (country music singer) –
- Ana Gasteyer (actress) –
- Lance Bass (singer) –
- Alexander Gould (actor, voice of Nemo in Finding Nemo) –
Died
- Moe Howard (actor) –
- Fredric Baur (credited with creating Pringles and its can. Part of Mr. Baur’s cremated remains were buried in a Pringles can.) –
- Dom DeLuise (actor) –
- Ellen Albertini Dow (actress) –
Events
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences incorporated, in Boston, Massachusetts–
- First general meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati, in Philadelphia–
- Haymarket Affair, Chicago, Illinois–
- First Freedom Ride began–
- First on-the-road Spacemobile lecture–
- National Guardsmen killed 4 antiwar demonstrators at Kent State University–
- Rain caused deadly sinkhole and landslide in St.-Jean-Vianney, Quebec–
- Margaret Thatcher became the United Kingdom’s first female Prime Minister–
- Magellan spacecraft launched from Space Shuttle Atlantis–
- Love Bug computer virus caused billions of dollars in damages–
- Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. However, her name was misspelled.–
- Royal Canadian Mint produced its last penny–
Weather
- Nine inches of snow fell at Waltham, Massachusetts–
- Twelve inches of snow fell near Keene, New Hampshire–
- Two tornadoes struck Austin, Texas–
- Missoula, Montana, had 6.5 inches of snow–
- Damaging windstorm in southern Ontario produced 78-mph wind gusts in Hamilton–
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