Showing posts with label Horse Racing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Horse Racing. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Sunday, June 6, 1943. Radio broadcasts, Triple Crown, Actor in the Navy, Rohatyn Ghetto.

The French Committee of National Liberation made a radio broadcast pledging to abolish the "arbitrary powers" imposed by the Vichy regime and restore French liberties and republican government.

Count Fleet won the Belmont, and hence the Triple Crown.

Paul Newman, having enlisted days before his 18th birthday, was called up for service in the Navy.


Newman wanted to be a pilot, but was taken out of flight school when it was discovered he was color blind.  He went on to be a torpedo bomber crewman.

Sarah Sundin noted Newman's enlistment, but also noted the A36:

Today in World War II History—June 6, 1943: North American A-36 Apache flies first combat mission in a US Twelfth Air Force mission to Pantelleria. Future actor Paul Newman enlists in the US Navy, age 18.

We don't think much of the A-36, the dive bomber version of the P-51.  The odd aircraft only came into existence in the first place as the 1942 appropriations for new fighter aircraft had run out and converting the assembly line to dive bombers kept the P-51 line open.  Only 500 were built, with most used by the U.S. Army Air Force, but some used by the RAF.

A-36 in Italy.

The Germans liquidated the Rohatyn Ghetto in what is now Ukraine.

Sunday, June 4, 2023

Monday, June 4, 2023. Frank Hayes and Sweet Kiss.

The United States Supreme Court decided in Meyer v. Nebraska that school could be conducted in languages other than the English, striking down a Nebraska law.  In so doing, it stated:
262 U.S. 390

43 S.Ct. 625

67 L.Ed. 1042

MEYER
v.
STATE OF NEBRASKA.

No. 325.

Argued Feb. 23, 1923.

Decided June 4, 1923.

Messrs. A. F. Mullen, of Omaha, Neb., C. E. Sandall, of York, Neb., and I. L. Albert, of Columbus, Neb., for plaintiff in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 391-393 intentionally omitted]

Messrs. Mason Wheeler, of Lincoln, Neb., and O. S. Spillman, of Pierce, Neb., for the State of Nebraska.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 393-395 intentionally omitted]

Mr. Justice McREYNOLDS delivered the opinion of the Court.


Plaintiff in error was tried and convicted in the district court for Hamilton county, Nebraska, under an information which charged that on May 25, 1920, while an instructor in Zion Parochial School he unlawfully taught the subject of reading in the German language to Raymond Parpart, a child of 10 years, who had no attained and successfully passed the eighth grade. The information is based upon 'An act relating to the teaching of foreign languages in the state of Nebraska,' approved April 9, 1919 (Laws 1919, c. 249), which follows:


'Section 1. No person, individually or as a teacher, shall, in any private, denominational, parochial or public school, teach any subject to any person in any language than the English language.

'Sec. 2. Languages, other than the English language, may be taught as languages only after a pupil shall have attained and successfully passed the eighth grade as evidenced by a certificate of graduation issued by the county superintendent of the county in which the child resides.


'Sec. 3. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be subject to a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25), nor more than one hundred dollars ($100), or be confined in the county jail for any period not exceeding thirty days for each offense.


'Sec. 4. Whereas, an emergency exists, this act shall be in force from and after its passage and approval.'


The Supreme Court of the state affirmed the judgment of conviction. 107 Neb. 657, 187 N. W. 100. It declared the offense charged and established was 'the direct and intentional teaching of the German language as a distinct subject to a child who had not passed the eighth grade,' in the parochial school maintained by Zion Evangelical Lutheran Congre ation, a collection of Biblical stories being used therefore. And it held that the statute forbidding this did not conflict with the Fourteenth Amendment, but was a valid exercise of the police power. The following excerpts from the opinion sufficiently indicate the reasons advanced to support the conclusion:

'The salutary purpose of the statute is clear. The Legislature had seen the baneful effects of permitting for eigners, who had taken residence in this country, to rear and educate their children in the language of their native land. The result of that condition was found to be inimical to our own safety. To allow the children of foreigners, who had emigrated here, to be taught from early childhood the language of the country of their parents was to rear them with that language as their mother tongue. It was to educate them so that they must always think in that language, and, as a consequence, naturally inculcate in them the ideas and sentiments foreign to the best interests of this country. The statute, therefore, was intended not only to require that the education of all children be conducted in the English language, but that, until they had grown into that language and until it had become a part of them, they should not in the schools be taught any other language. The obvious purpose of this statute was that the English language should be and become the mother tongue of all children reared in this state. The enactment of such a statute comes reasonably within the police power of the state. Pohl v. State, 102 Ohio St. 474, 132 N. E. 20; State v. Bartels, 191 Iowa, 1060, 181 N. W. 508.

'It is suggested that the law is an unwarranted restriction, in that it applies to all citizens of the state and arbitrarily interferes with the rights of citizens who are not of foreign ancestry, and prevents them, without reason, from having their children taught foreign languages in school. That argument is not well taken, for it assumes that every citizen finds himself restrained by the statute. The hours which a child is able to devote to study in the confinement of school are limited. It must have ample time for exercise or play. Its daily capacity for learning is comparatively small. A selection of subjects for its education, therefore, from among the many that might be taught, is obviously necessary. The Legislature no doubt had in mind the practical operation of the law. The law affects few citizens, except those of foreign lineage.


Other citizens, in their selection of studies, except perhaps in rare instances, have never deemed it of importance to teach their children foreign languages before such children have reached the eighth grade. In the legislative mind, the salutary effect of the statute no doubt outweighed the restriction upon the citizens generally, which, it appears, was a restriction of no real consequence.'


The problem for our determination is whether the statute as construed and applied unreasonably infringes the liberty guaranteed to the plaintiff in error by the Fourteenth Amendment:

'No state * * * shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law.'

While this court has not attempted to define with exactness the liberty thus guaranteed, the term has received much consideration and some of the included things have been definitely stated. Without doubt, it denotes not merely freedom from bodily restraint but also the right of the individual to contract, to engage in any of the common occupations of life, to acquire useful knowledge, to marry, establish a home and bring up children, to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and generally to enjoy those privileges long recognized at common law as essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men. Slaughter-House Cases, 16 Wall. 36, 21 L. Ed. 394; Butchers' Union Co. v. Crescent City Co., 111 U. S. 746, 4 Sup. Ct. 652, 28 L. Ed. 585; Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U. S. 356, 6 Sup. Ct. 1064, 30 L. Ed. 220; Minnesota v. Bar er, 136 U. S. 313, 10 Sup. Ct. 862, 34 L. Ed. 455; Allegeyer v. Louisiana, 165 U. S. 578, 17 Sup. Ct. 427, 41 L. Ed. 832; Lochner v. New York, 198 U. S. 45, 25 Sup. Ct. 539, 49 L. Ed. 937, 3 Ann. Cas. 1133; Twining v. New Jersey 211 U. S. 78, 29 Sup. Ct. 14, 53 L. Ed. 97; Chicago, B. & Q. R. R. v. McGuire, 219 U. S. 549, 31 Sup. Ct. 259, 55 L. Ed. 328; Truax v. Raich, 239 U. S. 33, 36 Sup. Ct. 7, 60 L. Ed. 131, L. R. A. 1916D, 545, Ann. Cas. 1917B, 283; Adams v. Tanner, 224 U. S. 590, 37 Sup. Ct. 662, 61 L. Ed. 1336, L. R. A. 1917F, 1163, Ann. Cas. 1917D, 973; New York Life Ins. Co. v. Dodge, 246 U. S. 357, 38 Sup. Ct. 337, 62 L. Ed. 772, Ann. Cas. 1918E, 593; Truax v. Corrigan, 257 U. S. 312, 42 Sup. Ct. 124, 66 L. Ed. 254; Adkins v. Children's Hospital (April 9, 1923), 261 U. S. 525, 43 Sup. Ct. 394, 67 L. Ed. ——; Wyeth v. Cambridge Board of Health, 200 Mass. 474, 86 N. E. 925, 128 Am. St. Rep. 439, 23 L. R. A. (N. S.) 147. The established doctrine is that this liberty may not be interfered with, under the guise of protecting the public interest, by legislative action which is arbitrary or without reasonable relation to some purpose within the competency of the state to effect. Determination by the Legislature of what constitutes proper exercise of police power is not final or conclusive but is subject to supervision by the courts. Lawton v. Steele, 152 U. S. 133, 137, 14 Sup. Ct. 499, 38 L. Ed. 385.

The American people have always regarded education and acquisition of knowledge as matters of supreme importance which should be diligently promoted. The Ordinance of 1787 declares:

'Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.'

Corresponding to the right of control, it is the natural duty of the parent to give his children education suitable to their station in life; and nearly all the states, including Nebraska, enforce this obligation by compulsory laws.

Practically, education of the young is only possible in schools conducted by especially qualified persons who devote themselves thereto. The calling always has been regarded as useful and honorable, essential, indeed, to the public welfare. Mere knowledge of the German language cannot reasonably be regarded as harmful. Heretofore it has been commonly looked upon as helpful and desirable. Plaintiff in error taught this language in school as part of his occupation. His right thus to teach and the right of parents to engage him so to instruct their children, we think, are within the liberty of the amendment.

The challenged statute forbids the teaching in school of any subject except in English; also the teaching of any other language until the pupil has attained and successfully passed the eighth grade, which is not usually accomplished before the age of twelve. The Supreme Court of the state has held that 'the so-called ancient or dead languages' are not 'within the spirit or the purpose of the act.' Nebraska District of Evangelical Lutheran Synod, etc., v. McKelvie et al. (Neb.) 187 N. W. 927 (April 19, 1922). Latin, Greek, Hebrew are not proscribed; but German, French, Spanish, Italian, and every other alien speech are within the ban. Evidently the Legislature has attempted materially to interfere with the calling of modern language teachers, with the opportunities of pupils to acquire knowledge, and with the power of parents to control the education of their own.

It is said the purpose of the legislation was to promote civic development by inhibiting training and education of the immature in foreign tongues and ideals before they could learn English and acquire American ideals, and 'that the English language should be and become the mother tongue of all children reared in this state.' It is also affirmed that the foreign born population is very large, that certain communities commonly use foreign words, follow foreign leaders, move in a foreign atmosphere, and that the children are thereb hindered from becoming citizens of the most useful type and the public safety is imperiled.

That the state may do much, go very far, indeed, in order to imporve the quality of its citizens, physically, mentally and morally, is clear; but the individual has certain fundamental rights which must be respected. The protection of the Constitution extends to all, to those who speak other languages as well as to those born with English on the tongue. Perhaps it would be highly advantageous if all had ready understanding of our ordinary speech, but this cannot be coerced by methods which conflict with the Constitution—a desirable and cannot be promoted by prohibited means.

For the welfare of his Ideal Commonwealth, Plato suggested a law which should provide:

'That the wives of our guardians are to be common, and their children are to be common, and no parent is to know his own child, nor any child his parent. * * * The proper officers will take the offspring of the good parents to the pen or fold, and there they will deposit them with certain nurses who dwell in a separate quarter; but the offspring of the inferior, or of the better when they chance to be deformed, will be put away in some mysterious, unknown place, as they should be.'

In order to submerge the individual and develop ideal citizens, Sparta assembled the males at seven into barracks and intrusted their subsequent education and training to official guardians. Although such measures have been deliberately approved by men of great genius their ideas touching the relation between individual and state were wholly different from those upon which our institutions rest; and it hardly will be affirmed that any Legislature could impose such restrictions upon the people of a state without doing violence to both letter and spirit of the Constitution.

The desire of the Legislature to foster a homogeneous people with American ideals prepared readily to understand current discussions of civic matters is easy to appreciate. Unfortunate experiences during the late war and aversion toward every character of truculent adversaries were certainly enough to quicken that aspiration. But the means adopted, we think, exceed the limitations upon the power of the state and conflict with rights assured to plaintiff in error. The interference is plain enough and no adequate reason therefor in time of peace and domestic tranquility has been shown.

The power of the state to compel attendance at some school and to make reasonable regulations for all schools, including a requirement that they shall give instructions in English, is not questioned. Nor has challenge been made of the state's power to prescribe a curriculum for institutions which it supports. Those matters are not within the present controversy. Our concern is with the prohibition approved by the Supreme Court. Adams v. Tanner, 244 U. S. 594, 37 Sup. Ct. 662, 61 L. Ed. 1336, L. R. A. 1917F, 1163, Ann. Cas. 1917D, 973, pointed out that mere abuse incident to an occupation ordinarily useful is not enough to justify its abolition, although regulation may be entirely proper. No emergency has arisen which renders knowledge by a child of some language other than English so clearly harmful as to justify its inhibition with the consequent infringement of rights long freely enjoyed. We are constrained to conclude that the statute as applied is arbitrary and without reasonable relation to any end within the competency of the state.

As the statute undertakes to interfere only with teaching which involves a modern language, leaving complete freedom as to other matters, there seems no adequate foundation for the suggestion that the purpose was to protect the child's health by limiting his mental activities. It is well known that proficiency in a foreign language seldom comes to one not instructed at an early age, and experience shows that this is not injurious to the health, morals or understanding of the ordinary child.

The judgment of the court belo must be reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

Reversed.

Mr. Justice Holmes and Mr. Justice Sutherland, dissent.
The US decided to ignore foreign protests on booze rules.


The now ineffective Zero Milestone in Washington D.C., intended to be the starting point for all U.S. highways, was dedicated.

Horse trainer Frank Hayes, serving as a jockey on Sweet Kiss, died during the race which the horse won.  A very lightweight individual to start with, he'd lost twelve pounds for the race and perhaps accordingly imperiled his health.

Friday, May 19, 2023

Saturday, May 19, 1923. Double Standards.

Lenin's USSR, which was ostensibly for the rights of small nations, executed the principal leaders of the Georgian Committee for the Independence of Georgia.

Georgia's flag.

Zev won the Kentucky Derby.  H was owned by Harry F. Sinclair of the Sinclair Oil Company.

Italian women marched for suffrage in Rome.

Friday, May 5, 2023

Monday, May 1, 2023

Saturday, May 1, 1943. Strikes and Terminations


480,000 coal mining members of the United Mine Workers went on strike.  President Roosevelt ordered them to return to work by 10:00 a.m. They didn't.

An executive order followed, authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to take possession of the mines, if necessary.

More on the strike here:

“You Can’t Dig Coal With Bayonets”

In case you wondered, 55,156 people are employed in the American coal mining industry today.

On the same day, Ford Motor Company fired 141 employees because of labor disputes.  Most of those fired were African Americans.

800 British troops, mostly Colonial forces, went down with the British troopship Erinpura which was sunk north of Benghazi by German aircraft.

Count Fleet won the Kentucky Derby.

Friday, May 7, 2021

May 7, 1921. Behave Yourself


Behave Yourself won the Kentucky Derby on this day in 1921.  The horse was an upset winner.

Foaled in 1918, the horse went on to a career as a stud, sort of, with the owner restricting the horses breeding as he thought its legs had poor confirmation  He was ultimately donated to the U.S. Army's remount program which sent him out to Wyoming. He was considered a poor racehorse and ironically beat the favorite that was owned by the same individual as he was, which resulted in that owners losing money on the race as he'd put money on that favorite, the vaguely racist named Black Servant.

I'm glad Behave Yourself won.  

The horse died in 1937 and is buried in Cheyenne.  He was 19 years old at the time.

Mrs. Harding, General Peshing, and Mrs. Benedict Crowell attended the New York City Police Parade with a troop of Girl Scouts.


President Harding was photographed with Jack and Bob Kneipp, who turned out dressed as period cowboys.

Thursday, November 12, 2020

November 12, 1920. First and lasts in sports, and in life events.

November 12, 1920: Man o' War's final run

Read about it at the above, an unfortunately seemingly inactive blog.

On the same day, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was hired as the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, and at the same time the major leagues took on their present organizational form.


This occured, of course, in the wake of the Black Sox Scandal and as part of an effort to address deficiencies in the organization of the sport and clear up its name.

Italy and what would become Yugoslavia entered into the Treaty of Rapallo. The treaty adjusted territorial boundaries between the nations, which had been disputed in the wake of World War One and the creation of the new state.  The new South Slav kingdom and Italy shared populations that were of the ethnicities of the other state. While the treaty did leave few Italians in Yugoslavia, about 500,000 South Slavs remained in what became Italian territory.

The border would be readjusted following World War Two.

Former resident of Cheyenne and teenage lover of Charlie Chaplin, actress Mildred Harris, was granted a divorce from Chaplin.


Harris' sad story, as well as her peculiar role in history (she's at least partially responsible for Wallace Simpson meeting King Edward VIII, has been addressed elsewhere on this blog.

President Wilson refused to sign the execution warrant for Sgt. Anthony F. Tamme, who had been convicted of espionage during World War One.

Monday, October 12, 2020

October 12, 1920. First and Lasts.

 Cleveland brought home the 1920 World Series victory.  It was their first.


Man O War beat Sir Barton at Windsor, Ontario.  A highly anticipated race, it was his last.

Sir Barton would spend his retirement years in Wyoming:



The three year old was ridden in the race by Johnny Loftus.

Sir Barton raced again in the 1920 season and set a world's record for the 1 3/16 miles dirt race that  year.  On October 12 of that year he was defeated by Man o' War in a match race at Kenilworth Park in Windsor Ontario.  He was retired and put to stun in 1921.  In 1932 he was sold into the Army Remount Service and stood at Ft. Royal, Virginia and Ft. Robinson, Nebraska.  He was then assigned to Wyoming rancher J. R. Hylton who was part of the Remount program.  The Remount Service at that time assigned out studs to ranchers in the program. 

In 1937 he died of colic and was buried on Hylton's ranch outside of Douglas.  His remains are now in Douglas' Washington Park where a memorial for the horse exists.

An armistice between Poland and the Soviet Union was entered into which was leading up to what would become the Treaty of Riga.  It would go into effect on October 18, 1920.  On the same day, Polish forces under the false flag of mutiny declared the existence of the Republic of Central Lithuania, which would be incorporated into Poland after a decent interval.


The settling conflicts involving a restored Poland contained seeds of future discord, although given its giant neighbor, the Soviet Union, and ultimately failing neighbor, Germany, that can't be really blamed for what occur to Poland in 1939.  The forming peace, however, left Poland with Polish territory in Lithuania, which made ethnographic sense but which caused Lithuanian discontent, and it also left Poland with large areas of Ukrainian and Belorussian territory which contained those ethnicities who were discontent with the results.

Friday, May 22, 2020

May 22, 1920. Carranza's Assassination hits the news, and Bergdoll's Departure. The Belmont Run, and Federal Employees get to Retire.

Postman, May 22, 1920.


The dramatic news that Carranza, who had been such a large figure in the Mexican Revolution, and the American Press, had been assassinated hit in the U.S.


Also taking headlines was the flight of Grover Cleveland Bergdoll, a millionaire draft dodger.


Bergdoll had first been in the press as a pre World War One aviator, showing that he at least had an element of personal courage.  But when the war came, he skipped his draft physical and evaded the authorities for two years.  He was finally arrested in January, 1920.


He was tried and convicted, and then oddly allowed out of prison when he claimed the need to recover a cache of gold he'd buried while a fugitive.  On a stop at his home in Philadelphia, while under guard, he managed to escape and flea with his chauffeur. 

He went, oddly enough, to Germany, where he further avoided attempts to kidnap him by American soldiers of fortune on two occasions, killing one of them.  He returned to the United States twice while a fugitive and even toured a bit on one occasion.  He finally surrendered to authorities in 1939 and served the remainder of his term plus added time, being released in 1944.  He remained under psychiatric care until his death in 1966.

The Belmont was run on this day in 1920.

United Hunts Racing Association meet at Belmont Park Terminal track, May 22, 1920.

Beatrice Clafin and M.M. Van Beuren at the United Hunts Racing Association meet at Belmont Park Terminal track, Belmont, New York, May 22, 1920.

The Civil Retirement Act went into effect on this day, providing retirement for employees of the United States government.  

We're so used to thinking of this as always having existed we fail to appreciate that in fact a century ago retirement was not only not a sure thing, it was contrary to the norm.

Monday, May 18, 2020

May 18, 1920. Future Popes, Equine Events, and Middle Eastern Wars.

Karol Józef Wojtyła, was born to Emilia and Karol Wojtyla in Wadlowice, Poland.

St. Pope John Paul II's parents at the time of their wedding.  They are both presently candidates for sainthood.

He'd become St. John Paul II the Great, the most influential Pope of the second half of the 20th Century.

His early life was hard, in a country where life itself was hard.  His mother, who was a school teacher, died when he was 8 years old.  His deeply religious father was first an NCO, prior to his birth, in the Austro Hungarian Army and then a Captain in the Polish Army.   Upon his wife's death he worked close to home so that he could care for his young child.

His father died of a heart attack Polish in 1941.  His eldest brother, with whom he was close, died of scarlet fever after attended to scarlet fever victims in the early 1930s.   Upon his father's death he was the only immediately surviving member of the family.  

He entered the seminary secretly during World War Two, the Germans had closed them in Poland, and was ordained in Soviet occupied Poland in 1946.

He ultimately rose to become Pope in 1978, and occupied that position until his death in 2005.  Since that time he has had two successors, with the first perhaps ironically being German, thereby creating the odd situation of a Pope who lived under German occupation during World War Two being succeeded by one who had briefly been in the German armed forces (anti aircraft gun crewman) as a very young man at the end of the war.

The National Horse Show was going on in Washington D.C.

General Pershing's personal mounts Entered in the National Capitol Horse Show which opened today. On the left is Col. John G. Quekemeyer with "Jeff" and on the Right Lt. W.J. Cunningham with "John Bunny".

Col. John G. Quekemeyer and Lt. James H. Cunningham taking the jumps on Princess and Dandy, at the National Capitol Horse Show. These two hunters were presented by the English Government to General Pershings Staff and are entered with the string of A.E.F. Horses.

And Man O War, who had not run in the Kentucky Derby, won the Preakness.


Another event involving a lot of horses was the Battle of Hamdh, which occurred on this day in 1920. The battle pitted the Ikhwan, the putative National Guard of Saudi Arabia, against Kuwaiti forces. The distribution of manpower was lopsided in favor of the Saudis.  It was part of the Kuwait-Najd War.

The event was part of the Saudi effort to annex Kuwait and impose a strict religious regime upon them.  The Kuwaitis lost the battle after six days, but ultimately the British would intervene and end the war.  Kuwait was a British protectorate at the time.  Prior to that the Saudis attempted to dictate a peace requiring the eviction of Shias, adoption of Wahhabism, declare the Turks to be heretics, ban smoking, ban prostitution, and destroy the American missionary hospital in Kuwait.  The peace was imposed by the British in 1922 and it did not include those provisions, but Kuwait, which was not allowed to participate in the discussions, lost more than 2/3s of its territory.

Thursday, April 9, 2020

April 9, 1920. Spring in Washington D.C.

In  Washington D.C., equestrians participated in a paper chase on this day in 1920.







Elsewhere, Germany informed France that it would be responsible for property loss and the loss of life in the regions France had moved in to occupy, an ironic statement in light of the fact that the Germany government wasn't shy about the use of force on its own soil.

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

June 11, 1919. Sir Barton wins the Triple Crown.


June 11


1919  Sir Barton won the Belmont Stakes thereby becoming the first horse in racing history to win the Triple Crown.


The three year old was ridden in the race by Johnny Loftus.

Sir Barton raced again in the 1920 season and set a world's record for the 1 3/16 miles dirt race that  year.  On October 12 of that year he was defeated by Man o' War in a match race at Kenilworth Park in Windsor Ontario.  He was retired and put to stun in 1921.  In 1932 he was sold into the Army Remount Service and stood at Ft. Royal, Virginia and Ft. Robinson, Nebraska.  He was then assigned to Wyoming rancher J. R. Hylton who was part of the Remount program.  The Remount Service at that time assigned out studs to ranchers in the program.

In 1937 he died of colic and was buried on Hylton's ranch outside of Douglas.  His remains are now in Douglas' Washington Park where a memorial for the horse exists.

The same day football giant Big Bill Edwards' had his photograph in the papers marching with the Boy Scouts.


Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Man o War foaled, March 29, 1917

The legendary Thoroughbred Man o War was foaled on this day, March 29, 1917.


One of the greatest race horses of all time, Man o War  was at Nursery Stud, near Lexington, Kentucky.  He won he won 20 of 21 races he was entered into in 1919 and 1920 and took $249,465 in prize money.  He and Babe Ruth shared accolades from the New York Times for 1920 as the greatest athlete of that year.  He won the Belmont and the Preakness in 1920, but was not entered into the Kentucky Derby as his owner believed the young horse to be too young for the longer distance involved in that race.  Because of his spectacular success, however, in 1920 he was retired to stud as he would have had handicap weights the following year that his owner thought prohibitive.  One of his colts was the famous horse War Admiral.  He died in 1947 at age 30, a fairly old age for a horse.