American Pharoah (foaled February 2, 2012) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who in 2015 became the 12th American Triple Crown winner, and the first since Affirmed in 1978. He also became the only horse to win the Breeders' Cup Classic along with all three Triple Crown races—the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. He was bred and owned throughout his racing career by Ahmed Zayat's Zayat Stables, trained by Bob Baffert, and ridden in most of his races by Victor Espinoza. After the Belmont, he easily won the Haskell Invitational on August 2. On August 29, he finished a close second at Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, snapping a winning streak of eight races. After a layoff of two months, he shipped to Keeneland for the 2015 Breeders' Cup and contended in the Breeders' Cup Classic, where he challenged older horses for the first time and won by 6 1⁄2 lengths, breaking the track record. He was retired at the conclusion of his 2015 racing year and now stands at stud at Ashford Stud in Kentucky.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pharoah

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1794:

French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre established the Cult of the Supreme Being as the new state religion of the French First Republic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_the_Supreme_Being

1824:

Ludwig van Beethoven's last complete symphony, the Symphony No. 9 in D minor, which incorporates part of Friedrich Schiller's poem "Ode to Joy" in its fourth movement, premiered at the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._9_(Beethoven)

1920:

Polish–Soviet War: During the Kiev Offensive, Polish troops, with the help of a symbolic Ukrainian force, captured Kiev, only to be driven out by the Soviet Red Army counter-offensive a month later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiev_Offensive_(1920)

1946:

Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita founded the Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation, which later changed its name to Sony. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony

2007:

A team of Israeli archaeologists discovered the tomb of 1st century BC ruler of Judea Herod the Great. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_the_Great

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

lady who lunches: (chiefly in the plural) A lady who is affluent and thus able to have lunch with other such ladies in relatively expensive restaurants. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lady_who_lunches

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The truth comes as conqueror only because we have lost the art of receiving it as guest.   --Rabindranath Tagore https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore