Psst, in case you didn't get the memo - it's poisonous!

Today is is the 137th annual 'Run for the Roses' at Churchill Downs.

Don't forget to pick up fresh mint for those juleps for the Greatest Two Minutes in Sports.


May 7, 1901 -
Gary Cooper, original boytoy, iconic actor and womanizer, was born on this date.



Super-duper.


Today in History -
May 7, 399 BC (according to Plato) -
Greek authorities forced philosopher Socrates to end his life by drinking a potion containing hemlock for his teaching methods which aroused skepticism and impiety in his students.



... Socrates, what is truth?' 'Socrates, what is beauty?' Never once did any of you guys say 'Socrates, hemlock is poisonous.' Thanks a lot, you guys ...



Those must have been some parties, if you get condemned to death afterward.


May 7, 1895 -
In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrates to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention - the first in the world radio receiver.

Unfortunately, since no one had invented regularly scheduled broadcasts, the demonstration was a confusing affair.


May 7, 1915 -
A very minor league Archduke and his wife got themselves killed in the Balkins. Before you you say conflagration, half the world was at war. On February 4, 1915, Germany declared the seas around the British Isles a war zone and any Allied ships in the area would be sunk without warning. King George V's government chose to ignore the warnings, as they were written in German. This seems odd, as George spoke German, his grandfather was German (Prince Albert) and his first cousin was Kaiser Wilhelm II.



Anyway, a German submarine, U-20, sank the Lusitania, killing 1200, on this date. There were no star-crossed young lovers aboard, however, so instead of making a movie about it, the U.S. had to enter World War I.


May 7, 1920 -
With much fanfare the Treaty of Moscow was signed on this date. Soviet Russia recognizes independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia.

No one bothered to tell Lenin and the Soviets invade the country six months later.


May 7, 1937 -
The Hindenberg wreckage still lies smoldering having crashed crashed and burned in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing thirty-six yesterday.

The good news was, it provided a really cool cover for Led Zeppelin's first album and a fairly good basis for a novel by E. L. Doctorow.


May 7, 1975 -
President Gerald R. Ford declared an end to the Vietnam War.



Almost 3 million Americans served in Vietnam. Between 1965 and 1975, the United States spent $111 billion on the war ($686 billion in 2008 dollars). This resulted in a large federal budget deficit. The war demonstrated that no power, not even a superpower, has unlimited strength and resources. But perhaps most significantly, the Vietnam War illustrated that political will, as much as material might, is a decisive factor in the outcome of conflicts.



And so it goes