With more than 1,800 entries, The Encyclopedia of Louisville is the ultimate reference for Kentucky's largest city. For more than 125 years, the world's attention has turned to Louisville for the annual running of the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May. Louisville Slugger bats still reign supreme in major league baseball. The city was also the birthplace of the famed Hot Brown and Benedictine spread, and the cheeseburger made its debut at Kaelin's Restaurant on Newburg Road in 1934. The "Happy Birthday" had its origins in the Louisville kindergarten class of sisters Mildred Jane Hill and Patty Smith Hill. Named for King Louis XVI of France in appreciation for his assistance during the Revolutionary War, Louisville was founded by George Rogers Clark in 1778. The city has been home to a number of men and women who changed the face of American history. President Zachary Taylor was reared in surrounding Jefferson County, and two U.S. Supreme Court Justices were from the city proper. Second Lt. F. Scott Fitzgerald, stationed at Camp Zachary Taylor during World War I, frequented the bar in the famous Seelbach Hotel, immortalized in The Great Gatsby . Muhammad Ali was born in Louisville and won six Golden Gloves tournaments in Kentucky. Named one of Library Journal's top reference books of 2000. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LOUISVILLE has been named “One of the Best Reference Books of 2000” by Library Journal Fun facts about Louisville: The city is the birthplace of: The cheeseburger (at Kaelin’s Restaurant). The “Happy Birthday” song. Rose Leigh Will Monroe, better known as “Rosie the Riveter”. The first licensed female steamboat captain in the U.S. The first human hand transplant in the U.S. was performed in Louisville. The Louisville Defender is the oldest weekly newspaper in Kentucky published by African Americans. The Kentucky Derby Festival is the state’s largest annual event. John Andrew “Bud” Hillerich, an apprentice in his father’s woodworking shop, created the original Louisville Slugger bat in 1884. Louisville Sluggers account for almost 70% of the bats used in professional baseball today. More than 1,800 entries, touching on everything from the Hot Brown to Muhammad Ali, from Kaelin s claim that it is the birthplace of the cheeseburger to the turning of the first Louisville Slugger baseball bat. Kentucky Monthly Packed with information on practically anything one would want to know about the city, Jefferson County, four adjacent counties in Kentucky, and four across the river in Indiana. Bowling Green Daily News John E. Kleber, emeritus professor of history at Morehead State University, is the editor of The Kentucky Encyclopedia and The Encyclopedia of Louisville. Used Book in Good Condition