Today in History (May 30th):
1431: Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in Rouen, France, at age 19. She had been convicted of sorcery.
1574: Henry III became King of France.
1783: The Pennsylvania Evening Post became the first daily newspaper published in the United States.
1806: Future U.S. President Andrew Jackson took part in a duel, killing Charles Dickinson, a Kentucky lawyer who had called Jackson’s wife a bigamist.
1868: The first major Memorial Day observance was held to honor those killed during the Civil War. It was originally known to some as Decoration Day.
1896: Birthdays: Film director Howard Hawks.
1899: Birthdays: Movie executive Irving Thalberg.
1908: Birthdays: Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and many other cartoon characters.
1909: Birthdays: Bandleader/clarinet virtuoso Benny Goodman.
1911: Ray Harroun won the first Indianapolis 500 with an average speed of 74.6 mph.
1918: Birthdays: Restaurant executive Bob Evans.
1922: The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in Washington.
1926: Birthdays: Christine Jorgensen, who gained notoriety for undergoing a sex-change operation.
1927: Birthdays: Actor Clint Walker.
1936: Birthdays: Actor Keir Dullea.
1937: A battle between police and strikers at the Republic Steel Corp. plant in Chicago killed 10 people and injured 90.
1939: Birthdays: Actor Michael J. Pollard.
1943: The Aleutian Islands of Kiska and Attu off the Alaskan coast were retaken by U.S. forces after being occupied by Japanese troops during World War II. Birthdays: NFL Hall of Fame running back Gale Sayers.
1953: Birthdays: Actor Colm Meaney.
1958: Birthdays: Actor Ted McGinley.
1962: Birthdays: Publisher Kevin Eastman, one of the creators of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
1964: Birthdays: Country singer Wynonna Judd; Musician Tom Morello.
1972: The unmanned U.S. space probe Mariner 9 was launched on a mission to gather scientific data on Mars, ultimately sending back valuable information and becoming the first spacecraft to orbit a planet other than the Earth. Three Japanese terrorists used automatic weapons to kill 24 people at the airport in Tel Aviv, Israel.
1974: Birthdays: Musician Cee-Lo Green.
1982: Spain became the 16th member nation of NATO.
1983: Birthdays: Actor Jennifer Ellison.
1998: Pakistan conducted an underground nuclear test, despite condemnation from many leading countries and the imposition of U.S. economic sanctions.
2002: U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the FBI would have expanded powers to monitor religious, political and other organizations as well as the Internet as a guard against terrorist attacks.
2007: U.S. President George W. Bush asked Congress for an additional $30 billion to fight AIDS globally. In a Gallup poll of U.S. adults, one-third of respondents said they believed the Bible was literally true.
2008: The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the United States was at a record $3.96. The price hit $5 in some areas.
2009: Analysts said 2009 U.S. college graduates faced dim employment prospects in a job market described as being in a state of quiet desperation.
2011: Ailing former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak denied he ordered his forces to use live ammunition against protesters, a charge officials said could result in the death penalty. Nearly 1,000 people had died during an 18-day uprising.
2012: Former Liberian President Charles Taylor, convicted of aiding war crimes, was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Quotes
“The words a father speaks to his children in the privacy of the home are not overheard at the time, but, as in whispering galleries, they will be clearly heard at the end and by posterity.” – Jean Paul Richter, writer (1763-1825)
“No one is so thoroughly superstitious as the godless man.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote in Uncle Tom’s Cabin
“He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts… for support rather than illumination.” – Andrew Lang
“Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence.” – Hal Borland, journalist (1900-1978)
Mikhail Bakunin (1814-1876) Russian subversive:
“From the naturalistic point of view, all men are equal. There are only two exceptions to this rule of naturalistic equality: geniuses and idiots.”
“Everything will past, and the world will perish but the Ninth Symphony will remain.”
“From each according to his faculties; to each according to his needs.”
“I am truly free only when all human beings, men and women, are equally free. The freedom of other men, far from negating or limiting my freedom, is, on the contrary, its necessary premise and confirmation.”
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“To revolt is a natural tendency of life. Even a worm turns against the foot that crushes it. In general, the vitality and relative dignity of an animal can be measured by the intensity of its instinct to revolt.”
debark
PRONUNCIATION: (dee-BARK)
http://wordsmith.org/words/debark.mp3
MEANING:
(verb tr.)
1. To remove the bark from a dog.
2. To remove the bark from a log.
(verb tr., intr.)
3. To disembark.
ETYMOLOGY:
For 1: From de- (from) + bark, from Old English borcian (to bark). Earliest documented use: 1943.
For 2: From de- (from) + Old Norse börkr (bark). Earliest documented use: 1744.
For 3: From French debarquer, from de- (from) + barque (ship). Earliest documented use: 1744.
USAGE:
“Dr. Marder said they will probably debark Truffle unless she quickly learns to play quietly.” – Sam Dolnick; Heel. Sit. Whisper. Good Dog; The New York Times; Feb 3, 2010.
“Mike Rowe finds himself … heading to a mill to help debark and process wood for a log cabin.” – Emily Yahr; Highlights; The Washington Post; Feb 22, 2011.
Explore “debark” in the Visual Thesaurus.
http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=debark
exiguous
PRONUNCIATION: (ig-ZIG-yoo-us)
MEANING: (adjective), Extremely scanty; meager.
ETYMOLOGY: Exiguous comes from Latin exiguus, “strictly weighed; too strictly weighed,” hence “scanty, meager,” from exigere, “to determine; to decide; to weigh.”
USAGE: “Janice worked as a waitress in an effort to supplement her exiguous income working at a big box retailer, although neither employer was sympathetic to the other’s schedule.”
necrology
PRONUNCIATION: (nuh-KROL-uh-jee, neh-)
http://wordsmith.org/words/necrology.mp3
MEANING: (noun)
1. A list of those who have died during a specific period.
2. An obituary.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek necro- (dead) + -logy (account). Earliest documented use: 1728.
USAGE: “The fare structure is one reason Independence Air has joined a necrology of low-cost carriers that stretches over four decades.” – Marc Fisher; We Loved That Airline To Death; Washington Post; Jan 5, 2006.
Explore “necrology” in the Visual Thesaurus.
http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=necrology
prima donna
PRONUNCIATION: (PREEM-uh DON-uh)
http://wordsmith.org/words/prima_donna.mp3
MEANING: (noun), A self-important and temperamental person.
ETYMOLOGY: From Italian prima donna, literally first lady. In an opera, a prima donna is the principal female singer. Because leading ladies of the opera often behaved in a vain and temperamental fashion, now the term is used for people, male or female, who have an inflated view of themselves and are difficult to work with. Earliest documented use: 1782.
USAGE: “I was told by one well-placed source that George had been a prima donna throughout his brief stay.” – Jules Quartly; Boy George Blows in and Blows Up; Taipei Times (Taiwan); May 10, 2005.
Explore “prima donna” in the Visual Thesaurus.
http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=prima+donna
McKenzie
PRONUNCIATION: (muh-KEN-zee)
http://wordsmith.org/words/McKenzie.mp3
MEANING: (noun), Someone who attends a court trial as an adviser to one of the parties. This person works not as a legal representative, but as an informal adviser. Also known as a “McKenzie friend”.
ETYMOLOGY: The term arose from the 1970 divorce case McKenzie v. McKenzie in the UK. The man in this case didn’t have a lawyer. An Australian barrister, Ian Hanger, wanted to help, but could not as he was not qualified to practise in the UK. The man represented himself; Hanger offered to sit with him and provide advice as a friend, but he was denied this by the court. The man lost the case, and this denial became the basis for appeal which affirmed the position that a litigant can, in fact, have someone attend the trial to help in a non-professional capacity. Given the role of the barrister Hanger, a better choice of coinage for this word would have been Hanger, instead of McKenzie.
USAGE: “A measure, of benefit to women especially, would be to permit the litigant to have a McKenzie friend in the course of the case.” – Chitra Narayan; On An Obstacle Course; Hindu (Chennai, India); Nov 17, 2005.