Thoughts for the Day

Today in History (February 6th):

1665: Birthdays: England’s Queen Anne.

1756: Birthdays: Statesman Aaron Burr.

1788: Massachusetts ratified the federal Constitution, the sixth state to do so.

1819: Singapore was founded with the establishment of a British East India Company trading post.

1840: The Treaty of Waitangi, the founding document of New Zealand, was signed.

1865: Gen. Robert E. Lee was appointed commander in chief of the armies of the Confederacy.

1895: Birthdays: Baseball great George Herman Babe Ruth.

1911: Birthdays: Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

1912: Birthdays: Eva Braun, mistress of Adolf Hitler.

1917: Birthdays: Actor Zsa Zsa Gabor.

1922: Birthdays: Actor Patrick Macnee.

1931: Birthdays: Actor Rip Torn; Actor Mamie Van Doren.

1932: Birthdays: French film director Francois Truffaut.

1933: The 20th Amendment, changing the dates of terms of some federal offices, to the U.S. Constitution went into effect.

1939: Birthdays: Actor Mike Farrell.

1940: Birthdays: TV newsman Tom Brokaw.

1942: Birthdays: Handgun control activist Sarah Brady.

1943: U.S. Army Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was named commander of Allied expeditionary forces in North Africa. He later became World War II Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. Birthdays: Singer Fabian Forte.

1945: Birthdays: Actor Michael Tucker; Jamaican reggae singer/songwriter Bob Marley.

1950: Birthdays: Singer Natalie Cole.

1952: Princess Elizabeth became sovereign of Great Britain upon the death of her father, King George VI. She was crowned Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953.

1957: Birthdays: Actor/director Robert Townsend; Actor Kathy Najimy.

1962: Birthdays: Singer W. Axl Rose.

1987: Broad no-smoking rules took effect for 890,000 employees in 6,800 U.S. federal buildings nationwide.

1992: A military transport plane crashed into a restaurant and hotel in Evansville, Ind., killing 16 people.

1993: U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali asked NATO for authority to order airstrikes against Serb artillery positions in Bosnia.

1997: The head of Mexico’s leading anti-drug agency resigned after evidence emerged that he took bribes from a drug cartel.

1998: U.S. President Bill Clinton said he would never consider resigning because of allegations that he had an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

2001: Ariel Sharon was elected prime minister of Israel.

2004: A female suicide bomber detonated explosives in a suitcase on a Moscow subway car killing 39 people and injuring about 200.

2005: The New England Patriots won their third Super Bowl in four years, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21.

2006: U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told Congress that President George W. Bush was within his legal rights when he authorized warrantless surveillance of people in the United States by the National Security Agency.

2008: Storms spawned tornadoes across the U.S. South, killing at least 54 people and injuring nearly 100 more.

2009: Pakistani helicopter gunships killed 52 militants in clashes near the Khyber region to fight off efforts to disrupt a supply line for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

2010: A raging storm with heavy snowfall left nearly 90,000 homes without power in Maryland and Virginia and forced much of the nation’s capital to a standstill.

The problem of impotency can be to anyone cialis cheap online and at any stage of life. The ability to say “no” with sufficient political legitimacy is key levitra cost to the creation of an effective energy policy, as is the provision of adequate positive choices that have low social and environmental external costs. He can even flood cheap levitra wouroud.com your computer with the virus on it. One of the most significant factors for loss of sexual desire in men sildenafil 100mg canada significantly and to get rid of this man disease using this drug. 2012: The United States suspended operations at its embassy in Damascus and evacuated its staff, citing the deteriorating situation across Syria. A 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Negros Oriental province in the Philippines’ Visayas Island chain killed at least 43 people.



Quotes

“An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets the more interested he is in her.” – Agatha Christie

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” – Ely Wiesel



Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) American President:

“Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.”

“Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidise it”

“Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today’s world do not have.”

“Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement.”

“But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret.”

“Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.”

“Double, no triple, our troubles and we’d still be better off than any other people on earth. It is time that we recognized that ours was, in truth, a noble cause.”

“Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.”

“Going to college offered me the chance to play football for four more years.”

“My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes.”

“I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency – even if I’m in a Cabinet meeting.”

“I couldn’t help but say to Mr. Gorbachev just think how easy his task and mine might be in these meetings that we held if suddenly there was a threat to this world from another planet. We’d find out once and for all that we really are all human beings here on this earth together.”

“They say hard work never hurt anybody, but, I figure, why take the chance?”

“History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.”

“I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.”

“You can accomplish much if you don’t care who gets the credit.”



cantankerous

PRONUNCIATION: (kan-TANG-kuhr-uhs)
http://wordsmith.org/words/cantankerous.mp3

MEANING: (adjective), Difficult to deal with: ill-tempered, quarrelsome.

ETYMOLOGY: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Middle English contak (contention). Earliest documented use: 1736.

USAGE: “Justin Wolff makes clear that Thomas Hart Benton had a difficult if not volcanic personality. Among the adjectives he uses to describe him are surly, belligerent, arrogant, pugnacious, combative, gruff, inflexible, cantankerous, argumentative, churlish, cruel, and blunt.” – Terry Hartle; Thomas Hart Benton: A Life; The Christian Science Monitor (Boston); May 21, 2012.

Explore “cantankerous” in the Visual Thesaurus.
http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=cantankerous



lummox

PRONUNCIATION: (LUHM-uhks)
http://wordsmith.org/words/lummox.mp3

MEANING: (noun), A clumsy, stupid person.

ETYMOLOGY: Of uncertain origin, perhaps from East Anglian lummock (to move heavily orclumsily). Earliest documented use: before 1825.

USAGE: “Adam is harshly portrayed as an oaf, a nimrod, a village idiot, a lummox, a schlemiel — you get the idea.” – Brad Wheeler; Humanizing Biblical Super Heroes; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Apr 23, 2009.

Explore “lummox” in the Visual Thesaurus.
http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=lummox


This entry was posted in Quotes, Thoughts for the Day, Vocabulary and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.