Today in History (March 7th):
1792: Birthdays: English astronomer John Herschel.
1802: Birthdays: English painter Edwin Henry Landseer.
1841: Birthdays: U.S. newspaper publisher and philanthropist William Rockhill Nelson.
1849: Birthdays: American botanist Luther Burbank.
1869: The Suez Canal opened, connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea via Egypt.
1872: Birthdays: Dutch abstract painter Piet Mondrian.
1875: Birthdays: French composer Maurice Ravel.
1876: Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent for the telephone.
1887: North Carolina State University was founded.
1908: Birthdays: Actor Anna Magnani.
1932: In the depths of the Great Depression, an estimated 3,000 men rioted at the Detroit plant of the Ford Motor Co. Four were killed.
1934: Birthdays: NBC weatherman Willard Scott.
1936: Adolf Hitler ordered Nazi troops into the Rhineland, violating the Treaty of Versailles.
1938: Birthdays: Race car driver Janet Guthrie.
1940: Birthdays: Actor Daniel J. Travanti.
1942: Birthdays: Former Disney executive Michael Eisner; TV evangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.
1944: Birthdays: Musician Townes Van Zandt.
1945: The U.S. 1st Army crossed the Rhine at Remagen in Germany. The bridge was the only one across the Rhine that hadn’t been destroyed. World War II ended in Europe two months later. Birthdays: Actor John Heard.
1950: Birthdays: Football Hall of fame member Franco Harris.
1952: Birthdays: Football Hall of fame member Lynn Swann.
1960: Birthdays: Czech tennis Hall of Fame member Ivan Lendl.
1964: Birthdays: Comedienne Wanda Sykes.
1970: Birthdays: Actor Rachel Weisz.
1984: The U.S. Senate confirmed William Wilson as the first U.S. ambassador to the Vatican in 117 years.
1985: We Are the World a song composed by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and recorded by a series of high-profile music stars is released worldwide with the intention of generating funds for the USA for Africa charity.
1997: A U.S. veto killed an otherwise unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution condemning new Jewish settlements in Arab East Jerusalem.
2002: More than 600 people were reported dead after several days of Hindu-Muslim violence in the state of Gujarat, India.
2004: V. Gene Robinson, openly gay and controversial, became the Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire.
2006: U.S. prosecutors sought the death penalty for Zacarias Moussaoui, who pleaded guilty to terrorism conspiracy leading to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
2007: An Indonesian Garuda Airlines Boeing 737-400 with 140 people aboard crashed and burned on landing in Yogyakarta, killing 49 people.
2008: A foreign policy aide to Barack Obama apologized for calling Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton a monster.
2010: Violence marred Iraq’s first parliamentary election in five years as two bombs in Baghdad killed at least 38 people.
2011: U.S. President Barack Obama gave the green light for resumption of tribunals for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on hold since 2009. With the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Bulkeley leading the way, the multinational anti-piracy fleet thwarted a pirate takeover of a Bahamian-flagged oil tanker in the Arabian Sea 328 nautical miles southeast of Duqm, Oman. Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano, thought to be one of the most active in the world, erupted, touching off more than 150 earthquakes but no reported damage.
2012: U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey told the Senate that U.S. President Barrack Obama wanted the Pentagon to provide him with military options on Syria. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell signed a bill requiring women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound at least 24 hours before the procedure.
Quotes
“One unerring mark of the love of truth is not entertaining any proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant.” – John Locke, philosopher (1632-1704)
“All men whilst they are awake are in one common world: but each of them, when he is asleep, is in a world of his own.” – Plutarch, biographer (c. 46-120)
“When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
“I have never gone to sleep with a grievance against anyone. And, as far as I could, I have never let anyone go to sleep with a grievance against me.” – Abba Agathon, monk (4th/5th century)
Luther Burbank (1849-1926) American Horticulturist:
“Do not feed children on maudlin sentimentalism or dogmatic religion; give them nature.”
“Heredity is nothing but stored environment.”
“I see humanity now as one vast plant, needing for its highest fulfillment only love, the natural blessings of the great outdoors, and intelligent crossing and selection. In the span of my own lifetime I observed such wondrous progress in plant evolution that I look forward optimistically to a healthy, happy world as soon as its children are taught the principles of simple and rational living. We must return to nature and nature’s god.”
“Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul.”
“The secret of improved plant breeding, apart from scientific knowledge, is love.”
“The scientist is a lover of truth for the very love of truth itself, wherever it may lead.”
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“Nature’s law affirm instead of prohibit. If you violate her laws, you are your own prosecuting attorney, judge, jury, and hangman.”
cloy
PRONUNCIATION: (KLOY)
MEANING: (verb)
1. To oversatiate with rich food, to overfeed, to cause nausea by overfeeding with delicious, rich food;
2. To oversatiate with anything otherwise pleasant to point it becomes unpleasant.
ETYMOLOGY: This word is a reduction of accloy “to clog” from Middle English “acloien,” which derives from Old French encloer “to drive a nail into.” In the Middle Ages cannon and other armaments were rendered useless by driving a nail into their touchhole (which led to the powder) and clogging it. This sense led to that of being overfed, satiated’clogged,’ so to speak, with food. The Old French word “encloer” devolved from the Latin “inclavare,” made up of in “in” + clavare “to nail,” a verb based on clavus “a nail,” a close relative of clavis “key.” This Latin word also gave us “clove,” the anesthetizing spice that looks like a small spike. The same root emerged in Russian as klyuch’ “key” while in German it picked up an initial [s] to become Schlussel “key” and Schloss “castle.”
USAGE: “The speech made by the 40-million-dollar-a-year president was cloyed with insincere references to the work force and its importance to the company.”
palimpsest
PRONUNCIATION: (PAL-imp-sest)
http://wordsmith.org/words/palimpsest.mp3
MEANING: (noun)
1. A writing surface such as a parchment that has been reused after partially or completely erasing the original text.
2. Something reused but still showing traces of its earlier form.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek palimpsestos, from palin (again) + psestos + (scraped). Earliest documented use: 1661 Also see pentimento.
USAGE:
“All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and re-inscribed exactly as often as was necessary.” – George Orwell; Nineteen Eighty-Four; 1949.
“Her memories, too, are a palimpsest of the real and the staged; their courting scenes in a play.” – Molly and the Playwright; The Economist (London, UK); Jun 24, 2010.
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cynic
PRONUNCIATION: (SIN-ik)
http://wordsmith.org/words/cynic.mp3
MEANING: (noun)
1. One who believes people are motivated by self-interest only.
2. A person with a negative outlook, one disposed to find fault.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin cynicus, from Greek kynikos (like a dog), from kyon (dog). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kwon- (dog), which is also the source of canine, chenille (from French chenille: caterpillar, literally, little dog), kennel, canary, hound, dachshund, corgi, and cynosure. Earliest documented use: 1547.
NOTES: Cynics was the name given to the ancient Greek philosophers who believed in self-control, austerity, and moral virtue. The movement was founded by Antisthenes (c. 444-365 BCE) and perfected by Diogenes (c. 412-323 BCE). It’s not clear why they were labeled cynics or dog-like, but as often happens with such epithets, they appropriated it. Some believe the name was given because Antisthenes taught in a gymnasium nicknamed White Dog, but it’s more likely that they were given the insulting moniker for their rejection of society’s conventions.
USAGE: “The cynic’s mantra that they [the MPs] are all bad is nonsense.” – The Great Shaming of Parliament; The Economist (London, UK); May 14, 2009.
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glom
PRONUNCIATION: (glom)
http://wordsmith.org/words/glom.mp3
MEANING:
(verb tr)
1. To steal.
2. To seize or grab.
3. To look at.
(verb intr), To latch onto something.
(noun), A glimpse.
ETYMOLOGY: Probably alteration of Scots glam/glaum (to snatch at). Earliest documented use: 1907.
USAGE:
“There will still be a mixture of homegrown material and features glommed from Wired’s American edition.” – Bobbie Johnson; The UK Gets reWired; The Guardian (London, UK); Mar 23, 2009.
“Aaron, two years old, was happily smearing his face with ketchup-soaked fries and glomming the fish in his little mouth.” – Peter Kuitenbrouwer; Fish and Chips Biz is Just Ducky; National Post (Canada); Mar 15, 2010.
“Scads of lesser imitators have glommed onto Strait’s pop savvy but not necessarily the musicianship that lies at the core of it.” – Jason Bracelin; Strait Talk; Las Vegas Review-Journal; Feb 5, 2010.
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semiquaver
PRONUNCIATION: (SEM-ee-kway-vuhr)
http://wordsmith.org/words/semiquaver.mp3
MEANING: (noun), In music, a note having the time value of one-sixteenth of a whole note.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin semi- (half) + quaver (an eighth note).
USAGE: “Synchronising film and music is tough enough in a modern movie, but spare a semiquaver of sympathy for Dmitri Shostakovich.” – Conrad Walters; Film and Music Marry as Composer Settles Old Score; The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Nov 5, 2008.
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http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=semiquaver