Thoughts for the Day

Today in History (November 22nd):

Thanksgiving (Fourth Thursday in November)

1718: Edward Teach, also known as the pirate Blackbeard, was killed off North Carolina’s Outer Banks during a battle with a British navy force.

1744: Birthdays: Abigail Adams, wife of U.S. President John Adams.

1819: Birthdays: English novelist George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans).

1852: Birthdays: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Paul-Henri-Benjamin d’Estournelles.

1858: The city of Denver was founded.

1890: Birthdays: French statesman and military leader Charles de Gaulle.

1898: Birthdays: Wiley Post, the first pilot to fly solo around the world.

1899: Birthdays: Composer Hoagy Carmichael.

1913: Birthdays: Composer Benjamin Britten.

1921: Birthdays: Comedian Rodney Dangerfield.

1924: Birthdays: Actor Geraldine Page.

1932: Birthdays: Actor Robert Vaughn.

1935: A Pan American Martin 130 flying boat called the China Clipper began regular trans-Pacific mail service. The flight from San Francisco to Manila, Philippines, took 59 hours and 48 minutes.

1940: Birthdays: Writer/director and Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam.

1941: Birthdays: Actor Tom Conti; Musician Jesse Colin Young.

1942: Birthdays: Guion S. Bluford, Jr., the first African-American astronaut in space.

1943: Birthdays: Tennis legend Billie Jean King.

1950: A train wreck in New York City killed 79 people.

1954: The Humane Society of the United States was founded.

1956: Birthdays: Actor Richard Kind.

1958: Birthdays: Actor Jamie Lee Curtis.

1961: Birthdays: Actor Mariel Hemingway.

1963: Deaths: U.S. President John F. Kennedy, 46 and in the third year of his first term, was assassinated during a motorcade in Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with Kennedy’s slaying but was killed before he could go to trial. Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the nation’s 36th chief executive.

1967: Birthdays: Actor Mark Ruffalo; Tennis player Boris Becker.

1972: The U.S. State Department ended a 22-year ban on U.S. travel to China.

1977: The Anglo-French supersonic Concorde jetliner began scheduled flights to New York from London and Paris.

1980: Deaths: Film legend Mae West died at the age of 88.

1984: Birthdays: Actor Scarlett Johansson.

1989: Deaths: Newly elected Lebanese President Rene Moawad died in bomb blast that also killed 17 other people in Syrian-patrolled Muslim West Beirut.

1990: British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigned after 11 years in office as England’s longest-serving leader of the 20th century.

1992: 10 women who had worked for or with Sen. Bob Packwood accused the Oregon Republican of unwelcome sexual advances.

1993: Mexico’s Senate approved the North American Free Trade Agreement.

1997: New Zealanders Robert Hamill and Phil Stubbs arrived in Barbados from the Canary Islands in their boat, Kiwi Challenger, after 41 days, one hour and 55 minutes — a record for rowing across the Atlantic.

2002: At least 100 people died in riots in northern Nigeria sparked by a religious controversy over the Miss World beauty pageant.

2004: An African Union helicopter rescued 45 aid workers, 30 of them from the Save the Children organization, amid renewed fighting at Al-Fashir in Sudan’s Darfur region.

2005: Angela Merkel was sworn in as Germany’s chancellor. She was the first woman and first person from East Germany to lead the country.

2006: Baghdad was put under an emergency curfew after a 24-hour wave of mortar and bomb attacks killed at least 160 people in a Shiite neighborhood.

2009: A suspected overloaded ferry capsized and sank in rough waters off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, killing at least 26 people but 232 others were rescued by passing boats.

2010: Close to 400 people were killed and hundreds more were injured in a panic-driven stampede on a densely crowded suspension bridge during Cambodia’s Water Festival in Phnom Penh. Survivors said they were wedged into the crowd of living and dead for hours. Reports said the panic was triggered by the normal swaying of the bridge.

2011: U.S. President Barack Obama urged Congress to do what a special committee couldn’t do after 10 weeks of trying – agree on what to cut in drawing up a $1.2 trillion deficit reduction plan. Without such a plan, unaltered automatic defense and domestic cuts would kick in.
The Pro’s nice solid feel cialis tablets abacojet.com would give you results immediately. This jelly must be consumed 15 minutes before copulation & the effect of such treatments lasts for 36 hours after the administration of the medicinal drugs by the patient. levitra professional is loaded with tadalafil that fights against the destructive actions of PDE5 enzymes & therefore helps with the soothing of the penile muscles & tissues & therefore, proper circulation of the blood vessels takes place across this region wherein,. Scheme, myalgia, back grief, nasal mind, in addition to increases defense mechanisms Can assist eradicate muscle tissue muscle spasms Promotes greater intestinal health and aids in pressure managing Herbalife — Can it be Wholesome? As i have said, My Herbalife Malaysia items tend to be perfect for anyone – intended for men, females, youngsters, in addition cheap levitra tablet to expectant mothers. Prescription erectile dysfunction medicines, if taken under supervision of a doctor, are brand cialis 20mg safe and effective.



Quotes

“I kissed my first girl and smoked my first cigarette on the same day. I haven’t had time for tobacco since.” – Arturo Toscanini

“It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others.” – John Andrew Holmes

“If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.” – John Kennedy, U.S. President

“The institution of royalty in any form is an insult to the human race.” – Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910)

“On two occasions I have been asked, “Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?” I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.” – Charles Babbage, mathematician and computer scientist (1791-1871)

“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
– William Shakespeare, poet and dramatist (1564-1616)



Asinine

PRONUNCIATION: (AEH-seh-nIn)

MEANING: (adj), Like or pertaining to an ass (donkey); stupidly stubborn or obstinateor simply stupid.

ETYMOLOGY: Latin asininus “of an ass” from asinus “ass=donkey, burro.” The Latin root may be related to that of equus “horse” but the evidence is tenuous.

USAGE: “Portabella’s donkeys were enjoying an asinine feast of sowthistles when I arrived.”



icarian

PRONUNCIATION: (i-KAR-ee-uhn, eye-)
http://wordsmith.org/words/icarian.mp3

MEANING: adjective: Of or relating to an over-ambitious attempt that ends in ruin.

ETYMOLOGY: After Icarus in Greek mythology who flew so high that the sun melted the wax holding his artificial wings. Icarus plunged to his death into the sea. Earliest documented use: 1595.

USAGE: “But the film is a warning about flying too high. Philippe Petit may have succeeded in the high wire walk, but he suffers an Icarian fall in his personal life.” – Monica Heisey; Masterwork on Wire; The Queen’s Journal (Kingston, Canada); Nov 14, 2008.


noodge or nudzh or nudge

PRONUNCIATION:  (nooj)
http://wordsmith.org/words/noodge.mp3

MEANING:
verb tr.: To pester; to nag.
verb intr.: To whine.
noun: One who pesters and annoys with persistent complaining.

ETYMOLOGY:  From Yiddish nudyen (to pester, bore), from Polish nudzic. The word developed a variant spelling ‘nudge’ under the influence of the English word ‘nudge’. A cousin of this word is nudnik (a boring pest). First recorded use: 1960.

USAGE:

“My younger son wanted a dog as much as I didn’t want one, and has wheedled and noodged me for a dog for about the past year.” – Neil Steinberg; Notice: This is Not a Column About a Dog; Chicago Sun-Times; Sep 5, 2010.

“Rahm Emanuel is willing to be a relentless noodge to keep the herd moving in the right direction.” – David Brooks; The Soft Side; The New York Times; Oct 5, 2010.

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


pharaoh

PRONUNCIATION:  (FAR-o)
http://wordsmith.org/words/pharaoh.mp3

MEANING:  noun:
1. A title of an ancient Egyptian ruler.
2. A tyrant.

ETYMOLOGY:  Via Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, from Egyptian pr-o, from pr (house) +o (great). The designation was for the palace but later used to refer to the king, just as White House can refer to the US President. Earliest documented use: around 1175. Egyptian is an extinct language of ancient Egypt.

USAGE:  “Throughout most of history, governments — usually monarchies headed by kings, emperors, pharaohs and other major or minor tyrants — actually owned everything under their rule, including, believe it or not, the people. In those regimes the population was considered to be subjects, not citizens. That means that the people were treated as the underlings, subjected to the will of the ruler.” – Tibor Machan; The Orange Grove; The Orange County Register (California); Apr 15, 1999.

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


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