Today in History (February 15th):
1564: Birthdays: Italian astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei.
1764: The city of St. Louis was founded along the Mississippi River.
1809: Birthdays: Inventor Cyrus McCormick.
1812: Birthdays: Jeweler Charles Tiffany.
1820: Birthdays: Feminist pioneer Susan B. Anthony.
1845: Birthdays: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elihu Root.
1861: Birthdays: British philosopher and mathematician Alfred North Whitehead.
1874: Birthdays: Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton.
1882: Birthdays: Actor John Barrymore.
1898: The U.S. battleship USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana harbor in Cuba, killing more than 260 crewmen. This event leads to a U.S. declaration of war against Spain and the Spanish-American War.
1905: Birthdays: Songwriter Harold Arlen.
1907: Birthdays: Actor Cesar Romero.
1927: Birthdays: Actor Harvey Korman.
1931: Birthdays: Actor Claire Bloom.
1933: U.S. President-elect Franklin Roosevelt narrowly escaped assassination in Miami when several shots were fired at him, fatally wounding Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak.
1935: Birthdays: Astronaut Roger Chaffee, killed in a fire on the ground during a 1967 Apollo I test.
1940: Birthdays: Football Hall of Fame member John Hadl.
1942: The British bastion of Singapore surrendered to the Japanese army.
1947: Birthdays: Actor Marisa Berenson.
1951: Birthdays: Actor Jane Seymour; Singer Melissa Manchester.
1954: Birthdays: Simpsons cartoonist Matt Groening.
1964: Birthdays: Comedian Chris Farley.
1965: Canada adopted a new national flag featuring a maple leaf emblem.
1971: Birthdays: Actor Renee O’Connor.
1972: Birthdays: Hockey player Jaromir Jagr.
1982: The oil-drilling rig Ocean Ranger capsized and sank in a storm off Newfoundland. All 84 people aboard were lost.
1990: Washington Mayor Marion Barry was indicted on eight counts of perjury and drug possession.
1991: 100 people were killed when a tractor-trailer hauling dynamite overturned and exploded in Thailand.
1997: Tara Lipinski, 14, defeated defending women’s champion Michelle Kwan to become the youngest U.S. figure skating champion.
2002: Discovery of a human skull in a wooded area near a crematory in Georgia led investigators to remains of more than 300 bodies that were to have been cremated but instead were stacked in sheds and in the woods.
2003: Millions of people demonstrated against war in cities around the world, including New York, San Francisco, London, Paris and Berlin.
2005: A U.S. appeals court in Washington ruled that journalists have no First Amendment privilege to protect confidential sources.
2008: Steve Fossett, the 63-year-old millionaire commodities trader turned record-breaking aviator, was declared legally dead, five months after he vanished while flying in Nevada.
2009: Venezuelan voters abolished presidential term limits, which had restricted a president to two six-year terms. The new constitutional provision permitted Hugo Chavez to seek re-election in 2012, which he won.
2010: Two trains collided head-on in snowy weather during rush hour near Brussels, killing at least 18 people and injuring 55 others.
2011: Pro-reform protests broke out in Iran where demonstrators faced stiff resistance from security forces in reported sporadic violence. The Iranian news agency said lawmakers were calling for trial and execution for two protest leaders. Meanwhile, anti-government clashes grew hotter in Bahrain, Yemen, Libya and Algeria. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, 74, was ordered to stand trial on charges of having sex with an underage prostitute and abuse of power.
2012: Fire broke out in an overcrowded Honduras prison killing a reported 359 inmates and a visiting wife, one of the worst prison fire death tolls in history. One of the convicts was suspected of starting the fast-moving conflagration by setting his mattress on fire.
Quotes
“Don’t take life seriously because you can’t come out of it alive.” – Warren Miller
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Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Italian Astronomer:
“The Bible shows the way to go to heaven, not the way the heavens go.”
“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.”
“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”
“I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn’t learn something from him.”
“The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.”
“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him discover it in himself.”
“They know that it is human nature to take up causes whereby a man may oppress his neighbor, no matter how unjustly… Hence they have had no trouble in finding men who would preach the damnability and heresy of the new doctrine from the very pulpit.”
“If I were again beginning my studies, I would follow the advice of Plato and start with mathematics.”
“I think that in the discussion of natural problems we ought to begin not with the Scriptures, but with experiments, and demonstrations.”
“Doubt is the father of invention.”
“It is surely harmful to souls to make it a heresy to believe what is proved.”
“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.”
perpend
PRONUNCIATION: (pur-PEND)
MEANING: (verb tr. and intr.), To reflect upon; to consider; to ponder.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin perpendere (to weigh thoroughly), from per- (thoroughly) + pendere (to weigh), ultimately from Indo-European root (s)pen- (to draw, to spin) that is also the source of pendulum, spider, pound, pansy, pendant, ponder, appendix, penthouse, depend, and spontaneous.
USAGE: “Gentle Reader, perpend; but finish your breakfast first.”
Junoesque
PRONUNCIATION: (joo-noh-ESK)
http://wordsmith.org/words/junoesque.mp3
MEANING: adjective: Having a stately bearing and regal beauty; statuesque.
ETYMOLOGY: After Juno, the principal goddess in Roman mythology. She was the wife and sister of Jupiter. Earliest documented use: 1888.
USAGE: “Claudia and Holli are tall, Junoesque women with powerful voices.” – Paula Citron; Shakespeare Proves Inspiring; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Aug 13, 2008.
Explore “junoesque” in the Visual Thesaurus.
http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=junoesque
When All That’s Said Is ‘Done’
Q: I keep hearing announcers, people in programs, shows, etc., say, “I am done” instead of “I am finished.” I always thought “done” was reserved for something that has just been baked in the oven. Is this a new, accepted use of the word “done”? –Nellie Madison, Echo, Ore.
A: I’m tempted to say, “Wait till the ‘done’ shines, Nellie,” but I’m afraid I’d be a little late. For the use of “done” to mean “finished” is already shining quite brightly in standard English.
Folks have been using “done” to mean “finished” since the 1400s, yet many of us were taught that it was inappropriate to use “done” to refer to finishing a task, especially eating. Why am I thinking (fondly, of course) of a certain fussy great aunt?
The objection to this use of “done” is hard to explain. It may reflect our hoity-toity preference for fancy French words (“finiss”) over the earthier words from Old English (“don”). Or perhaps we avoid “done” because of some of the sexual/murderous meanings of “do” and “done.”
But this Victorian prohibition of the use of “done” for finished may be safely stored in the attic with the high-buttoned shoes.
Q: What is the derivation of the word “pound” when used in “dog pound”? I’ve googled till I’m blue in the fingers and haven’t found anything. –Ed Rutty via email
A: Blue in the fingers, heh? Sounds painful. I hope I can help.
English has a remarkable ability to turn different word roots into the same sound. Just as American teenagers democratically give newcomers named “Johann,” “Giovanni” and “Jehoshaphat” the same nickname — “Joe” — modern English took three different Latin and Old English words — “pondo,” “punian” and “pund” — and spelled them the same way.
The “pound” that refers to a unit of weight, derives from the Latin “pondo” (by weight). “Pound,” meaning “to strike or beat,” derives from the Old English “punian” (to hit).
And the “pound” you’re wondering about originated with the Old English “pund” (enclosure). “Pund” gave us “pound,” which has come to mean, “an enclosure for animals,” as well as “impound” (to place in an enclosure) and “pond” (a small body of water that is enclosed, either by a dam or natural features).
So a dog that weighs 30 pounds can pound the turf in a pound. I hope he gets adopted. Woof!
Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
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