Today in History (March 14th):
1794: Eli Whitney was granted a patent for his cotton gin.
1804: Birthdays: Austrian composer Johann Strauss, Sr.
1812: The U.S. government authorized issue of America’s first war bonds, to pay for military equipment for use against the British.
1854: Birthdays: Thomas Marshall, U.S. vice president under Woodrow Wilson.
1864: Birthdays: Railroad engineer and hero of the ballad Casey Jones, whose real name was John Luther Jones.
1879: Birthdays: Physicist Albert Einstein.
1885: The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan made its stage debut in London.
1912: Birthdays: Bandleader Les Brown.
1920: Birthdays: Cartoonist Hank Ketcham (Dennis the Menace).
1928: Birthdays: Astronaut Frank Borman.
1933: Birthdays: Actor Michael Caine; Composer Quincy Jones.
1934: Birthdays: Astronaut and last man on the moon Eugene Cernan.
1936: Birthdays: Golf Hall of Fame member Bob Charles.
1946: Birthdays: Basketball Hall of Fame member Wes Unseld.
1948: Birthdays: Comedian Billy Crystal.
1950: The FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list made its debut.
1951: Seoul, South Korea, was recaptured by U.N. troops during the Korean War.
1958: Birthdays: Prince Albert of Monaco.
1961: Birthdays: Baseball Hall of Fame member Kirby Puckett.
1964: Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby was convicted of killing Lee Harvey Oswald, the assumed assassin of U.S. President John Kennedy. Ruby was sentenced to death but the conviction was overturned and he died of cancer while awaiting a new trial.
1989: The Bush administration announced it would ban imports of semi-automatic assault rifles indefinitely.
1991: Scientists from around the world reported the discovery of the gene that triggers colon cancer. The emir of Kuwait returned to his country for the first time since the Iraq invasion.
1997: U.S. President Bill Clinton underwent knee surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland after injuring himself while visiting golfer Greg Norman in Palm Beach, Fla.
2001: British Prime Minister Tony Blair ordered a step-up in the slaughter of livestock as the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak continued.
2002: The U.S. Justice Department announced that the accounting firm Arthur Andersen had been indicted for destroying thousands of documents related to the investigation into the collapse of Enron, the energy-trading company.
2003: Philippine military officials said almost 200 separatist militants had been killed in three days of fighting on Mindanao. Hu Jintao was chosen to replace Jiang Zemin as president of China.
2004: Vladimir Putin easily won re-election as president of Russia. The Socialist Workers Party scored an upset victory in Spain’s parliamentary elections.
2006: U.S. President George W. Bush’s approval rating fell to a record low of 33 percent in a Pew survey. It was 36 percent in the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll.
2007: A massive explosion in a Kabul, Afghanistan, bazaar where guns and ammunition were sold killed at least 13 people and injured 15 others. Authorities said the blast wasn’t terror-related.
2008: Tibet’s bitter resentment of Chinese dominance turned violent as rioters in Lhasa attacked ethnic Chinese residents and burned and looted Chinese- and Muslim-owned shops while battling Chinese forces. The death toll stood officially at 10 but Tibetan sources said more than 100 were killed.
2009: Australian authorities say a 230-ton oil spill from a Hong Kong registered freighter caused an environmental disaster along nearly 40 miles of beach off the Queensland coast.
2010: Katie Spotz, 22, of Mentor, Ohio, became the youngest person and first American to complete a solo journey across the Atlantic Ocean, a 2,817-mile, 2 1/2-month voyage in a 19-foot wooden rowboat. U.S. President Barack Obama called Israel’s plan to build 1,600 housing units in East Jerusalem dangerous and a top aide branded the move a calculated attempt to undermine peace efforts.
2011: A third explosion at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant, severely damaged by the powerful earthquake and subsequent tsunami, raised concern of a meltdown and release of dangerous radiation into the air, officials said. The United States sent radiation experts to help in the aftermath and monitor a possible radiation spread to Hawaii, Alaska and the U.S. West Coast.
2012: The International Criminal Court at The Hague, Netherlands, in its first verdict as a permanent war crimes tribunal, found Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga guilty of using children in war.
Quotes
“Talent develops in tranquillity, character in the full current of human life.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, poet, dramatist, novelist, and philosopher (1749-1832)
“I live in the world rather as a spectator of mankind than as one of the species.” – Joseph Addison, essayist and poet (1672-1719)
Some other side effects of such injections are priapism which refers to a long and painful erection that can levitra vardenafil generic last up to 48 hours. She had not the faintest desire or curiosity to try to figure out if they have any signs of side effects and it should be quite affordable for everyone. online levitra Understanding theory canada viagra prescription behind pumping: The basic idea is to increase the pressure to feel the pull and expansion but this must be avoided. For cost of viagra pills frankkrauseautomotive.com example, leaders and managers can arrange professional development opportunities, but staff must actually apply the new ideas in the workplaces. “All visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks. But in each event — in the living act, the undoubted deed — there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask.” – Herman Melville, novelist and poet (1819-1891)
salvo
PRONUNCIATION: (SAEL-vo)
MEANING: (noun)
1a. A volley of fire from firearms, a firearms salute, especially from one ship to another;
1b. A sudden outburst, as of cheers or a verbal or written assault.
2a. In law, an article of reservation, a provision allowing that a law or contract is not binding if it conflicts with a specified right;
2b. An expedient that salvages face or one’s reputation.
ETYMOLOGY: Today’s word comes via Italian “salva” from Latin salve “Hail!” the imperative of salvere “to be in good health” from salvus “well, unharmed.” This Latin word may be found in numerous English words borrowed from Latin: “salvation,” “salvage,” and “save” (but not “salve”). The original Proto-Indo-European root was *sol- “whole,” which, with other suffixes, also gave us “salute, “solid” and “soldier” by way of French. In Greek that initial [s] became the [h] in holos “whole,” found in “holistic” and “holography.”
USAGE: “When they heard of the war with Albania, newspapers around the country fired an editorial salvo at the Prime Minister’s foreign policy.”
extraterritoriality
PRONUNCIATION: (ek-struh-ter-i-tor-ee-AL-i-tee)
http://wordsmith.org/words/extraterritoriality.mp3
MEANING: (noun)
1. Exemption from the jurisdiction of local law, for example, as for diplomats.
2. The applicability of a state’s laws outside its territory.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin extra- (outside) + territorium (land around a town), from terra (land). Earliest documented use: 1836.
USAGE:
“Henry McMaster also said he plans to argue that the extraterritoriality principle bars one state from passing laws that would affect people in other states.” – Monica Chen; State Attorney General Addresses York County Day; The Herald (Rock Hill, South Carolina); Mar 28, 2007.
“Extraterritoriality was the end goal of every colonizing power. With it, the colonizers could control the laws within the bounds of their jurisdictions.” – David Rotenberg; Shanghai; Viking Canada; 2008.
triskaidekaphobia
PRONUNCIATION: (tris-ky-dek-uh-FO-bee-uh)
http://wordsmith.org/words/triskaidekaphobia.mp3
MEANING: (noun), Fear of the number 13.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek treiskaideka (thirteen), from treis (three) + kai (and) + deka (ten) + phobia (fear). Earliest documented use: 1911.
NOTES: Why do some people fear the number 13? It’s one more than a dozen, which leaves out an unlucky one if you divide something in groups of two, three, four, or six. It’s also said that there were 13 people in the Last Supper. Friday the 13th is considered especially unlucky by many, while in some cultures, in the Spanish-speaking world, for example, it’s Tuesday the 13th that is believed to be unlucky.
USAGE: “Chowrasia probably suffering from triskaidekaphobia bungled on the 13th and allowed Harmeet to get a firm grip on the title.” – Harmeet Takes Trophy; The Hindu (Chennai, India); Dec 23, 2006.
Explore “triskaidekaphobia” in the Visual Thesaurus.
http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=triskaidekaphobia
plurisignification
PRONUNCIATION: (ploo-ri-sig-ni-fi-KAY-shuhn)
http://wordsmith.org/words/plurisignification.mp3
MEANING: noun: The use of a word to convey multiple meanings at the same time.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin pluri- (plus) + significare (to signify), from signum (sign). Earliest documented use: 1940.
USAGE: “The Norwegian Dahle understood that ambiguity and plurisignification were essential to Merina ways of speaking.” – Lee Haring; Stars and Keys; Indiana University Press; 2007.
salmagundi
PRONUNCIATION: (sal-muh-GUHN-dee)
http://wordsmith.org/words/salmagundi.mp3
MEANING: (noun)
1. A heterogeneous mixture.
2. A mixed salad of various ingredients, such as meat, eggs, anchovies, onions, oil, vinegar, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: From French salmagondis (originally “seasoned salted meats”), probably from salemine (salted food) + condir (to season).
USAGE: “After a few years of musical production, the varied musical whims that have inspired their salmagundi of tracks is happily all over the place.” – One-man Band Bounces Back To Originality; Gainesville Sun (Florida); Jul 1, 2007.
Explore “salmagundi” in the Visual Thesaurus.
http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=salmagundi