Today in History (May 13th):
1607: Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America, was founded near the James River in Virginia.
1842: Birthdays: Composer Arthur Sullivan, of Gilbert and Sullivan.
1846: The United States declared war on Mexico.
1882: Birthdays: French cubist painter Georges Braque.
1907: Birthdays: English novelist Daphne du Maurier.
1912: Britain established its air force — the Royal Flying Corps.
1914: Birthdays: Former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis.
1922: Birthdays: Actor/singer Bea Arthur.
1931: Birthdays: Cult leader Jim Jones.
1939: Birthdays: Actor Harvey Keitel.
1941: Birthdays: Actor Senta Berger; Rock ‘n’ roll singer Ritchie Valens.
1943: Birthdays: Singer Mary Wells.
1950: The first all-time Formula One Grand Prix took place. Birthdays: Singer Stevie Wonder, born Stevland Hardaway Judkins.
1961: Birthdays: Basketball Hall of Fame member Dennis Rodman.
1964: Birthdays: Comedian Stephen Colbert.
1966: Birthdays: Singer Darius Rucker.
1981: Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca wounded Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square. The pope later, from his hospital bed, forgave his assailant.
1985: 11 people died when a Philadelphia police helicopter bombed the fortified house of a radical organization, MOVE, to end a 24-hour siege. The ensuing fire destroyed 53 homes.
1986: Birthdays: Actor Robert Pattinson.
1989: U.S. President George H.W. Bush called for the overthrow of Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega.
1994: U.S. President Bill Clinton nominated Judge Stephen Breyer to succeed Justice Harry A. Blackmun on the U.S. Supreme Court.
1998: As India conducted nuclear tests, U.S. President Bill Clinton announced economic sanctions against New Delhi as required by the 1994 Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act.
2002: The sex-abuse scandal involving Roman Catholic clergy grew violent when a Baltimore priest accused of molesting a youth years earlier was shot by the alleged victim. The following day, a Connecticut priest hanged himself at a Maryland treatment center for priests accused of molestation. U.S. President George W. Bush announced that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin would sign a treaty committing the United States and Russia to a two-thirds reduction in their nuclear arsenal over 10 years.
2003: Suicide bombers, in four coordinated attacks, killed 34 people in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
2005: Colombian authorities said they made the biggest drug bust in the nation’s history when they grabbed 12 tons of cocaine valued at $300 million.
2009: Astronauts on a 14-day servicing mission embarked on the first of five planned spacewalks to repair and update the 19-year-old Hubble Space Telescope, including installation of a new wide-field camera and a Cosmic Origins Spectograph. Connecticut lawmakers voted to abolish the death penalty.
2010: A dispute over new elections in Thailand grew violent when the Thai military fired on protesters who retaliated with grenade attacks. The fatal shooting of a prominent general who sided with the protesters prompted the government to declare a state of emergency.
2011: The Libyan government denied reports that Moammar Gadhafi had been wounded during an extensive NATO attack in Tripoli, but a spokesman said Gadhafi’s whereabouts at that time were unknown. In a reported retaliation to the slaying of terrorist chief Osama bin Laden, two suicide bombers killed 80 Pakistani recruits at a training center.
2012: The mutilated bodies of 49 people, apparently victims of an escalating war between the Zetas gang and Sinaloa drug cartel, were found along a highway between Monterrey, Mexico, and McAllen, Texas.
Quotes
“You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by. Yes, but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by.” – James M. Barrie, novelist and playwright (1860-1937)
“The trouble with the profit system has always been that it was highly unprofitable to most people.” – E.B. White
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“Writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard.”
“Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind.”
“All autobiography is self-indulgent.”
“September 1653. The last of summer. The first chill winds of autumn. The sun no longer strikes my eastern window as I wake, but, turning laggard, does not top the till before eight o’clock.” – The King’s General
“They used to hang men at Four Turnings in the old days.” – My Cousin Rachel
“Years later, when she had gone and was no longer part of their lives, the thing they remembered about her was her smile.” – Mary Anne
“On the third of March 1820, John Brodrick set out from Andriff to Doonhaven, intending to cover the fifteen miles of his journey before nightfall.” – Hungry Hill
omphalos
PRONUNCIATION: (AHM-feh-lehs)
MEANING: (noun), The navel (scar where the umbilical cord was attached); a central or focal point.
ETYMOLOGY: From the Greek omphalos “navel.” The Greeks believed that the Omphalos in the temple of Apollo at Delphi marked the exact centerpoint of the earth: its navel. The original root was probably *nobh- for, since [bh] became [v] in Germanic languages, that would explain English “navel.” However, with metathesis ([n] and [o] switching places), the effect for Latin would be the umb- of “umbilicus,” since before [bh] the [n] would become [m] (as in “ensure” but “embitter,” “include” but “imbed”). “Oomph?” The sound emitted when someone hits you in the omphalos but etymologically no more related here than “naval jelly,” the shipyard rust remover.
USAGE: “The omphalos of the meeting was Peter’s announcement that the accounting firm was fired and the company’s finances were in the hands of his brother-in-law, the used car salesman from Podunk, Iowa.”
equivocate
PRONUNCIATION: (i-KWIV-uh-kayt)
http://wordsmith.org/words/equivocate.mp3
MEANING: (verb intr.),To be vague or ambiguous, especially in order to mislead.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin aequi-/equi- (equal) + vocare (to call), from vox (voice). Earliest documented use: 1590.
USAGE: “The bishop equivocates and wrings his fat hands and procrastinates.” – Susan Wiggs; At the Queen’s Summons; Harlequin; 2012.
Explore “equivocate” in the Visual Thesaurus.
http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=equivocate
triangulate
PRONUNCIATION: (try-ANG-gyuh-layt)
http://wordsmith.org/words/triangulate.mp3
MEANING:
(verb tr.)
1. To position between two extremes, for example, in politics to appeal to both left and right wings.
2. a. To make triangular.
b. To divide an area into triangles.
c. To determine a location by measuring angles to it from known points.
(adjective), Composed of or marked with triangles.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin triangulare (to make a triangle), from triangulus (three-cornered). Earliest documented use: 1833.
USAGE:
“The only safe path was to triangulate, to split the difference between traditional liberal stances and those of free market economists.” – Robin Sears; Progressive Leaders Need to Win Back the Middle Class; The Toronto Star (Canada); Mar 23, 2012.
“Nicholas Krushenick triangulated an eccentric sweet spot of his own in the field of painting.” – Ken Johnson; Nicholas Krushenick; The New York Times; Oct 13, 2011.
Explore “triangulate” in the Visual Thesaurus.
http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=triangulate