Today in History (January 24th):
0076: Birthdays: The Roman Emperor Hadrian.
1670: Birthdays: English dramatist William Congreve.
1712: Birthdays: Frederick the Great of Prussia.
1800: Birthdays: British social reformer Edwin Chadwick.
1848: Gold was discovered at John Sutter’s mill near Sacramento, Calif. The discovery touched off the great gold rush of 1849.
1862: Birthdays: Author Edith Wharton.
1908: The first Boy Scout troop was organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell, a general in the British army.
1915: Birthdays: Abstract painter Robert Motherwell.
1916: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an income tax was unconstitutional. Birthdays: Sportscaster Jack Brickhouse.
1917: Birthdays: Actor Ernest Borgnine.
1918: Birthdays: Evangelist Oral Roberts.
1925: Birthdays: Ballet dancer Maria Tallchief Paschen.
1935: Beer was sold in cans for the first time, in Richmond, Va.
1936: Birthdays: Musician Doug Kershaw.
1939: Birthdays: Musician Ray Stevens.
1941: Birthdays: Singer Neil Diamond; Singer Aaron Neville.
1943: Birthdays: Actor Sharon Tate.
1946: Birthdays: Actor Michael Ontkean.
1947: Birthdays: Singer Warren Zevon.
1949: Birthdays: Comedian John Belushi.
1961: Birthdays: Actor Nastassja Kinski.
1965: Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill died at age 91.
1968: Birthdays: Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Mary Lou Retton.
1984: The Apple Macintosh went on sale for the first time.
1990: Soviet forces shelled merchant ships blockading the harbor in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.
1991: Saudi jet fighters shot down the first enemy planes of the Persian Gulf War, while U.S. forces sank an Iraqi minesweeper and forced Iraqi troops off an island near Kuwait.
1993: Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American to serve on the nation’s highest court, died of cardiac arrest at age 84. Thomas A. Dorsey, known as the father of gospel music for adding rhythm to church hymns, died at 93.
1999: The International Olympic Committee expelled six IOC members amid charges that money and other compensation had been accepted from officials whose cities were bidding to host the Games. Jordan’s King Hussein, who was seriously ill, named his son Abdullah crown prince. Abdullah replaced his father’s younger brother as successor to the throne.
2003: A report said the global economic slowdown that began about two years previously wiped out 20 million jobs, bringing total world unemployment total to 180 million people.
2004: After years of denials, Pakistan admitted scientists may have sold nuclear designs to other nations probably for personal financial gain.
2005: The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an attempt by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to prevent the husband of Terri Schiavo from removing her life support system. Lower court rulings said the severely brain-damaged woman was in a persistent vegetative state.
2007: three precision raids on predominantly Sunni-controlled areas of Baghdad allowed Iraqi and U.S. troops to regain control of the city. European defense officials said North Korea was sharing nuclear data on 2006’s test explosion with Iran.
2008: Societe Generale, one of France’s largest banks, blamed a $7 billion loss on what it called fraudulent stock dealings in European stock futures by an unauthorized employee. Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigned after losing a confidence vote in the Senate.
2009: U.S. President Barack Obama said his proposed $825 billion economic stimulus plan will be a major investment in important U.S. domestic priorities such as energy, education, healthcare and infrastructure.
2010: Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 carrying 90 people crashed into the Mediterranean Sea about half an hour after taking off from Beirut bound for Ethiopia. Officials said 23 people were killed. Sectarian violence in Nigeria left one village of 3,000 residents virtually empty with hundreds of people believed dead and more fleeing in fear.
2011: Two suicide bombings at Moscow Domodedovo International Airport killed 37 people and injured 170 others in an attack at the international arrival gate. Officials raised the death toll from floods and mudslides in Brazil to at least 809 with thousands homeless.
2012: U.S. President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address that his vision for America was a nation built to last. In a wide-ranging talk, he spoke of many goals, including what he wants to do to help jump-start the economy, improve job numbers and create a sense of fairness for all Americans.
Quotes
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“In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: they must be fit for it; they must not do too much of it; and they must have a sense of success in it.” – John Ruskin, author, art critic, and social reformer (1819-1900)
“When I tell the truth, it is not for the sake of convincing those who do not know it, but for the sake of defending those that do.” – William Blake
Edith Wharton (1862-1937) US novelist
“A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never heard). It is classic because of a certain eternal and irrepressible freshness.”
“A New York divorce is in itself a diploma of virtue.”
“After all, one knows one’s weak points so well, that it’s rather bewildering to have the critics overlook them and invent others.”
“Another unsettling element in modern art is that common symptom of immaturity, the dread of doing what has been done before.”
“Art is on the side of the oppressed. Think before you shudder at the simplistic dictum and its heretical definition of the freedom of art. For if art is freedom of the spirit, how can it exist within the oppressors?”
“Habit is necessary; it is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into a rut, that must be incessantly fought against if one is to remain alive.”
“How much longer are we going to think it necessary to be ”American” before (or in contradistinction to) being cultivated, being enlightened, being humane, and having the same intellectual discipline as other civilized countries?”
“I have never known a novel that was good enough to be good in spite of its being adapted to the author’s political views.”
rictus
PRONUNCIATION: (RIK-tuhs)
MEANING: (noun)
1. The gape of the mouth, as of birds.
2. A gaping grin or grimace.
ETYMOLOGY: Rictus is from Latin rictus, “the open mouth,” from ringi, “to show the teeth.”
USAGE: “Nathan’s mouth contorted in a rictus of terror as he watched the thing from the swamp shamble slowly towards him.”
Don Juan
PRONUNCIATION: (don wahn)
http://wordsmith.org/words/don_juan.mp3
MEANING: (noun), An obsessive womanizer.
ETYMOLOGY: After Don Juan, a legendary 14th century Spanish nobleman, who devoted his life to seducing women. The story of Don Juan has been portrayed by many authors, including Moliere, Mozart, Byron, and Shaw. Earliest documented use: 1848.
USAGE: “Oscar had always been a Don Juan … but now that we were nearly 50, there was something desperate about his mania for conquests.” – Leif Davidsen; Lime’s Photograph; Vintage Books; 2002.
Explore “Don Juan” in the Visual Thesaurus.
http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=Don+Juan
damascene
PRONUNCIATION: (DAM-uh-seen, dam-uh-SEEN)
http://wordsmith.org/words/damascene.mp3
MEANING:
verb tr.: To inlay a metal object with gold or silver patterns; to gild.
noun: A native or inhabitant of Damascus.
adjective:
1. Relating to Damascus or the Damascenes.
2. Having a wavy pattern as on Damascus steel.
3. Sudden and significant.
ETYMOLOGY: After Damascus, the capital of Syria. Earliest documented use: around 1386. For adjective 3: From St. Paul’s conversion from an anti-Christian to a Christian while he was on the road to Damascus, as described in the New Testament.
USAGE:
“John Cheever once declared, ‘All literary men are Red Sox fans.’ Ever since, the team has been the subject of more damascened prose, more classical analogies, than any franchise in American sports.” – Charles McGrath; The Way We Live Now; The New York Times; Aug 22, 2004.
“Support for Assad is especially strong in Syria’s two largest cities, Damascus and Aleppo, where residents are wealthier. Some Damascenes proudly wear baseball caps with Assad’s face on it.” – Why Many Syrians Still Support Assad; The Christian Science Monitor (Boston, Massachusetts); Sep 14, 2011.
“The Labour Court backed the employer’s volte face act of Damascene proportions.” – Retrenchment Board; Zimbabwe Independent (Harare); Oct 28, 2010.
Explore “damascene” in the Visual Thesaurus.
http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=damascene