Word of the Day for Sunday March 30, 2008

obsequious \ob-SEE-kwee-us\, adjective:

• Servilely attentive; compliant to excess; fawning.

Urban Word of the Day: wikidemia
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wikidemia&defid=2254124

• An academic work passed off as scholarly yet researched entirely on Wikipedia."

An A on my English paper? That's a fine piece of Wikidemia!'
Trivia

What actor recorded an album that included songs entitled "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Earth," "Alien," and "Visit to a Sad Planet"?

• Leonard Nimoy—Mr. Spock of the sci-fi TV series Star Trek, in 1967. The album, entitled Mr. Spock’s Music from Outer Space, reached 83 on the Billboard charts.

Today in History

• Seward's Folly: the US bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2m. — the equivalent of more than $1b. in 2007 dollars (1867)
• 15th amendment: was declared in effect, giving black men the right to vote (1870)
• Jeopardy!: game show debuted on television (1964)
• President Reagan: was shot by John Hinckley, Jr.; Reagan was hit in the chest and seriously wounded, but recovered fully (1981)

Today's Birthdays

• Moses Maimonides (1138?-1204): Medieval Jewish philosopher who wrote Guide for the Perplexed
• Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890): the tormented painter of Starry Night; artist Francisco Goya (1746-1828) was also born on this date
• Warren Beatty (71): actor/ director/ writer/ producer/ possible zombie, Reds; other performers born on this date include Richard Dysart (79), John Astin (78), Robbie Coltrane (58), Paul Reiser (51), Donna D'Errico (40) and Mark Consuelos (37)
• Miko Lee (31), Shirley Sweet (31): t3h pr0n
• Celine Dion (40): singer/songwriter, "My Heart Will Go On"; other Grammy winners born on this date are Eric Clapton (63), Tracy Chapman (44) and Norah Jones (29)