Word of the Day for Friday, May 16, 2008

subfusc \sub-FUHSK\, adjective:

• Dark or dull in color; drab, dusky.

bad fuel day

• The mood or feeling one experiences after having just filled his or her vehicle with $4.00+ per gallon gasoline. (Usually consists of a sense of great economic despair, impending doom, anger, frustration, depression and/or a combination of all the above)

"Leave me alone. I'm having a bad fuel day!"

Trivia

Who was the first African American to appear in a film in the title role of Othello?

• Laurence Fishburne, in 1995. In all previous film versions, white actors in black makeup portrayed the Moor of Venice.

Today in History

• Edgar Allan Poe: wed his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia (1836)
• shield nickel: US Congress voted to replace the half dime with a new nickel (1866)
• Annie Get Your Gun: opened on Broadway, starring Ethel Merman (1946)
• Junko Tabei: ascended Mt. Everest, becoming the first woman to summit the world's highest mountain (1975)

Today's Birthdays

• Studs Terkel (96): historian, radio personality, author of The Good War
• George Gaynes (91): actor, Police Academy, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid; also, actors Henry Fonda (1905-1982), Harry Carey, Jr. (87), Debra Winger (53), Mare Winningham (49), David Boreanaz and Tracey Gold (both 39), Tori Spelling (35) and Stanislav Ianevski (23)
• Liberace (1919-1987): flamboyant pianist; musicians Betty Carter (1930-1998) and Janet Jackson (42) share this birth date
• Olga Korbut (53): Olympic gold-medal winner in gymnastics; other athletes born on this date include Billy Martin (1928-1989) and Gabriela Sabatini (38)