Word of the Day for Saturday, June 7, 2008

potentate \POH-tuhn-tayt\, noun:

• One who possesses great power or sway; a ruler, sovereign, or monarch.

Yay n;

• Slang for Cocaine, popular in California's Bay Area. Syn; blow,coke,snow.

I'm so strung out from all the yay last night.

Trivia

What team racked up the worst regular season win-loss record in National Basketball Association history?

• The Philadelphia 76ers, whose win-loss record for the 1972–73 season was 9–73.

Today in History

• Treaty of Tordesillas: divided the New World between Spain and Portugal (1494)
• Continental Congress: body of delegates heard a motion to declare the United Colonies free and independent from England (1776)
• Vatican City: became an independent, sovereign state as the Lateran Treaty was signed in Rome (1929)
• The $64,000 Question: gameshow premiered on CBS (1955)

Today's Birthdays

• Paul Gauguin (1848-1903): Post-Impressionist painter
• Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000): Illinois' Pulitzer Prize-winning poet laureate; other writers born on this date include Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973), Nikki Giovanni (65) and Louise Erdrich (54)
• Liam Neeson (56): actor, Schindler's List; also, actors Jessica Tandy (1909-1994), Colleen Camp (55) and Michael Cera (20)
• Prince (50): musician, Purple Rain; singers Dean Martin (1917-1995) and Tom Jones (68) share this birthday
• Allen Iverson (33): basketball's shortest MVP and one of its fastest
• Anna Kournikova (27): tennis player and model