Word of the Day for Tuesday, June 17, 2008

verdure \VUR-jur\, noun:

• Green; greenness; freshness of vegetation; as, the verdure of the meadows in June.

chugger

• Charity Mugger. One of those people who stands in the street with a big brightly-coloured bib and quite possibly a clipboard soliticing donations to the Feline Liberation Army or some other worthy cause.

Bloody hell, I had to pretend to be on my mobile phone for about ten minutes walking down the High Street to avoid all the chuggers!

Trivia

What does the WD stand for in the rust- and corrosion-prevention product WD-40? How about the 40?

• WD stands for water displacement. The 40 was added to the name because its inventors perfected their formula on the 40th try.

Today in History

• California: was claimed by Sir Francis Drake for England; he called it Nova Albion (1579)
• Taj Mahal: Mumtaz Mahal, wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, died, inspiring her husband to build a white domed mausoleum masterpiece (1631)
• Battle of Bunker Hill: first great battle of the Revolutionary War began (1775)
• Statue of Liberty: gift from France arrived in New York (1885)
• Iceland: was proclaimed an independent republic (1944)

Today's Birthdays

• John Robert Gregg (1867-1948): invntr/ shrt-hnd
• Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971): composer of The Rite of Spring
• Charles Eames (1907-1978): designer and architect
• Barry Manilow (65): singer of "Copacabana"
• Bobby Farrelly (50): writer/director, There's Something About Mary
• Greg Kinnear (45): starred in Little Miss Sunshine and Baby Mama; other actors born on this date include Joe Piscopo (57), Mark Linn-Baker (54), Thomas Haden Church (47) and Jason Patric (42)
• Venus Williams (28): Olympic tennis champion; also, speed-skating champ Dan Jansen (43)