Word of the Day for Monday, September 8, 2008

cosmopolite \koz-MOP-uh-lyt\, noun:

1. One who is at home in every place; a citizen of the world; a cosmopolitan person.
2. (Ecology) An organism found in most parts of the world.

Cosmopolite comes from Greek kosmopolites, from kosmos, "world" + polites, "citizen," from polis, "city."

grown man

• verb: to dress formally. Originating from the Bay Area.

"You ain't gettin' into the club with a white tee or a jersey, you got to get yer grown man on. Kangols, button ups, a cuff and a crease an' that shit."
Trivia
Which North American mammal has the shortest gestation period

• The American (or Virginia) opossum, which is born 12 to 13 days after conception. Worldwide, only two other mammals have equally short gestation periods—the rare water opossum (or yapok) of South America, and the eastern native cat of Australia. All are marsupials that are born prematurely and complete their development in the mother’s pouch.

Today in History

• Galveston Hurricane: made landfall; it was the deadliest natural disaster to strike the US to date (1900)
• Star Trek : TV series recounting the travels of the starship Enterprise premiered (1966)
• Watergate: US president Gerald Ford pardoned his predecessor, Richard Nixon, for "crimes he committed or may have committed" (1974)

Today's Birthdays

• Richard I (1157-1199): aka Richard the Lionhearted
• Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904): Czech composer
• Sid Caesar (86): comedian and actor, Your Show of Shows; other comic actors born on this date include Peter Sellers (1925-1980), David Arquette and Martin Freeman (both 37) and Jonathan Taylor Thomas (27)
• Pink (29): singer, "Get The Party Started"; Patsy Cline (1932-1963) is another singer born on this date