Word of the Day for Friday, November 7, 2008

olfactory \ol-FAK-tuh-ree; -tree; ohl-\, adjective:

• of smell; having to do with smelling

by 1658, from Latin olfactorius, from olfactus, pp. of olfacere "to get the smell of, sniff," from olere "give off a smell of" + Latin facere "make"

PEWS

• Post-Election-Withdrawl-Syndrome: The feeling of general depletion and emptiness in the few days after a presidential election. Caused by the sudden withdrawal of any campaign coverage, sound bites, or pictures of babies being kissed. May be accompanied by aimless clicking on news websites looking for something to read. *NOTE: This condition has been observed in people whether their chosen candidate won or not.

Wife, to her Doctor: "I'm worried about my husband. Ever since the 4th, he's just been sitting at home wandering the New York Times and CNN for hours on end."

Doctor: "I wouldn't worry about it. He probably just has an acute case of PEWS. He should be back on his feet by the end of the week."

Trivia

What famous man of music wrote the song "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You"?

• Broadway’s “Music Man” Meredith Willson. He wrote it when he was musical director of radio’s The Big Show (1950–53). The song became the signature song of the show’s host, Tallulah Bankhead.

Today in History

• Canadian Pacific Railway: transcontinental system was completed, linking Montreal with Port Moody, British Columbia (1885)
• Galloping Gertie: suspension bridge over the Tacoma Narrows collapsed, killing a cocker spaniel and becoming a textbook engineering disaster case (1940)
• African-American civil rights movement: Carl B. Stokes became the first black mayor of a major US city, Cleveland (1967); Douglas Wilder became the first elected black governor of a US state, Virginia (1989)
• Magic Johnson: LA Lakers basketball star announced he had AIDS and was retiring (1991)

Today's Birthdays

• Marie Curie: Nobelist in Physics and Chemistry (1867-1934); physicists who share this birth date include Lise Meitner (1878-1968) and Chandrasekhara Raman (1888-1970)
• Leon Trotsky (1879-1940): Communist revolutionary
• Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989): zoologist, ornithologist and ethologist
• Albert Camus (1913-1960): author of The Stranger
• Billy Graham (90): evangelist who has received both the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom
• Joni Mitchell (65): folk singer, "Both Sides Now"; soprano Joan Sutherland (82) also celebrates her birthday today
• Yunjin Kim (35): Actress, Lost