Word of the Day for Wednesday, November 19, 2008

eminence grise \ay-mee-nahn(t)s-GREEZ\, noun:

• a person who wields power or exerts influence behind the scenes

by 1838, French for "gray eminence"; originally used in French for Pere Joseph, a monk who was Cardinal Richelieu's confidential agent, for the gray habit he wore, in contrast to the Cardinal's red habit

sargasm

• Deriving far too much satisfaction from glibly berating another with sarcasm.

"Oh, thanks a lot for drinking my last beer! No, it's my fault... if I wanted it for myself, I shouldn't have put it in the fridge!"

"Dude, don't have a sargasm."

Trivia

In Secret Service code, what is the Cement Mixer? How about the Punchbowl?

• The White House Situation Room is the Cement Mixer; the Capitol Building is the Punchbowl.

History

• 1493: Christopher Columbus became the first European to land on Puerto Rico, an island he named San Juan Bautista after John the Baptist. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico)
• 1816: The University of Warsaw, currently the largest university in Poland, was established as The Royal University of Warsaw after Warsaw was separated from Kraków, the oldest and most influential Polish academic centre. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Warsaw)
• 1941: World War II: The Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney and the German auxiliary cruiser HSK Kormoran destroyed each other off the coast of Western Australia in the Indian Ocean.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_between_HMAS_Sydney_and_HSK_Kormoran)
• 1969: Playing for Santos against Vasco da Gama at Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian football player Pelé scored his 1000th goal on a penalty kick. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pel%C3%A9)
• 1999: Shenzhou 1, China's first unmanned test flight of the Shenzhou spacecraft, was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Alxa League, Inner Mongolia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_1)

Birthdays

• James A. Garfield 20th American President (1831)
• Billy Sunday evangelist (1862)
• Indira Gandhi political leader (1917)
• Larry King TV personality (1933)
• Yuan T. Lee chemist (1936)
• Ted Turner business executive (1938)
• Calvin Klein fashion designer (1942)
• Eileen Collins astronaut (1956)
• Allison Janney actor (1960)
• Meg Ryan actress (1961)
• Jodie Foster actor (1962)