December 1, 2008

abstemiously (adv)

• Marked by abstinence or restraint, especially in relation to food or drink.

(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abstemiously)

homobrophobia

• The fear that your brother will be or is gay.

Roger suffers from homobrophobia because his brother Brian is very effeminate.
Trivia

What unique imprint did Whoopi Goldberg make in cement, along with her footprints, at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood?

• Her dreadlocks, in 1995.

Today's selected anniversaries:

• 1640: John IV was declared King of Portugal, resulting in the Portuguese Restoration War with Spain. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_IV_of_Portugal)
• 1824: The House of Representatives selected John Quincy Adams as the winner of the U.S. presidential election, after none of the candidates received a majority of the total electoral college votes, as dictated by the Twelfth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1824)
• 1955: African-American Civil Rights Movement: Seamstress Rosa Parks was arrested for violating the racial segregation laws of Montgomery, Alabama, after refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man, precipitating the Montgomery Bus Boycott.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks)
• 1959: Twelve countries signed the Antarctic Treaty, the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War, banning military activity in Antarctica and setting the continent aside as a scientific preserve. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Treaty_System)
• 1990: Channel Tunnel workers from the United Kingdom and France met 40 metres (131 ft) beneath the English Channel seabed. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Tunnel)

Birthdays

• Martin Klaproth chemist (1743)
• Marie Tussaud modeler in wax (1761)
• Walter Alston baseball manager (1911)
• Minoru Yamasaki architect (1912)
• Mary Martin singer, actress (1913)
• Woody Allen actor, writer, and director (1935)
• Lee Trevino golfer (1939)
• Richard Pryor comedian, actor (1940)
• Bette Midlersinger, actress (1945)