December 27, 2008

qualify \KWOL-uh-fahy\, verb:

1. to make or become fit or competent
2. to give legal power; to make or become legally capable
3. to make less strong; to modify or limit the strength or meaning of
4. to characterize by attributing some quality to

by 1465, from Middle French qualifier "to characterize by attributing a quality," from Latin qualis "of what sort" + facere "to make."

bake off

• A competition to determine who can bake the best air biscuit.

This bake off title is mine! I'm about to bust ass!

Trivia

What position did baseball great Jackie Robinson play in his major league rookie year with the Brooklyn Dodgers?

• First base. Robinson won the Rookie of the Year Award that year, 1947. The following year he moved to second base, where he had played in the minor leagues and where he remained for most of his Hall of Fame career.

Today in History:

• Carry Nation: hatchet-wielding temperance activist smashed her first saloon (1900)
• Peter Pan: fantasy adventure play by J.M. Barrie debuted in London at the Duke of York's Theatre (1904)
• Radio City Music Hall: world's largest indoor theater staged its first show (1932)

Today's Birthdays:

• Louis Pasteur (1822-1895): microbiologist who developed pasteurization; scientists Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) and George Cayley (1773-1857) shared this birth date
• Cokie Roberts (65): political journalist, author
• T.S. Monk (59): jazz drummer and vocalist; other musicians born on this date include David Knopfler (56) and Matt Slocum (36)
• Masi Oka (34): actor and digital effects expert who plays Hiro Nakamura in Heroes; also, actors Sydney Greenstreet (1879-1954), Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992), John Amos (69), Tovah Feldshuh (56), Maryam D'Abo (48), Eva La Rue (42) and Emilie de Ravin (27)