Thursday, February 26, 2009

declaim \di-KLEYM\, verb:

• to orate; to speak in a loud and emotional manner

c 1385, from Latin declamare, from de- intensifying prefix + clamare "to cry, shout". At first in England, spelled declame, but altered under influence of claim.

Crash Wednesday

• The day after Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras is celebrated as the last day before Ash Wednesday, or the start of Lent for the Christian religion. For people between the ages of 16 and 25, its where you get shithoused in the middle of the week. Crash wednesday is the day dedicated to your hangover.

Christians celebrate Ash Wednesday. The rest celebrate Crash Wednesday.

Trivia

How many matches in a row does a player have to win at a Grand Slam tennis event to take home the top trophy?

• Seven. The Grand Slam events in tennis are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open.

Today in History:

• Bank of England: issued the first one-pound note after the government forbade paying out from the diminished gold reserves (1797)
• Grand Canyon: the enormous gorge was established as a national park; it now gets 5 million visitors a year (1919)
• World Trade Center: bomb in basement killed 6, injured more than 1,000 and caused serious structural damage (1993) [aka the FIRST Terrorist Attack on the WTC]

Today's Birthdays:

• Wenceslas (1361-1419): German King
• Victor Hugo (1802-1885): author of Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame
• John Harvey Kellogg (1852-1943): holistic physician who invented corn flakes
• Michael Bolton (56): singer/songwriter; singers Fats Domino (81) and Johnny Cash (1932-2003) were also born on this date
• Greg Germann (51): actor, Richard Fish in Ally McBeal; other actors born today include Jackie Gleason (1916-1987), Betty Hutton (1921-2007) and Margaret Leighton (1922-1976)