Saturday, March 21, 2009

veracity \vuh-RAS-i-tee\, noun:

1. truthfulness
2. truth

by 1623, from French véracité,from Middle Latin veracitatem/veracitas "truthfulness," from Latin verax/ veracis "truthful," from verus "true"

Urbanword? Not yet available

Trivia

When it comes to alcoholic beverages, you no doubt know what a screwdriver is. But how about a cordless screwdriver?

• It’s chilled vodka in a shot glass that’s served with a sugar-coated orange wedge. The vodka is downed first, and then the orange is eaten. The traditional screwdriver is a mixture of vodka and orange juice.

Today in History:

• Code Napoléon: the first modern legal code of France took effect; it was divided into laws of personal status, laws of property, and laws of acquiring property (1804)
• Henry Stanley: journalist began his trek in Africa to locate missing Scottish missionary/explorer David Livingstone; his quest ended with the famous and possibly fictitious words, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" (1871)
• Rick Hansen: set off on his Man in Motion tour to circumnavigate the world in his wheelchair (1985); he returned to Vancouver 2 years and 2 months later, having raised millions for spinal cord research

Today's Birthdays:

• Saint Nicholas of Flue (1417-1487): Switzerland's patron saint
• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): composer of the Brandenburg Concertos; musicians Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) and Joseph Silverstein (77) were also born on this date
• Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier (1768-1830): mathematician and physicist, Fourier series
• Benito Juárez (1806-1872): 5-term president of Mexico
• Gary Oldman (51): actor, Harry Potter's Sirius Black, The Dark Knight's Jim Gordon; other actors born on this date include Al Freeman, Jr. (75), Marie-Christine Barrault (65), Timothy Dalton (63), and Rosie O'Donnell and Matthew Broderick (both 47), and Laura Allen (35)
• Ronaldinho (29): Brazilian soccer star