Friday, May 15, 2009

querulous \KWER-uh-luhs; -yuh\, adjective:

1. Apt to find fault; habitually complaining.
2. Expressing complaint; fretful; whining.

Querulous comes from Latin querulus, from queri, "to complain."
text-end

• When a text-messaging distracted driver rear-ends the vehicle in front of them. Recently demonstrated by public transit drivers in San Francisco, Texas and Boston.

Did you hear about that San Francisco MUNI train driver who text-ended another train?
Trivia
What fruit is used for washing rather than eating?

• The loofah, which is a tropical gourd valued for its fibrous, spongelike interior.

Today in History:

• Las Vegas: the glitzy "entertainment capital of the world" was founded (1905)
• Standard Oil Company: in a historic ruling, the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Rockefeller's mega-monopoly; several of the pieces would later be known as Exxon, Mobil, Amoco and Chevron (1911)
• nylon stockings: first went on sale in the US (1940)
• Portrait of Dr. Gachet: Van Gogh painting fetched a record high price of $82.5 million; the record stood till 2006, and Dr. Gachet is now No. 4 (1990)

Today's Birthdays:

• L. Frank Baum (1856-1919): author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; also, writers Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931), Edwin Muir (1887-1959), Katherine Anne Porter (1890-1980) and twins Peter (83) and Anthony Shaffer (1926-2001)
• Pierre Curie (1859-1906): noted physicist and chemist
• Tenzing Norgay (1914-1986): Sherpa mountaineer who, along with Sir Edmund Hillary, was first to scale Mt. Everest
• Jasper Johns (79): contemporary artist, Flag
• Brian Eno (61): electronic musician/producer; musicians Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), Trini Lopez (72) and Ahmet Zappa (35) were also born today
• Giselle Fernandez (48): hottie broadcast journalist who danced with the stars
• Jamie-Lynn Sigler (28): Meadow Soprano on The Sopranos; also, actors Joseph Wiseman (91), Anna Maria Alberghetti (73), Lainie Kazan (69), Chazz Palminteri (57) and David Krumholtz (31)