Wednesday, May 6, 2009

lugubrious \lu-GOO-bree-us; -GYOO-\, adjective:

• Mournful, dismal, or gloomy, esp. in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner.

Lugubrious comes from Latin lugubris, from lugere, to mourn.
swine flucation

• The time spent not at school or work due to the closures caused by the Swine Flu scare.Can be used with any virus, e.g., Bird flucation, regular Flucation, etc.

We have nothing planned for the kids during their Swine Flucation, since the schools closed.
Trivia

What name was commonly used to refer to female Marine Corps enlistees during World War I?

• Marinettes. Women enlisted in the Navy were known as Yeomanettes.

Today in History:

• Chinese Exclusion Act: barred Chinese laborers from the US for 10 years, despite President Chester Arthur's veto (1882)
• Hindenburg: German dirigible caught fire as it landed in Lakehurst, New Jersey; 36 were killed (1937)
• Works Progress Administration: set out to employ scores of Americans in the post-Depression era (1935)
• Roger Bannister: Oxford medical student broke the four-minute mile, which was widely considered medically impossible (1954); in 1975, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II

Today's Birthdays:

• Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794): Jacobin leader of the French Revolution
• Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): founder of psychoanalysis
• Willie Mays (78): hard-hitting baseball hall-of-famer
• Bob Seger (64): rock 'n roll singer/songwriter
• Tony Blair (56): former British PM
• George Clooney (48): award-winning actor/director and social activist, Good Night, and Good Luck., Burn After Reading; also, entertainers Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926), Orson Welles (1915-1985), Ben Masters (62), Gregg Henry (57), Tom Bergeron (54), Roma Downey (49) and Adrianne Palicki (26)