Tuesday, October 13, 2009

triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\, noun:

• Fear or a phobia concerning the number 13.

Triskaidekaphobia is from Greek treiskaideka, triskaideka, thirteen (treis, three + kai, and + deka, ten) + phobos, fear. Some famous triskaidekaphobes:

• Napoleon
• Herbert Hoover
• Mark Twain
• Richard Wagner
• Franklin Roosevelt

Facebook crush

• A crush on a FB friend is characterized by the unexplainable urge to revisit the friend's Photos tab repeatedly and checking to see if other friends have written new messages on their Wall. Usually afflicts users who are only somewhat acquainted.

"I've got a Facebook crush on a guy I was going to rent a room from, but in the end we just friended each other."

Trivia

What is the only sport used as a code word in the NATO phonetic alphabet that begins with “Alpha, Bravo, Charlie”?

• Golf—for the letter G.

Today in History

• the White House: the cornerstone was laid for the building then known as the Executive Mansion (1792)
• universal time: the meridian of longitude of Greenwich, England, was established as the basis of calculating the world's time (1884)
• the miracle of the sun: according to reports, tens of thousands of people saw the sun cast colored lights and spin toward the earth near Fátima, Portugal (1917)
• Italy: switched sides in WWII and declared war on Nazi Germany (1943)

Today's Birthdays

• Lenny Bruce (1925-1966): dark, edgy comedian
• Margaret Thatcher (84): former UK PM
• Marie Osmond (50): singer, TV personality; other musicians born on this date include Art Tatum(1909-1956), Paul Simon (68) and Ashanti (29)
• Jerry Rice (47): SF 49ers wide receiver, 1985-2000; athletes Nancy Kerrigan (40) and Ian Thorpe(27) share this birth date
• Kate Walsh (42): Addison Montgomery on Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice; also, actors Yves Montand (1921-1991), Pamela Tiffin (67), Demond Wilson (63), Reggie Theus (52), Kelly Preston and T'Keyah Crystal Keymah (both 47), Tisha Campbell-Martin (41) and Sacha Baron Cohen (38)