Friday, November 27, 2009

filemot (FIL-mot) noun, adjective

• The color of a dead or faded leaf: dull brown or yellowish brown.

Etymology: From the corruption of the French term feuillemorte, from feuille (leaf) + morte (dead). Ultimately from Indo-European root bhel- (to thrive or bloom) that gave us flower, bleed, bless, foliage, blossom, and blade.

Trivia
What are citizens of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, called?

• Cariocas.

Today in History

• Pennsylvania Station: regular service began in the busiest train station in North America (1910)
• scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon: during WWII, the French Navy scuttled its own ships and submarines in Toulon, France, to prevent them from falling into German hands (1942)
• Pope Paul VI: was accosted by a dagger-wielding Bolivian painter at a Manila airport (1970)
• Harvey Milk: San Francisco city supervisor was assassinated, along with mayor George Moscone, by former supervisor Dan White; White used the Twinkie defense and was convicted of manslaughter rather than murder (1978)

Today's Birthdays

• Chaim Weizmann (1874-1952): Israel's first president; other political leaders born on this date include Alexander Dubček (1921-1992) and Benigno Aquino Jr. (1932-1983)
• James Agee (1909-1955): novelist and screenwriter who won the Pulitzer Prize for his A Death in the Family; plus, author/actor Fanny Kemble (1809-1893)
• Bruce Lee (1940-1973): martial arts actor; also, actors James Avery (61), William Fichtner(53), Fisher Stevens (46), Robin Givens (45), Michael Vartan (41) and Jaleel White (33)
• Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970): rock guitarist, "Purple Haze"; other musicians born on this date are Charlie Benante (47) and Twista (36)
• Bill Nye (54): "the science guy"
• Caroline Kennedy (52): attorney, writer and editor, daughter of JFK