Sunday, November 29, 2009

malleable \MAL-ee-uh-buhl\, adjective:

1. Capable of being extended or shaped by beating with a hammer, or by the pressure of rollers; -- applied to metals.
2. Capable of being altered or controlled by outside forces; easily influenced.
3. Capable of adjusting to changing circumstances; adaptable.

Malleable comes from Medieval Latin malleabilis, from malleare, "to hammer," from Latin malleus, "hammer."

Thanksgiving Beard

• An unintentional beard started over the 4 day Thanksgiving weekend, where you're too lazy to shave it off monday morning. Usually continues untilChristmas or New Year's Day.Also known as a Holiday Beard

Boss: You look like you haven't shaved in days. That's unprofessional.
Employee: Sir, that's my Thanksgiving beard. It's my way of honoring our forefathers.
Boss: Oh, I didn't realize that. Maybe I'll grow one too.
Trivia

What popular entertainer has sold more records in more languages than any other singer in history?

• Spanish-born Julio Iglesias, who was honored for his multilingual recordings in 1983 with the first-ever Guinness Book of World Records Diamond Record Award. The languages he’s recorded in are Spanish, English, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Tagalog.

Today in History

• Army-Navy game: football rivalry began at West Point; Navy won 24-0 (1890)
• South Pole: was flown over for the first time by American explorer Richard E. Byrd and three others (1929)
• Resolution 181: United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was approved, dividing the area of Palestine between Jews and Arabs (1947)
• Warren Commission: was established by US president Lyndon Johnson to investigateJFK's assassination (1963)

Today's Birthdays

• Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888): author, Little Women; also, authors C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) and Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007)
• Ambrose Fleming (1849-1945): inventor of the diode; also, chemist Yuan T. Lee (73)
• Jacques Chirac (77): former president of France; plus, former Liberian president William V. S. Tubman (1895-1971)
• Chuck Mangione (69): jazz composer/musician who plays the flugelhorn
• Joel Coen (55): half of the Coen Brothers filmmaking duo, No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man
• Don Cheadle (45): actor and activist, Hotel Rwanda, Traitor; also, actors Diane Ladd (74?), Garry Shandling (60), Howie Mandel (54), Cathy Moriarty (49), Kim Delaney (48), Tom Sizemore (46),Andrew McCarthy (47), Brian Baumgartner (37), Anna Faris and Julian Ovenden (both 33) and Lucas Black (27)