Wednesday, November 25, 2009

delitescent (del-i-TES-uhnt) adjective

• Hidden; latent.

Etymology: From Latin delitescent-, stem of delitescens, present participle of delitescere (to hide away).

Trivia
What is the only rock that can float on water?

• Pumice.

Today in History

• Hollywood Ten: screenwriters were blacklisted by producers for being suspected Communists; the previous day they were cited and jailed for refusing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee (1947)
• Yukio Mishima: much-read Japanese author who believed in imperial loyalty and a militarized, unwesternized Japan committed suicide by seppuku at the headquarters of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (1970)
• Iran-contra affair: arms-sales scandal blew open; US National Security Council aide Oliver North was fired for planning to ship arms secretly to Iran (1986)
• Elián González: 6-year-old Cuban émigré was rescued by fishermen off Florida's coast, sparking a political asylum/child custody battle (1999)

Today's Birthdays

• Lope de Vega (1562-1635): prolific dramatist; plus, writers John Bigelow (1817-1911) and Ba Jin (1904-2005)
• Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919): industrialist and philanthropist
• Pope John XXIII (1881-1963): 261st pontiff
• Joe DiMaggio (1914-1999): legendary slugger; hall-of-famer Joe Gibbs (69) shares this birth date
• John F. Kennedy, Jr. (1960-1999): lawyer and publisher, son of JFK; presidential daughters Jenna and Barbara Bush (28) were also born on this date
• Amy Grant (49): country-gospel singer; other musicians born on this date include Virgil Thomson (1896-1989), Percy Sledge (69?) and Stacy Lattisaw (43)
• Christina Applegate (38): amnesiac titular star of Samantha Who?; also, actors Ricardo Montalban (1920-2009), Noel Neill (89), Matt Clark (73), Ben Stein (65), John Larroquette (62), Jill Hennessy (41) and Eddie Steeples (36)