Wednesday, March 3, 2010

eructation \ih-ruhk-TAY-shuhn\, noun:

• The act of belching; a belch.

Eructation comes from Latin eructatio, from eructare, from e-, "out" + ructare, "to belch."
Talk in Third Person Day

• An internet holiday on every third of March. You refer to yourself in the third person.

Say your name was John.
"John ate dinner."
"John went to the doctor."
"John is celebrating Talk in Third Person Day."
Trivia

Which state’s motto was taken from a letter written by a Revolutionary War general to members of his company?

• New Hampshire’s “Live free or die.” The words were part of a toast Brigadier General John Stark sent in 1809, declining an invitation to the 32nd-anniversary reunion of the Battle of Bennington because of ill health. His full toast was “Live free or die; death is not the worst of evils.”

History

• "The Star-Spangled Banner": Francis Scott Key's poem became the official US national anthem (1931)
• Sky Tower: observation and telecommunications tower opened in Auckland; at 328 meters (1.076 feet), it is the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere (1997)
• Switzerland: citizens voted to join the United Nations, abandoning nearly 200 years of formal neutrality (2002)

Berfdays

• George M. Pullman (1831-1897): industrialist and innovator, pullman cars and Pullman, Il
• Brian Leetch (42): ice hockeyplayer; athletes Jackie Joyner-Kersee (48) and Santonio Holmes (26) also celebrate birthdays today
• Jessica Biel (28): super hot actor, 7th Heaven, Valentine's Day, Powder Blue; other actors born on this date include Jean Harlow (1911-1937), James Doohan (1920-2005), Miranda Richardson (52), Julie Bowen (40) and David Faustino (36)