Saturday, May 29, 2010

epoch \EP-uhk\, noun:

1. The beginning of a distinctive period in the history of anything.

2. A particular period of time marked by distinctive features or events.

3. A memorable date.

4. Geology. Any of several divisions of a geologic period during which a geologic series is formed. Compare age.

5. Astronomy. An arbitrarily fixed instant of time or date, usually the beginning of a century or half century, used as a reference in giving the elements of a planetary orbit or the like. b.The mean longitude of a planet as seen from the sun at such an instant or date.

6. Physics. The displacement from zero at zero time of a body undergoing simple harmonic motion.

Epoch has acquired a variety of precise meanings through the centuries: historical, in ancient Rome and Greece; geological and astronomical in modern times.

As You Know

• A derogatory prepatory statement in a sentence used when telling someone something they should already know, but, in fact the author knows they do not.

As you know, gang leadership is run from the Prison Infrastructure.

Trivia

What fruit—considered exotic in the 17th century—did King Charles II of England pose with in an official portrait?

• A pineapple. The portrait shows the king receiving a pineapple as a gift—a symbol of royal privilege because of its rarity at the time.

History

• Rhode Island: ratified the US constitution; it was the last of the original 13 colonies to do so (1790)
• Wisconsin: became the 30th US state; it leads the country in cheese production (1848)
• Mount Everest: the world's highest peak was summited for the first time, by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay (1953)
• Discovery: space shuttle completed the first docking with the International Space Station (1999)

Birthdays

• Charles II (1630-1685): king of England, Scotland, and Ireland
• T.H. White (1906-1964): novelist, The Once and Future King; also, writer G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
• John F. Kennedy (1917-1963): 35th POTUS; established the Peace Corps
• Al Unser Sr. (71): championship automobile racer
• Rupert Everett (51): actor and Vanity Fair contributing editor; also, entertainers Bob Hope (1903-2003), Helmut Berger (66), Anthony Geary (63), Annette Bening (52) and Tracey Bregman (47)
• Melanie Brown (35): singer, The Spice Girls' "Scary Spice"'; musicians Gary Brooker (65), Danny Elfman (57), LaToya Jackson (54), Melissa Etheridge (49) and Noel Gallagher (43) were also born on this date