Sunday, June 20, 2010

couvade \koo-VAHD\, noun:

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  A practice in certain cultures in which the husband of a woman in labor takes to his bed as though he were bearing the child.

Couvade comes from the French couver, "to incubate or hatch."

kittens and puppies

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  Raining kittens and puppies would mean raining lightly.

Let's go out. It's just raining kittens and puppies.

Trivia

What hard-hitting major league baseball player named a son Shea after the first home stadium of the New York Mets? Clue: He wasn’t a Met.

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  Atlanta Braves slugger—and frequent Mets nemesis—Chipper Jones, in 2004, because of his hot hitting there. The Mets left Shea Stadium in 2008. Another non-Met, former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin, named his oldest daughter Brielle D’Shea in honor of the stadium.

History

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  Great Seal of the United States: was adopted by Congress (1782)
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  Flight to Varennes: faced with anti-royalty hostility during the French Revolution, King Louis XVI tried unsuccessfully to flee the country (1791)
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  Queen Victoria: longest-reigning British monarch succeeded to the throne (1837)
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  Toast of the Town: debuted on CBS; in 1955 it was renamed The Ed Sullivan Show (1948)
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  Hot line: Moscow-Washington line of direct communication was established following the Bay of Pigs standoff (1963)

Birthdays

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  Stephen Frears (69): director of The Queen; also, director Robert Rodriguez (42)
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  Lionel Richie (61): singer/songwriter, "Endless Love"; also, musicians Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), Chet Atkins (1924-2001), Brian Wilson (68), Anne Murray (65), André Watts (64), Michael Anthony (56) and John Taylor (50)
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  Vikram Seth (58): Indian poet and author of A Suitable Boy; also, writer Lillian Hellman (1905-1984)
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  Nicole Kidman (43): Oscar-winner for The Hours; also, actors Errol Flynn (1909-1959), Martin Landau and Olympia Dukakis (both 78), Danny Aiello (77), John Mahoney (70), John McCook (65), John Goodman (58), Josh Lucas (39) and Mark Saul (25)