Sunday, June 27, 2010

zephyr \ZEF-er\, noun:

1. A gentle, mild breeze.

2. Literary. The west wind.

3. Any of various things of fine, light quality.

Zephyr, in ancient Greek zephyros, was the godly personification of the west wind. English usage of the term to designate a pleasant breeze is from the 1600s.

I'm out of practice

• An expression used to explain why you can't do something that requires being in shape. Pretty much just saying that you're out of shape, just not wanting to seem fat.

"I'll race you!"

"Nah, I'm out of practice!"

"fat ass"

Trivia

What alphabet was named for a saint?

• The Cyrillic alphabet. It was named for Saint Cyril, a 9th-century Greek monk who with his brother, Saint Methodius, and later followers, developed a written language for Christian converts in what is now Russia.

History

• Joseph Smith: the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was killed by an anti-Mormon mob in Illinois (1844)
• Joshua Slocum: Canadian adventurer landed at Newport, Rhode Island, becoming the first to circumnavigate the world on his own (1898)
• Newbery Medal: was first awarded, to Hendrik Willem van Loon for The Story of Mankind (1922)
• paintball: the first game was played, in New Hampshire (1981)
• US National Do Not Call Registry: opened for business; almost ¾ of a million phone numbers were signed up on its first day in a stand against unwanted telemarketing (2003)

Birthdays

• Alexis Bouvard (1767-1843): astronomer and director of the Paris Observatory
• Helen Keller (1880-1968): blind and deaf author, lecturer and social activist
• H. Ross Perot (80): wealthy Texan who ran for president
• Vera Wang (52): fashion designer who specializes in wedding gowns
• J.J. Abrams (44): writer/producer/director, Lost, Alias
• Ed Westwick (23): bad boy Chuck Bass on Gossip Girl; also, actors Bob Keeshan (1927-2004), Julia Duffy (59), Isabelle Adjani (55), Tobey Maguire (35), Drake Bell (24), Matthew Lewis (21) and Madylin Sweeten (19)