Wednesday, July 28, 2010

behemoth \bih-HEE-muhth\, noun:

1. Any creature or thing of monstrous size or power

2. An animal, perhaps the hippopotamus, mentioned in the Book of Job.

Behemoth derives from the Hebrew b'hemoth in the Book of Job, but may be a folk etymology of Egyptian pehemau , "water-ox," the name for the hippopotamus.

Reply-None

• The opposite of Reply-All, when an email-incompetent person sends you a blank reply to an email you sent them.

I really needed to hear from Felicia on this issue, but all I got was a Reply-None at 4:59.

Trivia

What was pro football defensive end Michael Strahan referring to when he described the New York Giants Super Bowl XLII championship ring as a “ten-table ring”?

• It was so big that it could be seen ten tables away in a restaurant.

History

• Maximilien Robespierre: Reign of Terror leader was guillotined in Paris during the French Revolution (1794)
• Peru: declared independence from Spain (1821)
• 14th Amendment: granted full citizenship to former US slaves; introduced new civil rights safeguards, due process, equal protection (1868)
• Austria-Hungary: declared war on Serbia, precipitating World War I (1914)
• Kennewick Man: prehistoric remains were discovered on the banks of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, sparking a debate between scientists and Native Americans (1996)
• IRA: ended its armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland in favor of "exclusively peaceful means" (2005)

Birthdays

• Beatrix Potter (1866-1943): the author of the Peter Rabbit stories
• Earl Tupper (1907-1983): the inventor of Tupperware
• Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994): the First Lady who gave Americans a TV tour of the White House
• Bill Bradley (67): pro basketball player and Rhodes scholar who became a US senator and ran for president

• Jim Davis (65): creator of Garfield
• Sally Struthers (62): actor, All in the Family and Gilmore Girls; actors Georgia Engel (62), Lori Loughlin (46) and Elizabeth Berkley (38) also have birthdays today
• Hugo Chavez (56): douchebag president of Venezuela, fan of communism
• Delfeayo Marsalis (45): jazz trombonist; also, musicians Rick Wright (1943-2008), Steve Morse (56), Afroman (36) and Soulja Boy (20)