Friday, August 13, 2010

attar \AT-er\, noun:

1. A perfume or essential oil obtained from flowers or petals.

2. Also called attar of roses; rose oil.

Attar is a shortened version of the Persian atar-gul, "essence of roses."

hit the slide

• To quit one's job in truly stunning fashion.

Steven Slater was fed up of working for a--holes, so he hit the slide.

Trivia

What 1950s-era car featured a speedometer that glowed when a preset speed was reached?

• The ill-fated Ford Edsel, in 1958.

History

• Mexico City: city then known as Tenochtitlán fell to Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, along with the entire Aztec Empire (1521)
• taxicabs: first appeared on the streets of New York City (1907)
• Bambi: the animated Disney movie opened at Radio City Music Hall (1942)
• Echo 1: the first balloon satellite was launched, allowing the first two-way phone conversation via satellite (1960)
• Berlin: was divided by barbed wire, which soon became the Berlin Wall (1961)

Birthdays

• Annie Oakley (1860-1926): sharpshooter, starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show
• Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980): the "Master of Suspense" who directed Psycho and Rear Window; plus, director Paul Greengrass (55)
• Fidel Castro (84): Communist leader of Cuba from 1959 till February, 2008
• Philippe Petit (61): aerialist who walked a tightrope between the Twin Towers in 1974
• Dan Fogelberg (1951-2007): singer, composer, "Same Old Lang Syne," "Longer"; soprano Kathleen Battle (62) was also born on this date

• John Slattery (48): actor, Mad Men; also, actors Pat Harrington Jr. (81), Kevin Tighe (66), Gretchen Corbett (63) and Seana Kofoed (40)
• Midori Ito (41): champion figure skater; also, sportsmen Ben Hogan (1912-1997), Bobby Clarke (61) and Jarrod Washburn (36)
• Vicca (36) t3h pr0n