Thursday, November 25, 2010

consanguineous \kon-san(g)-GWIN-ee-us\, adjective:

• Of the same blood; related by birth; descended from the same parent or ancestor.

Consanguineous is from Latin consanguineus, from com-, con-, "with, together" + sanguineus, from sanguis, sanguin-, "blood." The noun form is consanguinity, "relationship by blood, or close relation or connection."

Thanksgiving

• Another excuse for Americans to spend an entire day eating

"Damn, it's not a weekend, and i want to eat all day"

"Why Don't we invent a holiday and give it a stupid name?"

"Fo Shizzle, My Pilgrizzle!"

Trivia

What were the founders of the Plymouth Colony, the early settlers we refer to today as Pilgrims, known as when they fled religious persecution in England?

• Separatists.

History

• Hollywood Ten: screenwriters were blacklisted by producers for being suspected Communists (1947)
• Iran-contra affair: arms-sales scandal blew open; US National Security Council aide Oliver North was fired for planning to ship arms secretly to Iran (1986)
• Elián González: 6-year-old Cuban émigré was rescued by fishermen off Florida's coast, sparking a political asylum/child custody battle (1999)
• Department of Homeland Security: was signed into law by George W. Bush; Tom Ridge was named the first department head (2002)

Birthdays

• Lope de Vega (1562-1635): prolific dramatist; novelist Ba Jin (1904-2005) and Charlaine Harris (59) share this birth date
• Pope John XXIII (1881-1963): 261st pontiff; he called the Second Vatican Council
• Joe Dimaggio (1914-1999): legendary slugger; plus, team players Joe Gibbs (70) and Donovan McNabb (34)
• John F. Kennedy, Jr. (1960-1999): lawyer and publisher, who was killed in the crash of an airplane that he was piloting; presidential daughters Jenna and Barbara Bush (29) were also born on this date
• Amy Grant (50): country-gospel singer; other musicians born on this date include Virgil Thomson (1896-1989), Paul Desmond (1024-1977), Percy Sledge (70) and Stacy Lattisaw (44)
• Christina Applegate (39): amnesiac titular star of Samantha Who?; also, actors Ricardo Montalban (1920-2009), Noel Neill (89), Matt Clark (74), Ben Stein (66), John Larroquette and Tracy Walter (both 63), Jill Hennessy (42) and Eddie Steeples (37)