Friday, December 10, 2010

fletcherize \FLECH-uh-rahyz\, verb:

• To chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.

Fletcherize is named for the American dietician Fletcher Horace, who advocated chewing each bite of food at least 32 times in order to truly enjoy it.

Nerd

• One whose IQ exceeds his weight.

Trivia

A wax likeness of what famous American is on display in the Eiffel Tower along with wax figures representing French engineer Gustave Eiffel and his daughter Claire?

• Inventor Thomas Edison. The wax figures are in a recreation of Eiffel’s office on the third level of the famous Paris landmark. Edison had visited the tower in 1889, the year it was completed.

History

• Mississippi: the Magnolia State became America's 20th state (1817)
• Spanish-American War: conflict ended with Spain renouncing its claim to Cuba and ceding Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines to the US (1898)
• Nobel Prizes: were first awarded in Stockholm in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace (1901)
• "The Gift of the Magi": O. Henry's short story was first published (1906)
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights: was adopted by the UN; it became the world's most translated document (1948)
• 300 million yen robbery: Japan's biggest heist was perpetrated; it remains unsolved (1968)

Birthdays

• Emily Dickinson (1830-1886): reclusive poet; plus, writers Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538-1612), George Macdonald (1824-1905), Nelly Sachs (1891-1970) and Mary Norton (1903-1992)
• Thomas Gallaudet (1787-1851): educator of the deaf
• Paul Hardcastle (53): jazz musician; plus, singers Chad Stuart (69), Gloria Loring (64), J Mascis (45) and Kevin Sharp (40)
• Nia Peeples (49) actress