Saturday, December 11, 2010

philter \FIL-ter\, noun:

1. A magic potion for any purpose.

2. A potion, charm, or drug supposed to cause the person taking it to fall in love, usually with some specific person.

Philter originates from the Greek philtron, "love potion," which itself derives from the Greek philos "love of."

Dork

• Someone who has odd interests, and is often silly at times. A dork is also someone who can be themselves and not care what anyone thinks.

You are such a dork.

Trivia

What deadly virus is named for a river?

• Ebola. It’s named for the Ebola River in the northern Congo, where it was first detected in 1976.

History

• Indiana: the Hoosier State became America's 19th state (1816)
• Edward VIII: king of Great Britain and Ireland became the first English monarch to abdicate the throne voluntarily; he did it for love (1936)
• UNICEF: United Nations Children's Fund, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965, was founded (1946)
• Chechnya: Moscow sent in troops to restore control over the region (1994)
• Madoff scandal: Bernie Madoff: the former NASDAQ chairman was arrested for perpetrating what may be the largest Ponzi scheme in Wall Street history; he was sentenced to 150 years in prison (2008)

Birthdays

• Fiorello La Guardia: popular NYC mayor who supported social welfare and woman suffrage, fought corruption (1882-1947); plus, statesman of the American Revolution George Mason (1725-1792)
• Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): composer, Symphonie fantastique
• Robert Koch (1843-1910): bacteriologist who proved causal effect of bacteria on disease; plus, scientists David Brewster (1781-1868), Annie Jump Cannon (1863-1941) and Max Born (1882-1970)
• Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006): first Arabic-language winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature; and, Nobel Prize-winning author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008)
• David Gates (70): singer/songwriter, Bread; also, singers Willie Mae Thornton (1926-1984), Brenda Lee (66) and Jermaine Jackson (56)
• Mos Def (37): rapper/actor, Something the Lord Made; other entertainers born on this date include Rita Moreno (79), Lynda Day George and Teri Garr (both 66), Bess Armstrong (57), Gary Dourdan (44) and Mo'Nique (43)
• Nikki Sixx (52): Birth Name: Franklin Carlton Serafino Feranna, bassist (term used loosely) of Mötley Crüe