Sunday, December 19, 2010

Nth \ENTH\, adjective:

1. Being the last in a series of infinitely decreasing or increasing values, amounts, etc.

2. (Of an item in a series of occurrences, planned events, things used, etc., that is thought of as being infinitely large) being the latest, or most recent.

Nth is the figurative use of the mathematical term indicating indefinite number, in which n is an abbreviation for number.

trustno1

• Special Agent Fox Mulder's computer password in the X-Files TV series.

Name: Mulder, F

Password: ********

Trivia

What famous composer turned Herman Melville’s novella Billy Budd into an opera?

• Benjamin Britten. The libretto was written by E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier.

History

• Benjamin Franklin: began publishing his Poor Richard's Almanack (1732)
• "These are the times that try men's souls": Thomas Paine's famous quote was published in his first American Crisis essay (1776)
• Altair 8800: the precursor to the PC was announced as a do-it-yourself kit (1974)
• FIFA World Cup Trophy: the football trophy named for FIFA president Jules Rimet, consisting of an octagonal cup held by Nike and made of gold and lapis lazuli, was stolen in Rio de Janeiro (1983)
• Titanic: movie with the highest box office earnings (and largest budget to that point) opened in the US, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (1997)
• Bill Clinton: was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice (1998)

Birthdays

• Leonid Brezhnev (1906-1982): Soviet leader
• Edith Piaf (1915-1963): cabaret singer called "the little sparrow"; other musicians born on this date include Robert Sherman (85), Maurice White (69), John McEuen (65) and Lady Sovereign (25)
• Richard Leakey (66): paleoanthropologist and conservationist
• Criss Angel (43): magician, illusionist
• Jake Gyllenhaal (30): actor, Love and Other Drugs; also, actors Ralph Richardson (1902-1983), Robert Urich (1946-2002), Cicely Tyson (77), Tim Reid (66), Jennifer Beals (47), Scott Cohen (46), Rosa Blasi and Alyssa Milano (both 38) and Marla Sokoloff (30)