Thursday, December 2, 2010

tristful \TRIST-fuhl\, adjective:

• Full of sadness; sorrowful.

Tristful stems from the Old French triste, "sad."

Christmas buzz

• A feeling common during the month of December. It is the need to buy many overpriced gifts for your family, normally on a credit card. The buyer feels no feelings of regret for the rest of the month, as he/she feels they are being a good person. The Christmas buzz is always followed by the New Year's hangover, when the credit card bill comes in and the buyer goes on a rant about how much money they have spent.

You're buying a nintendo wii off ebay for 500 dollars for your kid? Must be the Christmas buzz.

Trivia

Why is the tallest of the nine candles on a Hanukkah menorah known as the shamash, which means “servant” in Hebrew?

• Because its flame is lit first and used to light the other eight candles—one a day during the eight-day Festival of Lights.

Today's Holiday

• Hannukah

History

• Napoleon Bonaparte: was crowned emperor of France at Notre Dame (1804)
• Monroe Doctrine: was articulated by President James Monroe; it told Europe to stay out of the Americas (1823)
• EPA: Richard Nixon established a federal agency to set and enforce national pollution-control standards (1970)
• scientific experimentation: Enrico Fermi produced the first nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago (1942); Louis Paul Cailletet liquified oxygen (1877)
• artificial heart: Barney Clark was the recipient of the first such transplant, a Jarvik-7; he lived for 112 days (1982)
• Benazir Bhutto: was sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head a modern Muslim nation (1988)

Birthdays

• Georges Seurat (1859-1891): post-impressionist painter
• Peter Carl Goldmark (1906-): developed LP records
• Gianni Versace (1946-1997): fashion designer
• Julie Harris (85): record-holder for most Tony Awards nominations for Best Actress — she and Angela Lansbury are tied for most wins (5); also, actors Keith Szarabajka (58), Dan Butler (56), Dennis Christopher (55), Steven Bauer (54), Lucy Liu, Rena Sofer (both 42) and Daniella Ruah (27)
• Maria Callas (1923-1977): soprano; and, classical conductor and cellist John Barbirolli (1899-1970)
• Monica Seles (37): tennis champ
• Nelly Furtado (32): singer, "I'm Like a Bird"; plus, musicians Rick Savage (50) and Britney Spears (29)