Sunday, April 24, 2011

yin \YIN\, noun:

• A principle in Chinese philosophy associated with negative, dark, and feminine attributes.

Yin, almost always in association with yang, means "bright" in Chinese.

reserection rez-e-rek-shun (noun)

• a morning wood of biblical proportions

On the third day, Jesus awoke from the tomb with a raging reserection.

Trivia

Where in the world did the white trumpet-shaped Easter lily originate?

• In the Ryukyu Islands of southwestern Japan.

Holiday

• Easter (Christian)

History

• Trojan horse: traditional date of the ancient Greeks' ruse to gain entry into Troy (1184 BCE)
• "La Marseillaise": France's national anthem was composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (1792)
• Library of Congress: was established with $5,000; today it has 18 million books and 100 million other items in 470 languages (1800)
• Hersheypark: amusement park opened in Hershey, Pennsylvania, for the exclusive use of Hershey Chocolate Company's employees; it was later opened to the public (1907)
• Easter Uprising: unsuccessful Irish rebellion against British rule began (1916)

Birthdays

• Henri-Philippe Pétain (1856-1951): WWI general and head of the Vichy government
• Willem de Kooning (1904-1997): abstract expressionist painter
• Sue Grafton (71): writer of detective novels; also, authors Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) and Robert Penn Warren (1905-1989)
• Barbra Streisand (69): award-winning singer and actress; other performers born today include Shirley MacLaine (77), Michael Parks (71), Richard Sterban (68), Doug Clifford (66), Eric Bogosian (58), Glenn Morshower (52), Djimon Hounsou and Cedric the Entertainer (both 47), Derek Luke (37), Eric Balfour (34) and Kelly Clarkson (29)
• Omar Vizquel (44): defensive shortstop who won 9 consecutive Gold Gloves; baseball players Chipper Jones (39) and Carlos Beltran (34) share his birth date