Friday, May 13, 2011

autodidact \aw-toh-DY-dakt\, noun:

• One who is self-taught.

Autodidact is from Greek autodidaktos, "self-taught," from auto-, "self" + didaktos, "taught," from didaskein, "to teach."

flexting (v.)

• To text so extensively and in such a manner that it is flirting.

Duugs put down your phone and stop flexting

Trivia

Who founded and led Hollywood’s original Rat Pack?

• Humphrey Bogart. His group of hard-drinking buddies was known as the Holmby Hills Rat Pack, named for the Hollywood area where he lived. Frank Sinatra, who was a member, recast the group with his own friends—including Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Peter Lawford—after Bogie’s death.

History

• Mexican War: was declared by US president James Polk; the resulting land expansion was widely justified by manifest destiny (1846)
• "blood, toil, tears and sweat": Winston Churchill famously offered these elements in his first address as prime minister; Theodore Roosevelt was the first to use the phrase 43 years earlier (1940)
• Pope John Paul II: was shot in Rome by right-wing Turkish militant Mehmet Ali Agca; the pontiff survived the assassination attempt (1981)
• $20 bill: the Andrew Jackson was revamped and colorized to thwart counterfeiters (2003)

Birthdays

• William Petty-Fitzmaurice (1737-1805): British PM, first British Home Secretary
• Ronald Ross (1857-1932): Nobel Prize-winning bacteriologist
• Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989): author of Rebecca
• Stevie Wonder (61): R&B musician who has garnered more than 20 Grammys; other musicians born on this date include Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900), Ritchie Valens (1941-1959), Mary Wells (1943-1992), Darius Rucker (45) and Mickey Madden (32)
• Dennis Rodman (50): outlandish former NBA star; plus, boxer Joe Louis (1914-1981)
• Stephen Colbert (47): fake-news host, The Colbert Report
• Robert Pattinson (25): latest movie heartthrob, Edward Cullen on the Twilight series; also, actors Bea Arthur (1922-2009), Harvey Keitel (72), Tim Pigott-Smith (65), Zoë Wanamaker and Franklyn Ajaye (both 62), Julianne Phillips (51), Samantha Morton (34) and Hunter Parrish (24)

Read more: http://www.answers.com/