Friday, May 27, 2011

dudgeon \DUH-juhn\, noun:

• A state or fit of intense indignation; resentment; ill humor -- often used in the phrase "in high dudgeon."

The origin of dudgeon is unknown.

Carb Coma

• The sleepy feeling after eating a large meal comprised chiefly of carbohydrates, whether in the form of rice, noodles, bread or dough.

Dude, I was totally dozing at the office after that giant serving of chow mein for lunch. Total carb coma.

Trivia

What did visionary Czech scientist Otto Wichterle produce in his kitchen using a contraption made with an Erector Set, bike parts, and a phonograph motor?

• The first soft contact lenses. In 1961, with his strange apparatus, Wichterle developed a process that used centrifugal force to turn a water-absorbing plastic (hydrogel poly-hydroxethyl methacrylate) into soft lenses.

Today in History:

• St. Petersburg: city was founded by Peter the Great as his "window on Europe" (1703 N/S)
• Survivor: won the first running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico (1873)
• Golden Gate Bridge: opened to pedestrians; bicycles and wheelchairs are also allowed on the bridge's sidewalks (1937)
• Bismarck: German warship was attacked and sank; nearly 2,000 crew members died (1941)
• Alexander Solzhenitsyn: Soviet dissident novelist returned to Russia after 20 years in exile (1994)

Today's Birthdays:

• Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910): abolitionist, writer of "Battle Hymn of the Republic"; women's rights activist Amelia Bloomer (1818-1894) shared this birth date
• Herman Wouk (96): Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Caine Mutiny and The Winds of War; writers Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961), Rachel Carson (1907-1964) and John Cheever (1912-1982) were also born on this date
• Henry Kissinger (88): US diplomat and Nobel laureate; US vice-president Hubert Humphrey (1911-1978) shared this birth date
• Joseph Fiennes (41): Mark Benford in Flash Forward; also, actors Christopher Lee (89), Lee Meriwether (76), Lou Gossett Jr. (75), Bruce Weitz (68), Richard Schiff (56), Peri Gilpin (50), Paul Bettany (40), Jack McBrayer (38) and Chris Colfer (21)
• Jamie Oliver (36): celebrity chef