Friday, May 6, 2011

premonish \pri-MON-ish\, verb:

• To warn beforehand.

Premonish originates in the 1500s, a combination of the English prefix pre-, "before," and admonish.

typeless adj.

• The state of being so astounded that one cannot type; writing equivalent of speechless

Dad, that story in your email message left me typeless!

Trivia

What actors portrayed Richard M. Nixon in the films Frost/Nixon; Nixon; and Kissinger and Nixon?

• Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon (2008); Anthony Hopkins, Nixon (1995); and Beau Bridges, Kissinger and Nixon (1995).

Holiday

• International No Diet Day

History

• Chinese Exclusion Act: barred Chinese laborers from the US for 10 years, despite President Chester Arthur's veto (1882)
• Eiffel Tower: was dedicated at the opening of the Universal Exposition in Paris (1889)
• Hindenburg: German dirigible caught fire as it landed in Lakehurst, New Jersey; 36 were killed (1937)
• Works Progress Administration: set out to employ scores of Americans in the post-Depression era (1935)
• Roger Bannister: Oxford medical student broke the four-minute mile, which was widely considered medically impossible (1954); in 1975, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II
• Chunnel: the tunnel connecting France and England opened to traffic (1994)

Birthdays

• Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794): Jacobin leader of the French Revolution
• Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): founder of psychoanalysis
• Robert Peary (1856-1920): arctic explorer
• Willie Mays (80): hard-hitting baseball hall-of-famer; goaltender Martin Brodeur (39) shares this birth date
• Bob Seger (66): rock 'n roll singer/songwriter
• Tony Blair (58): former British PM
• Orson Welles (1915-1985): actor/director, Citizen Kane; also, entertainers Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926), Alan Dale and Ben Masters (both 64), Gregg Henry (59), Tom Bergeron (56), Roma Downey (51) and Gabourey Sidibe and Adrianne Palicki (both 28)