Saturday, June 25, 2011

torrefy \TAWR-uh-fahy\, verb:

1. To subject to fire or intense heat.

2. In pharmacology, to dry or parch drugs with heat.

3. To roast, as metallic ores.

Torrefy stems from the two Latin roots torrēre "to dry up" and facere "to put, or make so."

whom alert

• An alert that is called when one is trying to sound smarter than they really are. In more severe cases, a whence alert may be necessary.

Jim: So Rob, how's that advanced calculus class going?

Martin: I'm not certain for whom the curriculum was written, but I am definitely far too brilliant to be wasting my time on this tripe.

Jim: That's it, buddy! I'm calling a whom alert on you!

Trivia

What three tools were included with the first Swiss Army knife—in 1891?

• The wooden-handled “soldier’s knife” had a screwdriver, an awl (or punch), and a can opener in addition to the knife blade.

History

• Battle of Little Bighorn: Lt. Col. George A. Custer and his men were killed by Indians in what became known as "Custer's Last Stand" (1876)
• Douglas Hyde: became the first president of Ireland (1938)
• Korean War: broke out when the communist North invaded the South (1950)
• Yugoslavia: former republics Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence (1991)
• Mir space station: was struck by an unmanned Progress spacecraft (1997)
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Teheran mayor was elected president of Iran (2005)

Birthdays

• George Abbott (1887-1995): writer/director who won 40 Tonys and a Pulitzer; also, filmmakers Sidney Lumet (1924-2011), Gary David Goldberg (67) and Michael Lembeck (63)
• Eric Carle (82): author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar; plus, writers Benito Lynch (1885-1951), Aimé Césaire (1913-2008), and George Orwell (1903-1950)
• Ricky Gervais (50): award-winning writer/actor/standup comedian, The Office, Extras: also, actors June Lockhart (86), Jimmie Walker (64), Michael Sabatino (56), Erica Gimpel (47), Angela Kinsey (40), Linda Cardellini (36) and Busy Philipps (32)
• George Michael (48): pop singer; singers Carly Simon (66), David Paich (57), Richie Rich (44), Candyman (43) and Mike Kroeger (39) share this birth date
• Carlos Delgado (39): Mets first-baseman; sports stars Willis Reed (69), Dikembe Mutombo (45) and Aramis Ramirez (33) were also born today

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