Thursday, June 9, 2011

lucubrate \LOO-kyoo-breyt\, verb:

1. To work, write, or study laboriously, especially at night.

2. To write learnedly.

Lucubrate derives from the Latin lucubratus, "to work by artificial light."

Caller VD

• When your caller ID identifies someone with whom you definitely don't want to talk, and you avoid answering them like the plague

(Phone rings)

Hey are you going to get the phone or what?
(Looks at phone) 

Negative. That's the number for child support services, they've been trying to get a hold of me for months. I'll let the machine get it, because I don't need a case of Caller VD!

Trivia

What nation’s coat of arms features a picture of Noah’s Ark resting atop Mount Ararat?

• Armenia’s. Mount Ararat—in eastern Turkey, on its borders with Armenia and Iran—has long been considered the sacred symbol of Armenia and the spiritual home of its people.

History

• President and Fellows of Harvard College: aka, the Harvard Corporation, was established; it is the oldest corporation in the continent of America (1650)
• Hong Kong: was signed over to the British for 99 years (1898)
• automat: the first automated vending-machine restaurant opened in Philadelphia (1902)
• Alice Huyler Ramsey: 22-year-old housewife set out, mapless, on a road trip that made her the first woman to drive across the US — from Manhattan to San Francisco; the trip took 59 days (1909)
• Donald Duck: debuted in The Wise Little Hen; for more than 50 years, his voice was provided by Clarence "Ducky" Nash (1934)
• Bhumibol Adulyadej: became king of Thailand; in a largely ceremonial role, he is currently the world's longest-reigning head of state (1946)
• Secretariat: the stallion won the Belmont Stakes and became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years (1973)
• Millennium Bridge: pedestrian suspension bridge over the River Thames opened; found to be wobbly, it closed for repairs almost immediately (2000)

Birthdays

• Peter the Great (1672-1725): Russian czar who developed imperial Russia
• Bertha Suttner (1843-1914): pacifist author and the first woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize
• Les Paul (1915-2009): guitarist and inventor of the solid-body electric guitar; also, musicians Carl Nielsen (1865-1931), Cole Porter (1891-1964), Wayman Tisdale (1964-2009), and Matthew Bellamy of Muse (33)
• Marvin Kalb (81): broadcast journalist
• Aaron Sorkin (50): writer/producer, The West Wing, The Social Network; and, writers S. N. Behrman (1893-1973) and Patricia Cornwell (55)
• Michael J. Fox (50): actor who has become the spokesperson in the fight against Parkinson's disease; plus, actors Johnny Depp (48), Gloria Reuben (47), Michaela Conlin (33) and Natalie Portman (30)

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