Saturday, September 10, 2011

bellwether \BEL-weth-uhr\, noun:

• A leader of a movement or activity; also, a leading indicator of future trends.

Bellwether is a compound of bell and wether, "a male sheep, usually castrated"; from the practice of hanging a bell from the neck of the leader of the flock.

party hats

• erect and mighty pointed nipples

Hey it must be cold out because your mom has her party hats on.

Trivia

How fast—in miles per hour—can a boa constrictor move on open ground?

• Only about one mile per hour.

History

• "We have met the enemy, and they are ours": message sent by Oliver Hazard Perry during the War of 1812 announcing US victory in the Battle of Lake Erie (1813)
• Elias Howe: American inventor received a patent for the sewing machine (1846)
• Gunsmoke: debuted; Law and Order recently tied it as TV's longest-running prime-time drama series (1955)
• guillotine: was used for the last time as a tool of execution in France on Hamida Djandoubi, convicted of torturing and murdering his ex-girlfriend (1977)
• Switzerland: the famously neutral country joined the UN, becoming its 190th member (2002)

Birthdays

• Charles Kuralt (1934-1997): journalist who took his report On the Road
• Roger Maris (1934-1985): baseball great who broke Babe Ruth's single-season home run record; other athletes born today include Arnold Palmer (82), Bob Lanier (63), Randy Johnson (48) and Gustavo Kuerten (35)
• Roy Ayers (71): jazz vibraphonist; some other musicians with this birth date include Danny Hutton (69), José Feliciano (66), Joe Perry and Rosie Flores (both 60), David Lowery (51) and Big Daddy Kane (43)
• Chris Columbus (53): filmmaker, Home Alone and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; director Guy Ritchie (43) was also born on this date
• Colin Firth (51): Mr. Darcy in the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice, George Falconer in A Single Man; also, actors Philip Baker Hall (80), Greg Mullavey (72), Judy Geeson (63), Amy Irving (58), Kate Burton (54) and Ryan Phillippe (37)