Wednesday, January 4, 2012

fetial \FEE-shuhl\, adjective:

• Concerned with declarations of war and treaties of peace.

Fetial comes directly from the Latin word fētiālis, which referred to a member of the Roman college of priests who were representatives in disputes with foreign nations.

santorum

• The sometimes frothy, usually slimy, amalgam of lubricant, stray fecal matter, and ejaculate that leaks out of the receiving partner's anus after a session of anal intercourse. Named, by popular demand and usage, after legislator Rick Santorum because of his homophobic political statements.

"That move was about as slick as santorum!"

Trivia

Whom did actor Paul Newman recruit to conduct a blind taste test of his salad dressing before he marketed it in 1982?

• Domestic diva Martha Stewart, who at the time was a Newman neighbor in Westport, Connecticut, with a home-based catering business.

History

• McDonald Islands: uninhabited, barren, volcanic islands were discovered in the Indian Ocean near Antarctica (1854)
• appendectomy: the first such surgical removal of the appendix was performed in Iowa (1885)
• Great Society: President Lyndon B. Johnson outlined his domestic policies in his State of the Union address; he aimed to "end poverty and racial injustice" (1965)
• Nancy Pelosi: became the US's first female Speaker of the House (2007)

Birthdays

• Wilhelm Beer (1797-1850): astronomer who made the first map of the moon
• Louis Braille (1809-1852): musician, educator who developed a raised-point writing system for the blind; plus, inventor of shorthand Sir Isaac Pitman (1813-1897)
• Jane Wyman (1914-2007): Oscar-winning actress (Johnny Belinda); she shared a birthday with daughter Maureen Reagan (1941-2001)
• Floyd Patterson (1935-2006): first two-time world heavyweight champ
• Don Shula (82): NFL coach with the most wins
• Grace Bumbry (75): mezzo-soprano and recipient of 2009's Kennedy Center Honors; plus, R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe (52)
• Gao Xingjian (72): Nobel Prize-winning author; plus, writer Doris K. Goodwin (69)
• Julia Ormond (47): actor, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; also, actors Dyan Cannon (75), Ann Magnuson (56), Patrick Cassidy (50) and Dave Foley (49)
• Vanity (53): actress, singer, Born-Again Christian Evangelist now known as Denise Matthews