Saturday, March 17, 2012

selcouth \SEL-kooth\, adjective:

• Strange; uncommon.

Selcouth has odd Old English roots. It is related to the word seldom and the Old English word couth meaning "to know."

tranq (Short for tranquilizer.)

1. A sedative, or the act of sedating.

2. Any chemical substance used for calming a human or animal through injection or ingestion.

n. "The TRANQs are kept in the emergency medical locker by the gauze."

v. "The bear was TRANQed so that officials could safely transport it back into the wild."

v. "You need to TRANQ out, man, it isn't the end of the world."

Trivia

In what U.S. state does 24 percent of the population claim Irish ancestry?

• Massachusetts, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That figure is about twice the national percentage.

Today's Holiday

• St. Patrick's Day (for the Irish and Irish-wannabes)

History

• Italy: the modern Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed; it lasted until the Republic was formed in 1946 (1861)
• National Gallery of Art: museum designed by John Russell Pope was dedicated in Washington, DC (1941)
• californium: creation of radioactive element was announced by scientists at UC Berkeley; it was made by bombarding curium with helium isotopes (1950)
• Mount Agung: stratovolcano on Bali erupted, killing 1,500 (1963)

Birthdays

• Roger Taney 1777
• Gottlieb Daimler 1834
• Jim Bridger 1881
• Paul Eliot Green 1894
• Shemp Howard 1895
• Bobby Jones 1902
• Marquis Childs 1903
• John Pastore 1907
• Bayard Rustin 1910
• Frederick Brisson 1913
• Mercedes McCambridge 1918 - Actress
• Nat "King" Cole 1919
• Paul Horn 1930
• Dick Curless 1932
• Adam Wade 1937
• Rudolf Nureyev 1938
• Paul Kantner 1941 - Musician (Jefferson Airplane/Starship)
• Jim Weatherly 1943 - Singer, songwriter
• Patrick McCauley (Them) 1944
• John Sebastian 1944 - Singer, songwriter (Lovin' Spoonful)
• Harold Brown 1946 - Musician (War)
• Patrick Duffy 1949 - Actor
• Kurt Russell 1951 - Actor
• Scott Gorham (Thin Lizzy) 1951
• Susie Allanson 1952 - Country singer
• Lesley-Anne Down 1954 - Actress
• Gary Sinise 1955 - Actor ("C.S.I: NY")
• Paul Overstreet 1955 - Country singer
• Mike Lindup 1959 - Musician (Level 42)
• Vicki Lewis 1960 - Actress
• Casey Sirmaszko 1961 - Actor
• Claire Grogan (Altered Images) 1962
• Rob Stich 1962 - Writer, director
• Rob Lowe 1964 - Actor
• Van Connor 1967 - Musician (Screaming Trees)
• Billy Corgan 1967 - Musician (Smashing Pumpkins)
• Mathew St. Patrick 1968 - Actor ("Six Feet Under")
• Patricia Ford 1969 (corrected, not yesterday)
• Yanic Truesdale 1969 - Actor ("Gilmore Girls")
• Bill Mueller 1971 - Baseball player
• Mia Hamm 1972 - Soccer player
• Melissa Auf der Maur 1972 - Musician (Hole, Smashing Pumpkins)
• Caroline Corr 1973 - Musician (The Corrs)
• Marisa Coughlan 1974 - Actress
• Stephen Gately 1976 - Singer (Boyzone)
• Swifty 1977 - Rapper (D12)