Thursday, March 1, 2012

alembic \uh-LEM-bik\, noun:

1. Anything that transforms, purifies, or refines.

2. A vessel with a beaked cap or head, formerly used in distilling.

Alembic is derived from the Arabic word al-anbiq, which means "a distilling cup." It developed its broader meaning in the 1300s.

leap of faith

• Having to use a public restroom (for #2) that has either no lock on the door to said restroom, or no lock on the stall you are using.

Dude,those tacos forced me to take a leap of faith in the can at the club.

Trivia

What presidential wife rebelled at being addressed as First Lady, claiming “it sounds like a saddle horse”?

• Accomplished equestrian Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of President John F. Kennedy.

History

• Buckeye State: Ohio became the 17th US state; in prehistoric times it was inhabited by Mound Builders (1803)
• Cornhusker State: Nebraska, purchased from France in 1803, became the 37th US state (1867)
• Yellowstone: the world's oldest national park was established; it is noted for its geysers, hot springs, mud pots and fumaroles (1872)
• Lindbergh kidnapping: Lucky Lindy's child was abducted, leading to the Lindbergh Act (1932)
• Peace Corps: JFK established an agency to "promote world peace and friendship"; since then, nearly 200,000 Americans have served in 139 countries (1961)

Berfdays

• William Dean Howells 1837 - Author
• Augustus Saint-Gaudens 1848
• Glenn Miller 1904 - Bandleader
• David Niven 1910 - Actor ("The Guns of the Navarone")
• Ralph Waldo Ellison 1914 - Author, essayist
• Robert Lowell 1917 - Poet
• Yitzhak Rabin 1922
• William Gaines 1922 - Publisher ("MAD Magazine")
• Michael Flanders 1922 - Songwriter, comedian (Flanders and Swann)
• Deke (Donald) Slayton 1924 - Astronaut
• Robert Clary 1926 - Actor ("Hogan's Heroes")
• Pete Rozelle 1926 - Football player
• Harry Belafonte 1927 - Singer, actor
• Benny Powell 1930 - Musician
• Robert Conrad 1935 - Actor
• Judith Rossner 1935
• Joan Hackett 1942
• Jerry Fisher 1942 - Musician (Blood Sweat & Tears)
• Roger Daltry 1944 - Musician (The Who)
• Mike D'Abo 1944 - Musician (Manfred Mann)
• Dirk Benedict 1945 - Actor ("The A-Team", "Battlestar Galactica")
• Tony Ashton 1946 - Musician (Ashton Gardner & Dyke)
• Alan Thicke 1947 - Actor ("Growing Pains"), songwriter (theme songs for TV's "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Facts of Life")
• Brian Winters 1952 - Basketball player
• Ron Howard 1954 - Producer, actor ("The Andy Griffith Show", "Happy Days")
• Catherine Bach 1954 - Actress (TV's "The Dukes of Hazzard")
• Janis Gill 1954 - Musician (Sweethearts of the Rodeo)
• Jimmy Fortune 1955 - Musician (Statler Brothers)
• Timothy Daly 1956 - Actor ("Diner", "Wings", "The Fugitive")
• Jon Carroll 1957
• Nik Kershaw 1958
• Bill Leen 1962 - Musician (Gin Blossoms)
• Ron Francis 1963 - Hockey player
• Thomas Anders 1963 - Musician (Modern Talking)
• John David Collum 1966
• George Eads 1967 - Actor ("CSI")
• Javier Bardem 1969 - Actor ("No Country for Old Men")
• Tanya Munoz (aka Felecia Danay) 1972 t3h pr0n
• Ryan Anthony Peake 1973 - Guitarist (Nickelback)
• Mark-Paul Gosselaar 1974
• Jensen Ackles 1978 - Actor ("Supernatural")
• Ke$ha - 1987