Wednesday, April 4, 2012

sylph \silf\, noun:

1. A slender, graceful woman or girl.
2. (In folklore) one of a race of supernatural beings supposed to inhabit the air.

Sylph was coined by Paracelsus. It is a blend of sylva, which meant "forest" in Latin, and the Greek word nymph.

phone-yawn

The act of taking out a cell phone from one's pocket or purse, resulting in other people in the vicinity taking out and checking their phones as well.

As Harriet pulled her cell from her pocket to check for new text messages, her circle of friends phone-yawned, pulling out and checking their phones too. Not Becky; she lost her phone at the club the night before.
Trivia
What happened to Wild West outlaw Frank James after his brother Jesse was killed by Robert Ford in 1882?

• Frank James surrendered five months after his brother’s death and was tried and freed after being found not guilty of murder and armed robbery in Missouri, and armed robbery in Alabama. He died in 1915 at age 72—of natural causes.

History

• William Henry Harrison: went on record as the US president with the shortest tenure, dying one month after inauguration (1841)
• NATO: was established with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty by 12 Western nations (1949)
• The Beatles: held all of the top 5 places on the Billboard Hot 100 (1964)
• Martin Luther King, Jr.: was assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was supporting striking sanitation workers (1968)
• World Trade Center: a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to mark the opening of the Twin Towers (1973)
• Microsoft: software behemoth was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico (1975)

Birthdays

• Dorothea Dix 1802
• Linus Yale 1821 - Inventor (Yale Infallible Bank Lock and cylinder lock)
• Isoroku Yamamoto 1884
• Arthur Murray (Moses Teichman) 1895 - Dancer
• John Cameron Swayze 1906 - Newsman
• Frances Langford (Frances Newbern) 1914 - Radio singer, actress ("Born to Dance", "Yankee Doodle Dandy")
• Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield) 1913 - Blues singer, guitarist ("Closet to You", "Honey Bee")
• Elizabeth W. Wilson 1921 - Actress (TV: "The Addams Family", Movie: "The Graduate")
• Elmer Bernstein 1922 - Composer of film scores
• William Manchester 1922
• Gil (Gilbert Raymond) Hodges 1924 - Baseball player
• Maya Angelou 1928 - Author, poet
• Clive Davis 1932 - Record company executive
• Anthony Perkins 1932 - Actor (Movies: "Psyco" series)
• Norro Wilson 1938 - Singer, composer, producer
• Michael Parks 1938
• Angelo Giamatti 1938
• JoAnne Carner 1939 - Golfer
• Hugh Masekela 1939 - Musician, band leader
• Ernie Terrell 1939 - Boxer
• Major Lance 1941
• Jim (James Louis) Fregosi 1942 - Baseball player
• Kris Jensen 1942 - Singer
• Kitty Kelley 1942 - Author
• Mike (Michael Peter) Epstein 1943 - baseball player
• Craig T. Nelson 1944 - Actor (Movies: "Poltergeist")
• Walter Charles 1945 - Actor
• Caroline McWilliams 1945 - Actress
• Ray (Raymond Earl) Fosse 1947 - Baseball catcher
• Ed White 1947 - Football player
• Barry Oakley 1948 - Musician, bass player (Allman Brothers)
• Christine Lahti 1950 - Actress
• Steve Gatlin 1951 - Singer (The Gatlin Brothers)
• Dave Hill 1952 - Musician, guitar player (Slade)
• Jerry Shirley 1952 - Musician (Humble Pie)
• Peter Haycock 1952 - Musician (Climax Blues Band)
• David E. Kelley 1956 - Writer, producer ("Ally McBeal", "The Practice")
• Graeme Kelling 1957 - Musician (Deacon Blue)
• Phil Morris 1959 - Actor
• Lorraine Toussaint 1960 - Actress ("Crossing Jordan," "Any Day Now")
• Ava Fabian 1962 - Playmate 08/1986, model, actress
• Craig Adams 1962 - Musician (The Cult)
• David Gavurin 1963 - Musician (Sundays)
• Robert Downey, Jr. 1965 - Actor (Movie: "U.S. Marshals")
• Frank Black 1965 - Musician (Pixies)
• Nancy McKeon 1966 - Actress (TV: "The Facts of Life")
• Mike Starr (Michael Christopher Starr) 1966 - Musician (Alice in Chains)
• Barry Pepper 1970 - Actor
• Clay Davidson 1971 - Country Singer
• Jill Scott 1972 - Singer
• Magnus Sveningsson 1972 - Musician (The Cardigans)
• Kelly Price 1973 - Singer
• David Blaine 1973 - Magician
• Andre Dalyrimple 1974 - Singer (Soul for Real)
• Scott Rolen 1975 - Baseball player
• Natasha Lyonne 1979 - Actress
• Heath Ledger 1979 - Actor