Monday, May 7, 2012

mensch \mench\, noun:

• A decent, upright, mature, and responsible person.

Mensch entered English from Yiddish in the 1950s. In Yiddish, it meant "man, human being" and had the positive associations that carried into English. It is related to the German word mensch.

Seis de Mayo

• the 6th of May - a special holiday, devoted to nursing hangovers and otherwise dealing with the consequences of Cinco de Mayo

Tom: "Hey Dave, why didn't you show up for work yesterday?"

Dave: "It was May 6th, remember?"

Tom: "Duuude, you were so wasted on Cinco de Mayo- you downed like a full bottle of tequila! That must've been a killer hangover!"
Dave: "That's what why we have Seis de Mayo and aspirin."

Trivia

What movie character was included as both a hero and a villain on the American Film Institute’s list of “100 Years . . . 100 Heroes and Villains”?

• The Terminator, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. He placed 22nd as a villain in the film The Terminator (1984), and 48th as a hero inTerminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).

History

• Hagia Sophia: earthquakes destroyed the dome of Emperor Justinian's church in Constantinople (558)
• George Washington: the first POTUS was honored in the first inaugural ball (1789)
• Beethoven's Ninth: the Choral Symphony premiered in Vienna (1824)
• AMA: was founded in Philadelphia (1847)
• Rheims: was the site of Germany's unconditional surrender to the Allies (1945)

Birthdays

• Robert Browning 1812 - Poet, married to poet Elizabeth Barrett
• Johannes Brahms 1833 - Composer
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 1840 - Composer
• Gabby (George Francis) Hayes 1885 - Actor
• Josip Broz Tito 1892
• Archibald MacLeish 1892 - Poet
• Gary (Frank James) Cooper 1901 - Actor ("Sergeant York [1941]", "The Virginian")
• Eva (Evita) Peron 1919 - Actress, wife of Argentina President Juan Peron, subject of the Broadway musical and film "Evita"
• Darren McGavin 1922 - Actor ("Billy Madison", "Airport ’77")
• Anne Baxter 1923 - Actress ("All About Eve")
• Gale Robbins 1924 - Actress, singer
• Jim Lowe 1927 - Singer, songwriter
• Dick Williams (Dick Richard Hirschfeld Williams) 1929 - Baseball player
• Totie Fields (Sophie Feldman) 1930 - Entertainer, comedienne
• Babe (Vito) Parilli 1930 - Football player
• Teresa Brewer 1931 - Singer
• Johnny Unitas 1933 - Football player
• Jimmy Ruffin 1939 - Singer
• Johnny Maestro 1939
• Lorrie (Lawrencine May) Collins 1942 - Country singer (The Collins Kids)
• Ricky West 1943 - Musician (Brian Poole & The Tremeloes)
• Robin Strasser 1945
• Bill Danoff 1946 - Musician (Starland Vocal Band)
• Thelma Houston 1946 - Singer
• Marv Hubbard 1947 - Football player
• Dave Hampton 1946 - Football player
• Bill Kreutzmann 1946 - Musician (Grateful Dead)
• Kathy Ahern 1949 - Golfer
• Tim Russert 1950 - TV host ("Meet the Press")
• Janis Ian (Janis Eddy Fink) 1951 - Singer
• Robert Hegyes 1951 - Actor ("Welcome Back, Kotter")
• Terry Richardson 1953 - Hockey player
• Amy Heckerling 1954 - Director, writer
• Anne Dudley 1956 - Musician (Art of Noise)
• Michael E. Knight 1959 - Actor ("All My Children")
• Phil Campbell 1961 - Musician (Motorhead)
• Chris O'Connor 1965 - Musician (Primitive Radio Gods)
• Traci Lords 1969 - Actress
• Eagle-Eye Cherry 1972 - Singer
• Breckin Meyer 1974 - Actor
• Alex Smith 1984 - Football player
• Taylor Abrahamse 1991 - Actor