Tuesday, May 1, 2012

ort \awrt\, noun:

• A scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

Ort is related to the Old English word eten meaning "to eat."

Microsoft Minute

• A unit of time ranging in value from one realtime minute to several hours.

"Time to complete installation of Windows XP 37 minutes."

(24 minutes later)

"Time to complete installation of Windows XP 36 minutes. Did you know that Windows XP will speed up all your everyday computing tasks!"

Trivia

What is the literal meaning of the word “avon”?

• It’s derived from a Celtic word for “river,” which means that the River Avon in England is really the River River.

Today's Holiday:

• May Day aka International Worker's Day.

History

• Act of Union: England and Scotland joined to form Great Britain (1707)
• Marriage of Figaro: Mozart's opera premiered in Vienna (1786)
• Empire State Building: world's tallest building (at the time) opened after 410 days of construction (1931)
• Citizen Kane: Orson Welles' film masterpiece loosely depicting — and criticizing — newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst debuted in New York City (1931)
• Cheerios: General Mills introduced the first oat-based ready-to-eat breakfast cereal (1941)
• North Korea: was established with Kim Il Sung as premier; he maintained power for the next 46 years (1948)
• Iraq War: George W. Bush declared the successful end of major combat operations in Iraq (2003)

Birthdays

• Benjamin Henry Latrobe 1764 - Architect known for his design of the United States Capitol and the Baltimore Basilica
• George Inness 1825 - American landscape painter
• James Graham 1878 - Scottish nobleman, politician
• Leo Sowerby 1895 - Composer, musician, won Pulitzer Prize fro music in 1946
• Kate Smith 1909 - Singer
• Archie Williams 1915 - Olympic athlete
• Glen Ford 1916 - Actor ("Gilda", "The Courtship of Eddie's Father")
• John Beradino (Giovanni Berardino) 1917 - Baseball player, actor
• Jack Paar 1918 - Radio and television comedian, talk show host ("The Tonight Show")
• Harry Caray 1919 - Baseball broadcaster
• Dan O'Herlihy 1919 - Actor ("Macbeth (1948)", "Robinson Crusoe")
• Julian Goodman 1922 - CEO for NBC, was on Richard Nixon's master list of political opponents
• Joseph Heller 1923 - Novelist, short story writer, playwright
• Terry Southern 1924 - Author, essayist, screenwriter
• Scott Carpenter 1925 - One of NASA's original seven astronauts
• Chuck Bednarik 1925 - Football player
• Sonny James (James Loden) 1929 - Country music singer and songwriter
• Ollie Matson (Ollie Genoa Matson II) 1930 - Football player
• Little Walter (Marion Walter Jacobs) 1930 - Musician
• Judy Collins (Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins) 1939 - Singer and songwriter
• Bobbie Ann Mason 1940 - Novelist, short story writer, essayist, literary critic
• Stephen Macht 1942 - Actor
• Mimi Farina (Mimi Baez Fariña) 1945 - Singer, songwriter
• Rita Coolidge 1945 - Singer
• Nick Fortune 1946 - Musician (The Buckinghams)
• Jerry Heard 1947 - Golfer
• Douglas Barr 1949 - Actor, writer, director
• Dann Florek 1951 - Actor ("Law and Order: SVU")
• Ray Parker Jr. 1954 - Singer (Raydio)
• Nick Feldman 1955 - Musician (Wang Chung)
• Steve Farris 1957 - Musician (Mr. Mister)
• Phil Smith 1959 - Musician (Haircut 100)
• Wayne Hancock 1965 - Country musician
• Charlie Schlatter 1966 - Actor ("Diagnosis: Murder")
• Johnny Colt 1966 - Musician (The Black Crowes)
• Tim McGraw 1967 - Country musician
• D'Arcy Wreztky 1968 - Musician (Smashing Pumpkins)
• Wes Anderson 1969 - Director
• Julie Benz 1972 - Actress ("Dexter," "Angel")
• Curtis Martin 1973 - Football player
• Darius McCrary 1976 - Actor ("Family Matters"), singer