Wednesday, May 9, 2012

sudorific \soo-duh-RIF-ik\, adjective:

1. Causing sweat.
2. Sudoriparous.

noun:

1. A sudorific agent.

Sudorific comes from the Latin word sūdor meaning "sweat." The word "sweat" is unrelated and comes from the Old English, swote.

intensive porpoises

1. malapropism for 'intents and purposes'
2. seriously determined and focused aquatic mammals, dangerous to sharks

For all intensive porpoises, whiskey and vodka will both mess you up in a similar manner if you drink enough.

Trivia

How did the Daily Telegraph newspaper help the British Secret Intelligence Service find code-breaking recruits during World War II?

• The paper held a crossword puzzle competition in which contestants were challenged to solve a tough puzzle in under 12 minutes. The War Office recruited the winners.

History

• the Pill: oral contraceptive was approved by the FDA; it all began with hormones from an inedible Mexican yam (1960)
• "vast wasteland" speech: FCC chairman Newton Minow referred to television as a "vast wasteland" and called for programming in the "public interest" (1961)
• The Beatles: hired George Martin as their producer and signed their first recording contract (1962)
• Aldo Moro: the bullet-riddled body of the five-term Italian prime minister was found; he had been kidnapped by violently left-wing Red Brigade terrorists (1978)
• White Sox: beat the Brewers in 25 innings (eight hours and six minutes), the longest game in MLB history (1984)
• Ebola: Kinshasa was quarantined after an outbreak (1994)

Birthdays

• John Brown 1800
• Belle Boyd 1843
• Sir James Barrie 1860
• Howard Carter 1873
• Henry J. Kaiser 1882
• Hank Snow 1914
• Mike Wallace 1918 - Broadcast journalist ("60 Minutes")
• Lloyd Price 1933
• Alan Bennett 1934
• Albert Finney 1936 - Actor
• Glenda Jackson 1936 - Actress
• Dave Prater 1937 - Musician (Sam & Dave)
• Sonny Curtis 1937 - Musician (Buddy Holly and the Crickets)
• Ralph Boston 1939
• Nokie Edwards 1939 - Musician (The Ventures)
• James L. Brooks 1940 - Director
• Pete Birrell 1941 - Musician (Freddie and the Dreamers)
• Tommy Roe 1942
• Richie Furay 1944 - Musician (Buffalo Springfield, Poco)
• Steve Katz 1945 - Musician (Blood, Sweat and Tears)
• Clint Holmes 1946
• Candice Bergen 1946 - Actress ("Murphy Brown")
• Anthony Higgins 1947
• Clavin Murphy 1948 - Basketball player
• Billy Joel 1949 - Musician
• Tom Peterson 1950 - Musician (Cheap Trick)
• Alley Mills 1951 - Actress ("The Wonder Years")
• Tony Gwynn 1960 - Baseball player
• Dave Gahan 1962 - Musician (Depeche Mode)
• Paul Heaton 1962 - Musician (The Housemartins)
• Peter Wilkinson 1969 - Musician (Cast)
• Ghostface Killah 1970 - Rapper (Wu-Tang Clan)
• Tamia 1975
• Dan Regan 1977 - Musician (Reel Big Fish)
• Rosario Dawson 1979 - Actress
• Brandon Webb 1979 - Baseball player
• Rachel Boston 1982 - Actress ("American Dreams")
• Prince Fielder 1984 - Baseball player
• Audrina Patridge 1985 - Actress ("The Hills")