Sunday, July 22, 2012

arbalest \AHR-buh-list\ noun

• a crossbow especially of medieval times

The arbalest was the distance weapon of choice for medieval armies. It was first mentioned in 1100 in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record of Saxon England. In 1622 British historian Peter Heylyn wrote that Richard the Lion-Hearted, the 12th-century English monarch, was "slain by a shot from an Arbalist." The crossbow's name is one of many terms that came into English from Old French when the Normans took control of England after the Battle of Hastings; our word is adapted from "arbaleste," the French name of the weapon. The French, in turn, derived their word from a combination of Latin "arcus" (meaning "bow") and "ballista" ("an ancient crossbow for hurling large missiles").

Copperchomp

• Copperchomp is, whether knowingly or not, performing oral sex on a girl who is on her period.

I met a girl in a club last night, took her home, went down on her. When I looked in the mirror after, there was a mark on my face and I realised I'd given her a copperchomp.

Trivia
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History

• Cleveland: the Forest City was named after Gen. Moses Cleaveland, the superintendent of the group that surveyed the area (1796)
• Wiley Post: American aviator completed the first round-the-world solo flight (1933)
• John Dillinger: bank robber known as Public Enemy No. 1 was killed in a shootout with federal agents after seeing a movie in Chicago (1934)
• King David Hotel: Jerusalem landmark was bombed by the Irgun in an attack on the British (1946)
• Iraq: Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay were killed by US forces in Mosul; POW Pvt. 1st Class Jessica Lynch returned home to West Virginia (2003)

Birthdays

• Gregor Mendel 1822
• Steve Vincent Benet 1889
• Rose Kennedy 1890
• Karl Menninger 1893
• Alexander Calder 1898
• Bob Dole 1923
• Martha Whiting 1924
• Orson Bean 1928
• Marcia Henderson 1930
• Perry Lopez 1931
• Oscar De La Renta 1932
• Louise Fletcher 1934
• Chuck Jackson 1937
• Terence Stamp 1939
• Alex Trebek 1940
• George Clinton 1940
• Thomas Wayne 1941
• Bobby Sherman 1944
• Richard Davies (Supertramp) 1944
• Estelle Bennett (The Ronettes) 1944
• Paul Shrader 1946
• Danny Glover 1947
• Albert Brooks 1947
• Don Henley (Eagles) 1947
• Alan Menken 1949
• William Dafoe 1955
• Keith Sweat 1961
• Rob Estes 1963
• Joanna Going 1963
• Emily Saliers (Indigo Girls) 1963
• David Spade 1964
• John Leguizamo 1965
• Patrick Labyorteaux 1965
• Irene Bedard 1967