Saturday, February 16, 2013

gastronomy \ga-STRON-uh-mee\, noun:

1. the art or science of good eating.
2. a style of cooking or eating.

The name of this delicious discipline entered the lexicon in the early 1800s. Gastronomy combines the prefix gastro- from the Greek gastēr meaning "stomach" and the suffix -nomy indicating a science or field of study.

counter-tourism (n.)

• counter-tourism refers to offensive measures taken to deter, prevent and respond to tourism.

Before the 2010 Vancouver Olympics began all the manhole covers in and around the city were welded open as a counter-tourism measure.

Trivia

What is the maximum number of digits allowed on a credit card?

• 19, under guidelines set by the International Standards Organization and the American Standards Institute. Cards issued by American Express have 15 digits; by MasterCard and Discover, 16; and by Visa, either 13 or 16.

History

• Tutankhamen's tomb: Egyptian king's burial chamber was opened, mesmerizing the world with the wealth inside; among the treasures found were a gold throne, a gold sarcophagus and the king's mummified body (1923)
• nylon: the high-strength synthetic polymer was patented by industrial chemist Wallace Hume Carothers (1937)
• Fidel Castro: became leader of Cuba after ousting Fulgencio Batista; he stepped down in 2008 due to ill health, and his brother Raúl took office (1959)
• 911: Alabama's speaker of the house placed the first call on the US emergency telephone system, in Haleyville (1968)

Birthdays

• Henry Adams 1838
• Robert Flaherty 1884
• Van Wyck Brooks 1886
• Katharine Cornell 1898
• Chester Morris 1901
• Wayne King (The Waltz King) 1901
• Edgar Bergen 1903
• Hugh Beaumont 1909
• Jimmy Wakely 1914
• Bill Doggett 1916
• Patty Marie Andrews 1918 - Singer (The Andrews Sisters)
• Jean Behra 1921
• Vera-Ellen Westmeyer Rohe 1921
• Otis Blackwell 1932
• Gretchen Wyler 1932
• Sonny Bono 1935 - Singer (Sonny and Cher)
• Barry Primus 1938
• Herbie & Harold Kalin (The Kalin Twins) 1939
• Jeremy Bulloch 1946 - Actor (Boba Fett)
• Pete Postlethwaite 1946 - Actor
• William Katt 1951 - Actor
• Margaux Hemingway 1955
• James Ingram 1956 - Singer
• LeVar Burton 1957 - Actor
• Ice-T 1958 - Rapper
• Lisa Loring 1958 - Actress
• John McEnroe 1959 - Tennis player
• Andy Taylor 1961 - Musician (Duran Duran)
• Jerome Bettis 1972 - Football player
• Ahman Green 1977 - Football player
• Sam Salter 1978 - Singer