Thursday, February 21, 2013

Jacobin \JAK-uh-bin\, noun:

1. an extreme radical, especially in politics.
2. (in the French Revolution) a member of a radical society or club of revolutionaries that promoted the Reign of Terror and other extreme measures, active chiefly from 1789 to 1794: so called from the Dominican convent in Paris, where they originally met.
3. a Dominican friar.
4. (lowercase) one of a fancy breed of domestic pigeons having neck feathers that hang over the head like a hood.

This French word has a radical history worthy of its definition. The Jacobins are an order of Dominican friars that have practiced in Paris since the 1300s. During the French Revolution, Parisian radicals quartered themselves in the Jacobin convent of Saint Jacques in 1789, and now Jacobin can refer to revolutionaries or extremists of any kind.

passhole

• The idiot drivers that move steadily along, but suddenly increase speed when they wake up and realize you are passing them. If they succeed in blocking your opportunity to pass, they will immediately resume the former, annoying pace. If you pass them successfully, they will ride your bumper for a short time before returning to la-la land.

That's right you F%$&;!@# passhole. Suddenly you're in a big F%$&!@# hurry!

Trivia
What 1954 event in the South Pacific was code-named Castle Bravo?

• The first U.S. test of a dry-fuel thermonuclear hydrogen bomb, at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

History

• The Communist Manifesto: was published by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (1848)
• DNA: scientists Watson and Crick discovered the elusive double helix (1953)
• peace symbol: was designed by Gerald Holtom as a nuclear disarmament logo; it combines the letters "n" and "d" in the flag semaphore alphabet (1958)
• Malcolm X: militant civil rights leader was assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam while delivering a speech in New York (1965)
• Steve Fossett: became the first to cross the Pacific in a balloon upon traveling from South Korea to Canada; 12 years later, he disappeared while flying a plane in Nevada and later was declared dead (1995)

Birthdays

• Alice Palmer (Alice Elvira Freeman) 1855 - Educator, helped organize American Association of University Women
• Andres Segovia 1893
• W.H. (Wystan Hugh) Auden 1907 - Poet
• Zachary Scott 1914
• Ann Sheridan 1915 - Actress ("Appointment in Honduras", "The Man Who Came to Dinner")
• Albert Axelrod 1921 - Fencer, editor (American Fencing Magazine)
• Jack Ramsay 1925 - Basketball coach
• Sam Peckinpah 1925 - Director
• Erma Bombeck 1927 - Humorist, columnist, writer
• Hubert de Givenchy 1927 - Fashion designer
• Nina Simone (Eunice Waymon) 1933 - Singer, songwriter
• Rue McClanahan 1935 - Actress ("The Golden Girls", "Maude", "Mama’s Family")
• Barbara Jordan 1936 - Lawyer, U.S. Congresswoman
• Ron Clarke 1937 - Runner, broke 17 world records between 1963 and 1970
• Gary Lockwood (Yusolfsky) 1937 - Actor ("2001: A Space Odyssey", "Splendor in the Grass")
• Ernie McMillan 1938 - Football player
• Peter Gethin 1940 - Auto racer
• Peter McEnery 1940 - Actor ("Negatives")
• David Geffen 1943 - Producer, record executive (Geffen Records)
• Jack Billingham 1943 - Baseball player
• Danny Grant 1945 - Hockey player
• Tyne Daly 1946 - Actress ("Cagney and Lacey", "The Enforcer")
• Alan Rickman 1946
• Jerry Harrison 1949 - Musician (Talking Heads)
• Bill Olds 1951 - Football player
• Vince Welnick 1951 - Musician (The Tubes, The Greatful Dead)
• Jean-Jacques Burnel 1952 - Musician (The Stranglers)
• Ken Huff 1953 - Football player
• Jim Pietrzak 1953 - Football player
• William Petersen 1953 - Actor ("CSI: Crime Scene Investigation", "Fear")
• Kelsey Grammer 1955 - Actor ("Cheers", "Frazier")
• Jack Coleman 1958
• Alan Trammell 1958
• Mary Chapin Carpenter 1958 - Singer
• Christopher Atkins 1961 - Actor ("Dallas", "The Blue Lagoon")
• Ranking Roger (English Beat, General Public) 1961
• William "Billy" Baldwin 1963 - Actor ("Backdraft")
• Corey Harris 1969
• Eric Wilson 1970 - Musician (Sublime)
• Jennifer Love Hewitt 1979 - Actress ("Party of Five", "I Know What You Did Last Summer", "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit") aka Jennifer Love Huge Tits
• Charlotte Church 1986 - Singer, actor
• Ashley Greene 1987 - Actress ("Twilight")