Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

xeric \ZEER-ik\, adjective:
  • of, pertaining to, or adapted to a dry environment.
Xeric, a relatively young word, was coined by ecologists W.S. Cooper and A.O. Weese in 1926 to replace the word xerophytic for a lack of moisture in both plants and animals.
opprescedent
  • An unlawful and/or oppressive precedent set by a person or persons claiming authority.
The embedding of biometric chips in or on the general population sets a dangerous opprescedent which undermines both privacy and safety.
Trivia
How many amendments to the U.S. Constitution were proposed in the Bill of Rights passed by Congress in 1789?
  • 12. The first two proposed—dealing with the number and apportionment of the House of Representatives, and Congressional pay raises—failed to be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures. The remaining 10 were ratified and became the Bill of Rights.
History
  • Toronto: Canada's largest city, and one of the most livable cities in the world, was incorporated (1834)
  • the Alamo: fort was overrun by Mexican troops during the Texas revolution; all inside were killed (1836)
  • La Traviata: Verdi's opera premiered in Venice (1853)
  • Dred Scott case (1857): US Supreme Court ruled that slaves were not citizens; the decision was overturned a decade later by the 14th amendment
Birthdays
  • Michelangelo Buonarroti 1475
  • Cyrano De Bergerac 1619
  • Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806
  • Furry Lewis 1893
  • Bob Wills 1905
  • Lou Costello 1906
  • Ed McMahon 1923
  • Alan Greenspan 1926 - Federal Reserve chairman
  • Wes Montgomery 1927
  • Leroy Gordon ‘Gordo’ Cooper 1927
  • Gabriel Garcia-Marquez 1928 - Author ("Love in the Time of Cholera")
  • Lorin Maazel 1930
  • Marion Barry 1936
  • Sylvia Robinson 1936
  • Doug Dillard 1937
  • Valentina Tereshkova-Nikolaeva 1937
  • Joanna Miles 1940
  • Willie Stargell 1941
  • Ben Murphy 1942
  • Mary Wilson 1944 - Singer (Supremes)
  • Dame Kiri Te Kanawa 1944
  • Rob Reiner 1945
  • Hugh Grundy 1945 - Musician (The Zombies)
  • Kiki Dee 1947
  • Dick Fosbury 1947
  • David Gimour 1947 - Musician (Pink Floyd)
  • Tom Arnold 1959 - Actor
  • Skip Ewing 1964
  • D.L. Hughley 1964 - Actor ("The Hughleys")
  • Connie Britton 1968 - Actress
  • Moira Kelly 1968 - Actress ("Caroline in the City")
  • Amy Pietz 1969
  • Shaquille O'Neal 1972 - Basketball player
  • Chris Tomson 1984 - Musician (Vampire Weekend)

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