Thursday, May 9, 2013

stark \stahrk\, adjective:

1. extremely simple or severe: a stark interior.

2. sheer, utter, downright, or complete: stark madness.

3. harsh, grim, or desolate, as a view, place, etc.: a stark landscape.

4. bluntly or sternly plain; not softened or glamorized: the stark reality of the schedule's deadline.

5. stiff or rigid in substance, muscles, etc.

6. rigid in death.

7. Archaic. strong; powerful; massive or robust.

adverb:

1. utterly, absolutely, or quite: stark mad.

2. Chiefly Scot. and North England. in a stark manner; stoutly or vigorously.

From the Proto-Indo-European root ster- meaning "stiff" or "rigid," stark entered English around the year 1000. It shares its root with the word stare.

Requiem

• A mass for a deceased person.

It is the first word of the Mass for the Dead in the Latin liturgy: "Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine ...."

Trivia

Which small Caribbean resort island, known for its dazzling white sands, is named for its long, eel-like shape?

• Anguilla. Eel in Italian and Latin is anguilla; in Spanish, it’s anguila; and in French, it’s anguille. In English, anguilliform means “resembling or shaped like an eel.”

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")