TGIF! Good Friday April 18, 2014

panacea \ pan-uh-SEE-uh \ , noun; 

1. a remedy for all disease or ills; cure-all. 
2. an answer or solution for all problems or difficulties: His economic philosophy is a good one, but he tries to use it as a panacea.

Origin: Panacea derives from Greek panakeia , from panakes , "all-healing," from pan- , "all" + akos , "cure."

ash hole

1) the small opening in the volcanic ash clouds that allow airliners to fly through without any chance of danger.

2) the opening at the top of a volcano from which forth spews volcanic ash

We were stranded at Heathrow Airport for hours until the airline found some ash hole to fly through.
Holiday

• Good Friday: Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary.

History

• San Francisco earthquake: ignited an inferno, killing hundreds and reducing the city to shambles (1906)
• washateria: the first laundromat opened, in Fort Worth, Texas (1934)
• Éire: formally withdrew from the British Commonwealth and became the Republic of Ireland (1949)
• London Bridge: the Thames crossing was sold to American Robert T. McCulloch, who later had it rebuilt in Arizona (1968)
• Wayne Gretzky: NHL legend played his last pro hockey game at NYC's Madison Square Garden (1999)

Birthdays

• George Henry Lewes 1817
• Clarence Darrow 1857 - Attorney, famous for his part in the Scopes 'monkey trial'
• Sam (Samuel Earl) Crawford 1880 - Baseball player
• Leopold Stokowski 1882 - Conductor
• Sylvia Fisher 1910
• Tony Mottola 1918 - Guitarist, arranger for Perry Como's TV variety show
• Hal Galper 1938
• Barbara Hale 1922 - Actress ("Perry Mason", "Airport")
• Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown 1924
• Clive Revill 1930 - Actor ("The Sea Wolf", "The Empire Strikes Back")
• James Drury 1934
• Don Ohl 1936 - Basketball player
• Robert Hooks 1937 - Actor ("Star Trek III: The Search for Spock", "Passenger 57")
• Hal Galper 1938 - Jazz pianist (Hal Galper Quintet), author ("The Touring Musician")
• Richie Pettibone 1938 - Football player
• Mike Vickers 1941 - Musician (Manfred Mann)
• Walt Sweeney 1941 - Football player
• Steve Blass 1942 - Baseball player
• Pete Gogolak 1942 - Football player
• Jochen Rindt 1942 - Auto racer
• Hayley Mills 1946 - Actress ("The Parent Trap"), singer
• Alexander "Skip" Spence 1946 - Musician (Moby Grape, Jefferson Airplane)
• James Woods 1947 - Actor ("The Onion Field", "Casino")
• Dorothy Lyman 1947 - Actress ("All My Children")
• Cindy Pickett 1947
• Walt Richmond 1947 - Musician (Tractors)
• Nate Archibald 1948 - Basketball player
• Catherine Malfilano 1948
• Geoff Bodine 1949 - Auto racer
• Rick Moranis 1954 - Actor ("Parenthood", "Ghostbusters" series, "Spaceballs")
• John James 1956 - Actor ("Search for Tomorrow", "As the World Turns")
• Eric Roberts 1956 - Actor ("Doctor Who", "The Coca-Cola Kid"), brother of actress Julia Roberts
• Melody Thomas Scott 1956
• Les Pattinson 1958 - Musician (Echo and the Bunnymen)
• Wilbur Marshall 1962 - Football player
• Jane Leeves 1963 - Actress (TV: "The Benny Hill Show" "Frazier")
• Conan O'Brien 1963 - Television personality ("Late Night with Conan O'Brien")
• Mike Mangini 1963 - Drummer (Dream Theater)
• Eric McCormack 1963
• Maria Bello 1967
• Greg Eklund 1970 - Musician (Everclear)
• Trina 1974 - Singer (Trina and Tamara)
• Mark Thomas Tremonti 1974 - Guitarist (Creed)
• Sean Maguire 1976
• Melissa Joan Hart 1976 - Actress ("Sabrina the Teenage Witch")
• Kourtney Mary Kardashian 1979
• Alia Shawkat 1989