Friday, May 30, 2014

vertiginous \vur-TIJ-uh-nuhs\, adjective:

1. Affected with vertigo; giddy; dizzy.

2. Causing or tending to cause dizziness.

3. Turning round; whirling; revolving.

4. Inclined to change quickly or frequently; inconstant.

Vertiginous derives from Latin vertigo, "a turning round, a whirling round; giddiness," from vertere, "to turn." Related words include reverse, "to turn back (re-) or around"; subvert, "to undermine" (from sub-, "under" + vertere -- at root "to turn from under, to overturn"); and versus, "against" (from versus, "turned towards," hence "facing, opposed," from the past participle of vertere).

upcycling 

• The practice of converting waste materials into products of greater value.

By upcycling, the contractor took a junked Boeing 747 and created a home for a client. 

History

• Joan of Arc: French heroine was burned at the stake for heresy (1431)
• Indy 500: the first was held; it was won by Ray Harroun driving a car fitted with a revolutionary rear-view mirror (1911)
• Lincoln Memorial: US presidential memorial, styled after a Greek temple, was established to honor Abraham Lincoln (1922)
• Goddess of Democracy: 30-ft. statue was erected by demonstrators at Tiananmen Square, Beijing (1989)
• Ground Zero: recovery effort officially ended with the removal of the last remaining piece of structural steel (2002)

Birthdays

• Peter I (Russia) 1672
• Arthur Vining Davis 1867
• Stepin Fetchit 1892
• Cornelia Otis Skinner 1901
• Mel Blanc 1908
• Benny Goodman 1909
• Joseph Stein 1912
• Pee Wee Erwin 1913
• Frank Blair 1915
• Joseph W. Kennedy 1916
• George London 1920
• Franklin Schaffner 1920
• Johnny Gimble 1926
• Clint Walker 1927
• Ruta Lee 1936
• Dave Hill 1937
• Michael J. Pollard 1939
• Gale Sayers 1943 - Football player
• Lenny Davidson 1944 - Musician (The Dave Clark Five)
• Meredith MacRae 1945
• Stephen Tobolowsky 1951
• Nicky "Topper" Headon 1955 - Musician (The Clash)
• Ted McGinley 1958
• Marie Fredriksson 1958 - Musician (Roxette)
• Ralph Carter 1961
• Wynonna Judd 1964 - Country musician (The Judds)
• Tom Morello 1964 - Musician (Rage Against The Machine)
• Patrick Dahlheimer 1971 - Musician (Live)
• Manny Ramirez 1972
• Trey Parker 1972
• Cee-Lo Green 1974 - (Goodie Mob)
• Blake Bashoff 1981