Sunday, May 18, 2014

pernicious \pur-NISH-us\, adjective:

• Highly injurious; deadly; destructive; exceedingly harmful.

Pernicious comes from Latin perniciosus, "destructive, ruinous," from pernicies, "destruction, disaster, ruin," from per-, "through, thoroughly" + nex, nec-, "violent death."

 

Bachelor Breakfast

• Eating breakfast (or any other meal really) while standing at your kitchen counter instead of sitting at your kitchen table.

My dad drives my mom crazy eating his bachelor breakfast of burnt toast.

History 

• Montreal: the French founded the Quebec city as Ville Marie de Montréal (1642)
• Napoleon Bonaparte: crowned himself emperor (1804)
• Plessy v. Ferguson: the concept of separate but equal racial segregation in public places was affirmed by the US Supreme Court (1896)
• Mount St. Helens eruption: Mount St. Helens, a stratovolcanic peak in Washington State, erupted, shooting a plume of gases 63,000 feet high and killing more than 50 people (1980)
• Les Misérables: closed after 16 years on Broadway (2003)

Birthdays

• Frank Capra 1897
• Meredith Wilson 1902
• Big Joe Turner 1911
• Perry Como 1912
• Pierre Balmain 1914
• Margot Fonteyn 1919
• Dame Margot Fonteyn 1919
• Pope John Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyla) 1920
• Bill Macy 1922
• Kay Winding 1922
• Marquita Rivera 1922
• Jack Whitaker 1924
• Pernell Roberts 1930 - Actor ("Bonanza," "Trapper John, M.D.")
• Robert Morse 1931 - Actor ("Mad Men," "How to Succeed in Business ...")
• Dwayne Hickman 1934
• Brooks Robinson 1937 - Baseball player
• Albert Hammond 1942
• Rodney Dillard 1942 - Musician (The Dillards)
• Reggie Jackson 1946 - Baseball player
• Joe Bonsall 1948 - Musician (The Oak Ridge Boys)
• Dave Atkins 1949
• Candice Azzara 1949
• Rick Wakeman 1949 - Musician (Yes)
• Rodney Milburn, Jr. 1950
• James Stephens 1951
• George Strait 1952 - Country musician
• Butch Tavares 1953 - Musician (Tavares)
• Wreckless Eric 1954
• Chow Yun-Fat 1955 - Actor
• Michael Cretu 1957 - Musician (Enigma)
• Toyah Wilcox 1958
• Page Hamilton 1960
• Jari Kurri 1960 - Hockey player
• Yannick Noah 1960 - Tennis player
• Martika 1969 - Singer
• Tina Fey 1970 - Actress, comedian ("30 Rock," "Saturday Night Live")
• Special Ed 1974
• Darryl Allen 1980 - Musician (Mista)
• Spencer Breslin 1992 - Actor