Saturday, June 21, 2014

automaton \aw-TOM-uh-ton, -tn\, noun:

1. a mechanical figure or contrivance constructed to act as if by its own motive power; robot.
2. a person or animal that acts in a monotonous, routine manner, without active intelligence.
3. something capable of acting automatically or without an external motive force.

Automaton comes from the Greek autos + matos, literally meaning "self thinking." It entered English in the 1600s.

 

dick inches 

• Arbitrary (and usually incorrect) units of measurement used mostly by males. Derives from men overestimating their penis size. Dick inches are much shorter than actual inches. Hence a guy can claim to have a 9 inch penis when it is actually closer to 5-6 inches. The term "dick inches" is usually used when over-estimating non-penis measurements.

fellow one: "Finally! There's a parking spot!" 
fellow two: "No way, man...You can't park within 30 feet of a stop sign." 
fellow one: "There's plenty of room." 
fellow two: "Yeah, only if you're measuring in dick inches."

Holiday

• Solstice (summer in the Northern Hemisphere; winter in the Southern)

History

• US Constitution: went into effect as New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it (1788)
• Ellen Louks Fairclough: was sworn in as the first female member of the Canadian cabinet (1957)
• Women's National Basketball Association: league play began (1997)
• polio: the World Health Organization declared Europe free of the disease (2002)
• SpaceShipOne: the first privately funded and developed spacecraft was launched over the Mojave Desert and piloted into space by Michael Melvill (2004)
• Pluto: newly discovered moons were named Nix and Hydra (2006)

Birthdays

• Martha Washington 1731
• Henry Ossawa Tanner 1859
• Al Hirshfield 1903
• Jean-Paul Sartre 1905
• Jane Russell 1921
• Judy Holliday 1922
• Maureen Stapleton 1925
• Carl Stokes 1927
• O.C. Smith 1932
• Bernie Kopell 1933
• Francoise Sagan 1935
• Ron Ely 1938
• Monte Markham 1938
• Joe Flaherty 1940
• Mariette Hartley 1940
• Brian Sternberg 1943
• Ray Davies (Kinks) 1944
• Chris Britton ( The Troggs) 1945
• Brenda Holloway 1946
• Joey Molland 1947
• Michael Gross 1947
• Meredith Baxter Birney 1947
• Leon Everette 1948
• Joey Kramer (Aerosmith) 1950
• Nils Lofgren (E Street Band) 1951
• Robyn Douglas 1953
• Robert Pastorelli 1954
• Leigh McCloskey 1955
• Berke Brethed 1957
• Mark Brzezicki (Big Country) 1957
• Kathy Mattea 1959
• Marc Copage 1962
• Doug Savant 1964
• Porter Howell 1964
• Sammi Davis-Voss 1964
• Michael Dolan 1965
• Allison Moorer 1972
• Juliette Lewis 1973
• Justin Cary (Sixpence None the Richer) 1975
• Mike Einziger (Incubus) 1976
• Prince William (England) 1982