Sunday, February 1, 2015

victuals \VIT-uhlz\, noun:

• food or provisions, esp. for humans

c 1303, vitaylle (singular), from Anglo-French and Old French vitaille, from Late Latin victualia "provisions," noun use of plural of victualis "of nourishment," from victus "livelihood, food, sustenance," from base of vivere "to live." Spelling altered by 1523 to conform with Latin, but pronunciation remains "vittles."

VOCD

• "Volume Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder"
• Function: Noun
• A psychoneurotic disorder in which the television viewer is beset with obsessions or compulsions or both to adjust the volume on the television to a "perfect" number, such as 15, 20, 25, etc. and suffers extreme anxiety or depression through failure to adjust the volume or witnessing an "imperfect" number (9, 16, 31).

Joe has VOCD; he must adjust the volume on any television in which it is not set to a perfect number.

History

• US Supreme Court: held its first session, in NY; John Jay, a Federalist Papers author, presided (1790)
• Oxford English Dictionary: first fascicle, A—Ant, was published (1884)
  

  
• Grand Central Station opened in New York City (1913)
• Greensboro, NC: four black college students began a sit-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter, where they'd been refused service (1960)
• Ayatollah Khomeini: returned to Tehran after some 15 years of exile; the Iranian Revolution turned the country into an Islamic republic soon after (1979)
• Columbia: space shuttle disintegrated on reentry, killing all seven astronauts aboard (2003)
• wardrobe malfunction: Janet Jackson, in a duet with Justin Timberlake, caused a stir at the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show (2004)

Birthdays

• Victor Herbert 1859 - Cellist, conductor
• John Ford (Sean Aloysius O’Feeney) 1894 - Director
• Clark Gable 1901 - Actor ("It Happened One Night", "Gone with the Wind")
• Langston Hughes 1902 - Author
• S.J. (Sidney) Perelman 1904 - Writer, screenwriter
• Renata Tebaldi 1922 - Opera singer
• Stuart Whitman 1928 - Actor ("Cimarron Strip", "The Longest Day")
• Boris Yeltsin 1931 - Russian president 1991-1999
• Bob Shane 1934 - Singer (The Kingston Trio)
• Garrett Morris 1937 - Actor, comedian
• Don Everly 1937 - Singer (The Everly Brothers)
• Ray Sawyer 1937 - Singer (Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show)
• Jacky Cupit 1938 - Golfer
• Sherman Hemsley 1938 - Actor ("The Jeffersons")
• Joe Sample 1939 - Jazz musician
• Del McCoury 1939 - Bluegrass singer
• Terry Jones 1942 - Comedian ("Monty Python" series)
• Wayne Rivers 1942 - Hockey player
• Dennis Farina 1944
• Paul Blair 1944 - Baseball player
• Dick Snyder 1944 - Basketball player
• Debbie Austin 1948 - Golfer
• Dave Thompson 1949 - Football player
• Rick James 1952 - Singer (Songs: "Cold Blooded" and "Super Freak")
• Bill Mumy 1954 - Actor ("Twilight Zone-The Movie", "The Rockford Files", writer, producer)
• Mike Campbell 1954 - Rock musician (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers)
• Exene Cervenka 1956 - Singer (X)
• Sherilynn Fenn 1965 - Actress ("Twin Peaks")
• Princess Stephanie of Monaco (Stéphanie Marie Elisabeth Grimaldi) 1965 - Singer, youngest child of Grace Kelly and Rainier III of Monaco, recorded "In The Closet" with Michael Jackson.
• Lisa Marie Presley 1968 - Musician, daughter of Elvis Presley
• Pauly Shore 1970 - Comedian, actor ("Encino Man")
• Big Boi 1975 - Rapper (Outkast)
• Jarrett Lennon 1982 - Actor ("Freaks and Geeks")
  Lauren Conrad 1986 - reality TV personality