Thursday, April 2, 2015

gambol \GAM-buhl\, intransitive verb:

1. To dance and skip about in play; to frolic.
2. A skipping or leaping about in frolic.

Gambol, earlier gambolde or gambalde, comes from Medieval French gambade, "a leaping or skipping," from Late Latin gamba, "hock (of a horse), leg," from Greek kampe, "a joint or bend."

 

LDOC

• Last Day Of Class. Used by students in away messages and Facebook status updates to denote their sheer enthusiasm at realizing the semester has come to an end. Exponentially more exciting when it is the LDOC of the year or LDOC of school (i.e. the end of high school, college, or professional school). Not coined by Duke University, although they try to claim such.

Facebook status: "Jane Doe is LDOC!!!!" 
Away message: "LDOC, baby!" 
Flyer: "Come celebrate the LDOC by playing in the fountains!"

History

• Florida: Juan Ponce de León discovered this state's flowery coast, naming it for Pascua florida ("flowery Easter"); he was searching for the Fountain of Youth; the event is commemorated as Pascua Florida Day (1513)
• Turin: the first Italian Parliament convened in the first capital of the new Kingdom of Italy (1860)
• "The world must be made safe for democracy": with these words, US President Woodrow Wilson urged Congress to enter WWI (1917)
• Falkland Islands War: Argentina invaded British-occupied Falkland Islands; Argentina's defeat within a few months discredited its military government, and civilian rule was restored the following year (1982)

Birthdays

• Giovanni Casanova 1725 - Writer, philanderer
• Hans Christian Andersen 1805 - Author ("The Ugly Duckling")
• Frederic Bartholdi 1834
• Emile Zola 1840 - Novelist
• Walter Chrysler 1875 - Auto manufacturer (Chrysler Corporation)
• Max Ernst 1891 - Sculptor and painter
• Buddy Ebsen 1908 - Actor ("The Beverly Hillbillies", "Barnaby Jones")
• Herbert Mills 1912 - Singer (The Mills Brothers)
• Sir Alec Guinness (Alec Guinness de Cuffe) 1914 - Actor ("Bridge Over River Kwai", "A Passage to India", "The Empire Strikes Back", "Star Wars")
• Lou Monte 1917 - Singer
• Dabbs Greer 1917
• Charles White 1918 - Artist
• Jack Webb (John Randolf) 1920 - Director, actor
• Sir Jack Brabham - Auto racer
• Bobby (Roberto Francisco Gonzales) Avila 1924 - Baseball player
• Carmen Basilio 1927 - Boxer
• Rita Gam 1928 - Actress ("The Thief", "Midnight")
• Sharon Acker 1935
• Warner Mack 1938 - Country singer
• Marvin Gaye, Jr. 1939 - Singer ("I Heard It Through The Grapevine")
• Leon Russel 1942 - Singer, songwriter
• Larry Coryell 1943
• Glen Dale 1943 - Musician (The Fortunes)
• Marlene Floyd 1944 - Golfer, golf commentator
• Linda Hunt 1945 - Actress ("Kindergarten Cop")
• Reggie (Carl Reginald) Smith 1945 - Baseball player
• Don Sutton 1945 - Baseball pitcher
• Emmylou Harris 1947 - Singer
• Leon Wilkerson 1952 - Musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
• Pamela Reed 1953 - Actress
• Debralee Scott 1953 - Actress ("Police Academy")
• Ron "Horshack" Palillo 1954
• Christopher Meloni 1961 - Actor ("Law and Order: Special Victims Unit")
• Keren Woodward 1961 - Singer (Bananarama)
• Clark Gregg 1962 - Actor
• Billy Dean 1962
• Bill Romanowski 1966 - Football player
• Roselyn Sanchez 1973 - Actress ("Without a Trace")
• Jeremy Garrett 1976
• Michael Fassbender 1977
• Jesse Plemons 1988 - Actor ("Friday Night Lights")