Saturday, June 13, 2015

prestidigitation \pres-tuh-dij-uh-TAY-shuhn\, noun:

• Skill in or performance of tricks; sleight of hand.

Prestidigitation was adopted from French, from preste, "nimble, quick" (from Italian presto, from Late Latin praestus, "ready at hand") + Latin digitus, "finger." One skilled in sleight of hand is a prestidigitator.

 

genpop 

• General Population. As in the open area in a prison. From Oz on HBO. A sucky area to be.

This sucks. We're stuck in genpop with the rest of these hillibilies.

History

• Great Vancouver Fire: most of the Canadian city was destroyed by a fire that killed dozens of people and left only a few buildings standing; within days rebuilding began (1886)
• Boxer Rebellion: peasant uprising began in China (1900)
• Miranda vs. Arizona: the US Supreme Court issued its landmark decision ruling that criminal suspects must be informed of their constitutional rights prior to police questioning (1966)
• Thurgood Marshall: became the first black man to be nominated as a US Supreme Court justice; he served for 24 years (1967)
• Pioneer 10: the space probe flew out of the solar system, the first manmade object to do so (1983)
• Mehmet Ali Agca: would-be assassin of Pope John Paul II in 1981 was pardoned by Italy (2000)

Birthdays

• Gnaeus Julius Agricola 0040 - Roman general
• Winfield Scott 1786 - United States Army General
• James C. Maxwell 1831 - Scottish theoretical physicist and mathematician
• William Butler Yeats 1865 - Poet, dramatist
• Harold "Red" Grange (Harold Edward "Red" Grange) 1903 - Football player nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost"
• Doc Cheatham 1905 - Musician
• Luis Walter Alvarez 1911 - Physicist, inventor
• Ralph Edwards (Ralph Livingstone Edwards) 1913 - Radio and television host, television producer
• Mary Wickes (Mary Isabelle Wickenhauser) 1916 - Actress
• Sy Zentner 1917 - Musician, bandleader
• Ben Johnson (Benjamin Sinclair "Ben" Johnson) 1918 - Sprinter
• Paul Lynde 1926 - Comedian, actor
• Bob McGrath 1932 - Actor ("Sesame Street")
• Christo (Christo Vladimirov Javacheff) 1935 - Artist
• Siegfried 1939 - Magician (Siegfried & Roy)
• Bobby Freeman 1940 - Singer, songwriter, record producer
• Malcolm McDowell 1943 - Actor
• Dennis Locorriere 1949 - Musician (Dr. Hook)
• Jonathan Hogan 1951 - Actor
• Richard Thomas 1951 - Actor ("The Waltons")
• Stellan Skarsgard 1951 - Actor
• Tim Allen 1953 - Comedian, actor ("Home Improvement")
• Ally Sheedy 1962 - Actress
• Hannah Storm 1962 - Television host
• Bettina Bunge 1963 - Tennis player
• Deniece Pearson 1968 - Singer (Five Star)
• Jamie Walters 1969 - Actor, singer
• Steve-O 1974 - Actor
• Ethan Embry 1978 - Actor
• Sarah Schaub 1983 - Actress
• Kat Dennings 1986 Actress
• Ashley Olsen 1986 - Actress
• Mary-Kate Olsen 1986 - Actress