Sunday, February 21, 2016

bombast \BOM-bast\, noun:

• Pompous or pretentious speech or writing.

Bombast comes from Medieval French bombace, "cotton, hance padding," from Late Latin bombax, "cotton."

echo boomer

• The child of a Baby Boomer.

I didn't have my Echo Boomer around to show me how to download a ringtone to my cell phone.

History

• The Communist Manifesto: was published by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (1848)
• DNA: scientists Watson and Crick discovered the elusive double helix (1953)
• peace symbol: was designed by Gerald Holtom as a nuclear disarmament logo; it combines the letters "n" and "d" in the flag semaphore alphabet (1958)
• Malcolm X: militant civil rights leader was assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam while delivering a speech in New York (1965)
• Steve Fossett: became the first to cross the Pacific in a balloon upon traveling from South Korea to Canada; 12 years later, he disappeared while flying a plane in Nevada and later was declared dead (1995)

Birthdays

• Alice Palmer (Alice Elvira Freeman) 1855 - Educator, helped organize American Association of University Women
• Andres Segovia 1893
• W.H. (Wystan Hugh) Auden 1907 - Poet
• Zachary Scott 1914
• Ann Sheridan 1915 - Actress ("Appointment in Honduras", "The Man Who Came to Dinner")
• Albert Axelrod 1921 - Fencer, editor (American Fencing Magazine)
• Jack Ramsay 1925 - Basketball coach
• Sam Peckinpah 1925 - Director
• Erma Bombeck 1927 - Humorist, columnist, writer
• Hubert de Givenchy 1927 - Fashion designer
• Nina Simone (Eunice Waymon) 1933 - Singer, songwriter
• Rue McClanahan 1935 - Actress ("The Golden Girls", "Maude", "Mama’s Family")
• Barbara Jordan 1936 - Lawyer, U.S. Congresswoman
• Ron Clarke 1937 - Runner, broke 17 world records between 1963 and 1970
• Gary Lockwood (Yusolfsky) 1937 - Actor ("2001: A Space Odyssey", "Splendor in the Grass")
• Ernie McMillan 1938 - Football player
• Peter Gethin 1940 - Auto racer
• Peter McEnery 1940 - Actor ("Negatives")
• David Geffen 1943 - Producer, record executive (Geffen Records)

  
• Jack Billingham 1943 - Baseball player
• Danny Grant 1945 - Hockey player
• Tyne Daly 1946 - Actress ("Cagney and Lacey", "The Enforcer")
• Alan Rickman 1946
  Anthony Daniels 1946 C3PO
• Jerry Harrison 1949 - Musician (Talking Heads)
• Bill Olds 1951 - Football player
• Vince Welnick 1951 - Musician (The Tubes, The Greatful Dead)
• Jean-Jacques Burnel 1952 - Musician (The Stranglers)
• Ken Huff 1953 - Football player
• Jim Pietrzak 1953 - Football player
• William Petersen 1953 - Actor ("CSI: Crime Scene Investigation", "Fear")
• Kelsey Grammer 1955 - Actor ("Cheers", "Frazier")
• Jack Coleman 1958
• Alan Trammell 1958
• Mary Chapin Carpenter 1958 - Singer
• Christopher Atkins 1961 - Actor ("Dallas", "The Blue Lagoon")
• Ranking Roger (English Beat, General Public) 1961
• William "Billy" Baldwin 1963 - Actor ("Backdraft")
• Corey Harris 1969
• Eric Wilson 1970 - Musician (Sublime)
• Jennifer Love Hewitt 1979 - Actress ("Party of Five", "I Know What You Did Last Summer", "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit") aka Jennifer Love Huge Tits
• Charlotte Church 1986 - Singer, actor
• Ashley Greene 1987 - Actress ("Twilight")