Sunday, April 10, 2016

Pyrrhic victory \PIR-ik\, noun:

• A victory achieved at great or excessive cost; a ruinous victory.

A Pyrrhic victory is so called after the Greek king Pyrrhus, who, after suffering heavy losses in defeating the Romans in 279 B.C., said to those sent to congratulate him, "Another such victory over the Romans and we are undone."

Soap grafting

• The act of attaching an almost completely used piece of soap to a new, unused piece because it is now too small to be conveniently used but you also don't want to waste it.

My mum always soap grafts because she doesn't want to waste anything. Soap grafting is good.

 
History

• ASPCA: was founded in New York by Henry Bergh to prevent cruelty to animals (1866)
• Titanic: luxury liner set out from Southampton, England, heading for New York on its ill-fated maiden voyage (1912)
• Emiliano Zapata: Mexican revolutionary leader known for his battle cry of "land and liberty" was killed by soldiers (1919)
• The Great Gatsby: F. Scott Fitzgerald's most popular novel was published (1925)
• The Beatles: Paul McCartney announced the group's disbandment (1970)
• euthanasia: the Netherlands legalized mercy killings and physician-assisted suicide for patients enduring unmanageable pain or terminal illness (2001)
• Amber Alert: US House passed a bill establishing a system for alerting the public about missing or abducted children (2003)

Birthdays

• James V (Scotland) 1512
• Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann 1755 - German physician that pioneered homeopathic medicine
• William Hazlitt 1778 - English writer, essayist, philosopher and critic
• Commodore Matthew Perry 1794
• Lew Wallace 1827 - U.S. novelist ("Ben Hur")
  

  
  
  
• William Booth 1829 - Founder of Salvation Army, author ("In Darkets England")
• Joseph Pulitzer 1847 - Publisher, his will left $2 million for a fund which established annual prizes for literature, drama, music and journalism
• George Arliss 1868 - Actor
• Frances Perkins (Mrs. Paul Caldwell Wilson) 1882 - first woman U.S. presidential cabinet member: Secretary of Labor
• Bernard Gimbel 1885 - Merchant (Gimbels Department Stores)
• Martin Denny 1911 - Composer, arranger, pianist
• Harry Morgan 1915 - Actor ("M*A*S*H")
• Robert Woodard 1917 - Scientist
• Sheb Wooley 1921 - Singer, songwriter, comedian
  

  
  
  
• Chuck (Kevin Joseph) Connors 1921 - Actor ("The Rifleman")
• Liz Sheridan 1929 - Actress ("Seinfeld")
• Max Von Sydow 1929 - Actor ("Dune", "Flash Gordon")
• Omar Sharif (Michael Shalhoub) 1932 - Actor ("Dr. Zhivago", "Lawrence of Arabia")
• David Halverstam 1934 - Author
• John Madden 1936 - Football player, coach, sports personality-analyst
• Bobbie Smith 1936 - Musician (The Spinners)
• Don Meredith 1938 - Football player
• Paul Edward Theroux 1941 - Author
• Bob "Bull" Watson 1946 - Baseball player
• Bunny Livingston Wailer 1947 - Musician, singer, songwriter (Bob Marley and the Wailers)
• Mel Blount 1962 - Football player
  

  
  
  
• Ken Griffey Sr. 1950 - Baseball player
• Dave Peveret 1950 - Musician (Foghat)
• Steven Seagal 1951 - Actor ("Out for Justice")
• Terry Roche 1953 - Musician (The Roches)
• Peter MacNicol 1954 - Actor ("Ghostbusters 2", "Chicago Hope", "24", "Ally McBeal")
• Steven Gustafson 1957 - Musician (10,000 Maniacs)
• Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds 1958 - Singer, producer
• Steve Garey 1959 - Pianist
• Brian Setzer 1959 - Musician (Stray Cats)
• Afrika Bambaataa 1960 - Rapper
• Katrina Leskanich 1960 - Singer (Katrina and the Waves)
• Jeb Adams 1961 - Actor
• Cathy Turner 1962
  

  
  
  
• Reni 1964 - Musician (Stone Roses)
• Tim "Herb" Alexander 1965 - Musician (Primus)
• Orlando Jones 1968 - Actor, comedian
• Kenny Lattimore 1970 - Singer
• Shemekia Copeland 1979 - Singer
• Laura Bell Bundy 1981 - Actress, singer
• Chyler Leigh 1982 - Actress ("Grey's Anatomy")
• Ryan Merriman 1983 - Actor
• Mandy Moore 1984 - Singer, actress ("A Walk to Remember")
• Haley Joel Osment 1988 - Actor ("The Sixth Sense")

• Daisy Ridley 1992 Actress (Star Wars)

• 

 

  

  

  

 

 

 

 

  

.