Tuesday, May 31, 2016

threnody \THREN-uh-dee\, noun:

• A poem, speech, or song of lamentation, esp. for the dead; dirge; funeral song.

The source of threnody is the Greek thrēnōidía, where thrēnōs is "lamentation" and ōid is "song." (Also the root of ode.)

 

Football Minute

• When someone asks for a minute to do something, even though they know it will take much longer than 60 seconds.

Wife: I need to run into this store. It'll only take a minute

Husband mumbles: More like a football minute.

History

• Copyright Act of 1790: was signed into law by US president George Washington; it initially covered only books, maps and charts
• Ford Motor Company: produced the last "Tin Lizzie" and began producing the Model A (1927)
• South Africa: became an independent republic (1961)
• Ancash earthquake: killed more than 47,000 in Peru (1970)
• Deep Throat: Watergate whistleblower's identity was revealed after 30 years of secrecy; he was W. Mark Felt, a former associate director of the FBI (2005)

Birthdays

• Alexander Cruden 1701
• Walt Whitman 1819 - Poet, essayist, journalist, humanist
• Fred Allen 1894
• Norman Vincent Peale 1898
• Don Ameche 1908
• Edward Bennett Williams 1920
• Denholm Elliot 1922
• Ellsworth Kelly 1923
• Prince Rainier III 1923
• Clint Eastwood 1930 - Actor ("Dirty Harry")
• Shirley Verrett 1933
• Jim Hutton 1934
• Ronald Laird 1935
• Keir Dullea 1936
• Johnny Paycheck 1938
• Peter Yarrow 1938 - Musician (Peter, Paul and Mary)
• Augie Meyers 1940 - Musician (Texas Tornados)
• Terry Waite 1939
• Joe Namath 1943 - Football player
• Sharon Gless 1943 - Actress ("Cagney and Lacey") 
• John Bonham 1948 - Musician (Led Zeppelin)
• Stanley Dancer 1949
• Tom Berenger 1950 - Actor ("The Big Chill," "Platoon")
• Gregory Harrison 1950 - Actor
• Colm Meaney 1953
• Roma Maffia 1958 - Actress ("Nip/Tuck")
• Kyle Secor 1960
• Chris Elliot 1960 - Comedian
• Lea Thompson 1961 - Actress ("Back to the Future" movies)
• Corey Hart 1962 - Singer
• Wendy Smith 1963 - Musician (Prefab Sprout)
• Darryl McDaniels (DMC) 1964 - Rapper
• Kid Frost 1964 - Rapper
• Brooke Shields 1965 - Actress
• Charlie Schlatter 1966
• Kenny Lofton 1967 - Baseball player
• Christian McBride 1972 - Musician
• Colin Farrell 1976 - Actor
• Jake Peavy 1981 - Baseball player
• Curtis Williams Jr. 1987