Sunday, February 26, 2017

halcyon \HAL-see-uhn\, noun:

1. A kingfisher.

2. A mythical bird, identified with the kingfisher, that was fabled to nest at sea about the time of the winter solstice and to calm the waves during incubation.

adjective:

• 1. Calm; quiet; peaceful; undisturbed; happy; as, "deep, halcyon repose."
• 2. Marked by peace and prosperity; as, "halcyon years."

Halcyon derives from Latin (h)alcyon, from Greek halkuon, a mythical bird, kingfisher. This bird was fabled by the Greeks to nest at sea, about the time of the winter solstice, and, during incubation, to calm the waves.

 

retard in aluminum foil

• What a lady's knight in shining armor becomes when she really gets to know him.

I thought he was my knight in shining armor. Turns out, he was just a retard in aluminum foil!

History

• Bank of England: issued the first one-pound note after the government forbade paying out from the diminished gold reserves (1797)
• Grand Canyon: the enormous gorge was established as a national park (1919); Grand Teton National Park was established on the same date in 1926
• World Trade Center: bomb in basement killed 6, injured more than 1,000 and caused serious structural damage (1993)

Birthdays

• Nicolas Joseph Cugnot 1725 - Inventor
• Victor Hugo 1802 - Author
• Honore Daumier 1808
• Levi Strauss 1829
• William "Buffalo Bill" Cody 1846 - Frontiersman, showman
• John Harvey Kellogg 1852
• Herbert Henry Dow 1866
• William Frawley 1887
• Jean Vercors 1902
• Madeleine Carroll 1906
• Jackie Gleason 1916
• Mason Adams 1919
• Tony Randall 1920
• Betty Hutton 1921
• Margaret Leighton 1922
• Fats Domino 1928 - Musician
• Johnny Cash 1932 - Musician
• Bill Duke 1943
• Paul Cotton (Poco) 1943
• Mitch Ryder 1945 - Singer
• Bob "The Bear" Hite 1945 - Musician (Canned Heat)
• Sandie Shaw (Sandra Goodrich) 1947 - Singer
• Priscilla Lopez 1948
• Jonathan Cain 1950 - Musician (Babys, Journey)
• Michael Bolton 1953 - Singer
• Greg Germann 1958 - Actor ("Ally McBeal")
• John McDaniel 1961
• John Jon 1961 - Musician (Bronski Beat)
• Jennifer Grant 1966
• Suzi Simpson 1968 - playmate from Athens, Greece (Jan, 1992)
• Erykah Badu 1971 - Singer
• Rico Wade (Society of Soul) 1972
• Marshall Faulk 1972 - Football player
  Oliver Wakeman 1972 - Keyboardist, son of Rick (YES)
• Mark DeRosa 1975 - Baseball player