Thursday, April 13, 2017

praxis \PRAK-sis\, noun:

1. Practice, as distinguished from theory; application or use, as of knowledge or skills.

2. Convention, habit, or custom.

3. A set of examples for practice.

Praxis comes into English from the same Greek word, meaning "deed, act, action."

 

sheenfluence

• Under the influence or having been influenced by Charlie Sheen.

His comment may have just a little sheenfluence in there somewhere.

History

• Edict of Nantes: Henry IV granted freedom of religion to the Huguenots of France (1598); the edict was repealed by Louis XIV in 1685
• Messiah: Handel oratorio premiered in Dublin's New Musick Hall; proceeds went to local hospitals for the mentally ill (1742)
• MoMA: founded in NYC (1870)
• Jefferson Memorial: was dedicated in Washington, DC, on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth (1943)
• Sidney Poitier: became first African American to win an Oscar for Best Actor, for Lilies of the Field (1964)
• "Houston, we've had a problem": a liquid oxygen tank burst during the Apollo 13 flight to the moon; the crew turned the ship around and made a safe, though harrowing, return (1970)
• Tiger Woods: won his first major golf tournament, the Masters, by a record 12 strokes, at age 21 (1997)

Birthdays

• John Hanson 1721
• Thomas Jefferson 1743 - 3rd U.S. President
• Frank W. Woolworth 1852 - Merchant, created the five and ten cent store, head of F.W. Woolworth & Co.
• Butch Cassidy (Robert LeRoy Parker) 1866

  
• Olga Rudge 1895
• Alfred Butts 1899 - Architect, game inventor (Scrabble)
• Bud Freeman 1906 - Jazz musician, tenor sax player
• Samuel Beckett 1906 - Author, critic, playwright
• Eudora Welty 1909 - Poet
• Howard Keel 1919 - Actor ("Dallas"), singer
• Madalyn Murray O’Hair 1919 - Author ("Why I Am an Atheist")
• Stanley Donen 1924
• Jules Irving 1925 - Actor
• Don Adams (Donald James Yarmy) 1926 - Actor ("Get Smart")
• Teddy Charles (Theodore Charles Cohen) 1928 - Vibraphonist, songwriter, composer, arranger
• Marilynn Smith 1929 - Golfer
• Dan Gurney 1931 - Auto racer
• Lyle Waggoner 1935 - Actor ("The Carol Burnett Show", "Wonder Woman")
• Edward Fox 1937 - Actor ("The Big Sleep", "Portrait of a Lady")
• Lanford Wilson 1937 - Playwright
• Paul Sorvino 1939 - Actor ("Law and Order", "Dick Tracy")
• Seamus Heaney 1939 - Poet
• Lester Chambers 1940 - Singer, musician (The Chambers Brothers)
• Jose Napoles 1940 - Boxer
• Bill Conti 1942 - Composer
• Brian Pendleton 1944 - Musician (The Pretty Things)
• Jack Casady 1944 - Musician (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna)
• Lowell George 1945 - Musician (Little Feat)
• Tony Dow 1945 - Actor ("Leave it to Beaver")
• Al Green 1946 - Singer, songwriter
• Roy Loney 1946 - Musician (Flamin' Groovies)
• Ron Perlman 1950 - Actor ("Beauty and the Beast" series)
• Peabo Bryson 1951 - Singer
• Max Weinberg 1951 - Musician (E Street Band)
• Jimmy Destri 1954 - Musician (Blondie)
• Sam Bush 1957
• Gary Kroeger 1957
• Saundra Santiago 1957 - Actress ("Miami Vice")
• Joey Mazzola 1961 - Musician (Sponge)
• Hillel Slovak 1962 - Musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
• Jane Leeves 1963
• Garry Kasparov 1963 - Chess champion
• Page Hannah 1964
• Caroline Rhea 1964 - Actress, comedian
• Davis Love III 1964 - Golfer
• Lisa Unbarger 1965 - Musician (Toadies)
• Rick Schroder 1970 - Actor ("Silver Spoons", "NYPD Blue")
• Aaron Lewis 1971 - Musician (Staind)
• Jonathan Brandis 1976
• Courtney Peldon 1981