Saturday, May 4, 2019

MAY THE FOURTH

 

bushwhack \BOOSH-hwak\, verb:

1. To defeat, especially by surprise or in an underhanded way.

2. To make one's way through woods by cutting at undergrowth, branches, etc.

3. To travel through woods.

4. To pull a boat upstream from on board by grasping bushes, rocks, etc., on the shore.

5. To fight as a bushwhacker or guerrilla in the bush.

Bushwhack is a backformation from the Dutch bosch-wachter, "forest-keeper," which, during the American Civil War was adopted as bushwhacker to describe patriot guerillas or freebooters.

 

don't cross the streams

• What you tell two people peeing at urinals next to each other to save them from untimely death, in reference to crossing the streams in Ghostbusters.

Whoa! Watch out! Don't cross the streams!

Holiday 

• Star Wars Day aka May The Fourth - Get it? May 4th? May the Fourth? May the Force be with you!

May the 4th...

History 

• Manhattan: Dutch colonist Peter Minuit landed on the island; he later bought it for $24 in trade goods (1626)
• Rhode Island: declared its independence from England, becoming one of the original Thirteen Colonies (1776)
• Al Capone: after many arrests, the crime boss known as Scarface was finally jailed for tax evasion (1932)
• Grammys: were first awarded (1959)
• Freedom Riders: students joined members of CORE to ride from Washington, DC, across the south toward New Orleans, protesting racial segregation on public interstate buses (1961)
• Kent State: four university students were killed and nine wounded by members of the Ohio National Guard, who were quashing a campus protest against the US invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War (1970)

Birthdays 

• Sir Thomas Lawrence 1769 
• Horace Mann 1796 - Educator, father of public education in the U.S., author 
• Joseph Whitaker 1820 
• Thomas Huxley 1825 
• John Hanning Speke 1827 
• Um Kalthum 1904 
• Howard DaSilva (Silverblatt) 1909 - Actor ("The Lost Weekend", "The Great Gatsby") 
• Heloise 1919 
• Ed "Cass" Cassidy 1923 - Musician (New Jazz Trio, Taj Mahal, Spirit) 
• Betsy Rawls 1928 - Golfer 
• Hosni Mubarak 1928 - Egyptian president 
• Maynard Ferguson 1928 - Jazz trumpeter, bandleader 
• Audrey Hepburn (Edda Kathleen Hepburn van Heemstra) 1929 - Actress ("Monte Carlo Baby", "Breakfast at Tiffany's") 
• Roberta Peters 1930 - Opera singer 
• Harlon Hill 1932 - Football player 
• El Cordobés (Manuel Benítez Pérez) 1936 - Spanish bullfighter 
• Dick Dale 1937 - Musician 
• Ron Carter 1937 - Jazz bassist 
• Tyrone Davis 1938 
• George F. Will 1941 - Columnist ("Newsweek"), editor 
• David LaFlamme 1941  
• Nick Ashford 1942 - Singer, songwriter (Ashford and Simpson) 
• Ronnie Bond 1943 - Musician (The Troggs) 
• Paul Gleason 1944 - Actor 
• Peggy Sanntiglia 1944 - Singer
• Richard Jenkins 1947 - Actor ("The Visitor") 
• Stella Parton 1949 - Country singer 
• Hilly Hicks 1950 - Actor, minister 
• Jackie Jackson 1951 - Singer (The Jackson Five, The Jacksons) 
• Oleta Adams 1953 - Singer 
• Julie Budd 1954 
• Danny Brubeck 1955 - Drummer, Dave Brubeck's son 
• Mick Mars 1955 - "Musician" (Motley Crue) 
• Pia Zadora 1954 - Actress ("Hairspray"), singer 
• Randy Travis (Randy Bruce Traywick) 1959 - Country singer
• Mary McDonough 1961 - Actress ("The Waltons") 
• Jay Aston 1961 - Musician (Bucks Fizz) 
• Ana Gasteyer 1967 - Comedian ("Saturday Night Live") 
• Dawn Staley 1970 - Basketball player 
• Will Arnet 1970 - Actor ("Arrested Development") 
• Chris Tomlin 1972 - Singer 
• Mike Dirnt 1972 - "Musician" (Green Day) 
• Kimora Lee Simmons 1975 - Television personality, fashion designer 
• Jose Castellanos 1977 - Musician (Save Ferris) 
• Lance Bass 1979 - Singer ('N Sync) 
• Alexander Gould 1994 - Actor ("Weeds," "Finding Nemo")