Saturday, February 1, 2020

echt \ekht\, adjective: 

• real; authentic; genuine.

Echt entered English from the German word of the same spelling in the early 1900s. 

ACB

• Mnemonic device for "Air Conditioner Booty": a woman whose buttocks, when viewed from the side, resemble a wall-unit air conditioner protruding from a house.

Holly's ACB was knocking peoples' drinks off the table last night.

selenology, \sel-uh-NOL-uh-jee\, noun 

• the branch of astronomy that deals with the nature and origin of the physical features of the moon.

Origin: Selenology stems from the Greek word for "moon," selḗnē. In English, the combining form seleno- means "moon"; the combining form -logy is used in the names of sciences or bodies of knowledge.

 

History

• US Supreme Court: held its first session, in NY; John Jay, a Federalist Papers author, presided (1790)
• Oxford English Dictionary: first fascicle, A—Ant, was published (1884)
• Grand Central Station opened in New York City (1913)
• Greensboro, NC: four black college students began a sit-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter, where they'd been refused service (1960)
• Ayatollah Khomeini: returned to Tehran after some 15 years of exile; the Iranian Revolution turned the country into an Islamic republic soon after (1979)
• Columbia: space shuttle disintegrated on reentry, killing all seven astronauts aboard (2003)
• wardrobe malfunction: Janet Jackson, in a duet with Justin Timberlake, caused a stir at the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show (2004)

Birthdays

• Victor Herbert 1859 - Cellist, conductor
• John Ford (Sean Aloysius O’Feeney) 1894 - Director
• Clark Gable 1901 - Actor ("It Happened One Night", "Gone with the Wind")
• Langston Hughes 1902 - Author
• S.J. (Sidney) Perelman 1904 - Writer, screenwriter
• Renata Tebaldi 1922 - Opera singer
• Stuart Whitman 1928 - Actor ("Cimarron Strip", "The Longest Day")
• Boris Yeltsin 1931 - Russian president 1991-1999
• Bob Shane 1934 - Singer (The Kingston Trio)
• Garrett Morris 1937 - Actor, comedian
• Don Everly 1937 - Singer (The Everly Brothers)
• Ray Sawyer 1937 - Singer (Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show)
• Jacky Cupit 1938 - Golfer
• Sherman Hemsley 1938 - Actor ("The Jeffersons")
• Joe Sample 1939 - Jazz musician
• Del McCoury 1939 - Bluegrass singer
• Terry Jones 1942 - Comedian ("Monty Python" series)
• Wayne Rivers 1942 - Hockey player
• Dennis Farina 1944
• Paul Blair 1944 - Baseball player
• Dick Snyder 1944 - Basketball player
• Debbie Austin 1948 - Golfer
• Dave Thompson 1949 - Football player
• Rick James 1952 - Singer (Songs: "Cold Blooded" and "Super Freak")
• Bill Mumy 1954 - Actor ("Twilight Zone-The Movie", "The Rockford Files", writer, producer)
• Mike Campbell 1954 - Rock musician (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers)
• Exene Cervenka 1956 - Singer (X)
• Sherilynn Fenn 1965 - Actress ("Twin Peaks")
• Princess Stephanie of Monaco (Stéphanie Marie Elisabeth Grimaldi) 1965 - Singer, youngest child of Grace Kelly and Rainier III of Monaco, recorded "In The Closet" with Michael Jackson.
• Lisa Marie Presley 1968 - Musician, daughter of Elvis Presley
• Pauly Shore 1970 - Comedian, actor ("Encino Man")
• Big Boi 1975 - Rapper (Outkast)
• Jarrett Lennon 1982 - Actor ("Freaks and Geeks")
• Lauren Conrad 1986 - reality TV personality