Monday, June 20, 2022

couvade \koo-VAHD\, noun:

• A practice in certain cultures in which the husband of a woman in labor takes to his bed as though he were bearing the child.

Couvade comes from the French couver, "to incubate or hatch."

 

kittens and puppies

• Raining kittens and puppies would mean raining lightly.

Let's go out. It's just raining kittens and puppies.

 

History

• Black Hole of Calcutta: 146 British soldiers were imprisoned in one cell in a jail in India; by morning many of the men had suffocated (1756)

  
• Flight to Varennes: faced with anti-royalty hostility during the French Revolution, King Louis XVI tried unsuccessfully to flee the country (1791)
• Queen Victoria: longest-reigning British monarch succeeded to the throne (1837)
• Toast of the Town: debuted on CBS; in 1955 it was renamed The Ed Sullivan Show (1948)
• Hot line: Moscow-Washington line of direct communication was established following the Bay of Pigs standoff (1963)
• Jaws: Steven Spielberg's thriller was released, chilling viewers and shattering box office records (1975)

  

Birthdays

• Adam Ferguson 1723 - Philosopher, historian, known as Ferguson of Raith
• Charles Chesnutt (Charles Waddell Chesnutt) 1858 - Author, essayist, political activist
• Jean Moulinn 1899 - High profile member of the French Resistance during World War II
• Errol Flynn 1909 - Actor
• Pancho Segura (Francisco Olegario Segura) 1921 - Tennis player 

  
• Chet Atkins (Chester Burton Atkins) 1924 - Guitarist
• Audie Murphy 1924 - Actor, most decorated American soldier of World War II
• James Tolkan 1931 - Actor
• Martin Landau 1931 - Actor
• Olympia Dukakis 1931 - Actress
• Danny Aiello (Daniel Louis "Danny" Aiello, Jr.) 1933 - Actor
• Brett Halsey 1933 - Actor
• Rossanna Podestà 1934 - Actress
• Len Dawson (Leonard Ray "Len" Dawson) 1935 - Football player
• Billy Guy 1936 - Singer (The Coasters)
• Jerry Keller (Jerry Paul Keller) 1937 - Singer, songwriter
• John Mahoney 1940 - Actor ("Frasier")
• Stephen Frears 1941 - Film director
• Brian Wilson 1942 - Musician (Beach Boys)
• Anne Murray (Morna Anne Murray) 1945 - Singer
• John McCook 1945 - Actor

  
• Bob Vila (Robert J. "Bob" Vila) 1946 - Television host ("This Old House")
• Andre Watts 1946 - Classical pianist
• Candy Clark (Candace June "Candy" Clark) 1947 - Actress
• Tina Sinatra 1948 - Producer, actress, second daughter of Frank Sinatra
• Lionel Richie 1949 - Singer, musician
• John Goodman 1952 - Actor
• Cindy Lauper 1953 - Singer
• Alan Longmuir 1953 - Musician (Bay City Rollers)
• Michael Anthony 1954 - Musician (Van Halen)
• John Taylor 1960 - Musician (Duran Duran, Neurotic Outsiders)
• Mark De Gli Antoni 1962 - Musician (Soul Coughing)
• Michael Landon, Jr. 1964 - Actor, writer, producer
• Nicole Kidman 1967 - Actress
  Chino Moreno 1973 - Singer (Deftones)
  Dreama Walker 1986 - Actress (Compliance)
  
• Christopher Mintz-Plass 1989 - Actor (McLovin from Superbad, The Mother Fucker from Kick-Ass II)