Friday, June 9, 2023

lucubrate \LOO-kyoo-breyt\, verb:

1. To work, write, or study laboriously, especially at night.

2. To write learnedly.

Lucubrate derives from the Latin lucubratus, "to work by artificial light."

 

Caller VD

• When your caller ID identifies someone with whom you definitely don't want to talk, and you avoid answering them like the plague

(Phone rings)

Hey are you going to get the phone or what?
(Looks at phone) 

Negative. That's the number for child support services, they've been trying to get a hold of me for months. I'll let the machine get it, because I don't need a case of Caller VD!

History

• President and Fellows of Harvard College: aka, the Harvard Corporation, was established; it is the oldest corporation in the continent of America (1650)
• Hong Kong: was signed over to the British for 99 years (1898)
• automat: the first automated vending-machine restaurant opened in Philadelphia (1902)
• Alice Huyler Ramsey: 22-year-old housewife set out, mapless, on a road trip that made her the first woman to drive across the US — from Manhattan to San Francisco; the trip took 59 days (1909)
• Donald Duck: debuted in The Wise Little Hen; for more than 50 years, his voice was provided by Clarence "Ducky" Nash (1934)
• Bhumibol Adulyadej: became king of Thailand; in a largely ceremonial role, he is currently the world's longest-reigning head of state (1946)
• Secretariat: the stallion won the Belmont Stakes and became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years (1973)
• Millennium Bridge: pedestrian suspension bridge over the River Thames opened; found to be wobbly, it closed for repairs almost immediately (2000)

Birthdays

• Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Felician) 1640 - Holy Roman emperor
• Peter the Great 1672 - Peter I of Russia
• George Stephenson 1781 - Civil engineer and mechanical engineer, built the first public railway
• John Howard Payne 1791 - Actor, poet, playwright
• Carl Nielsen 1865 - Composer, conductor, violinist
• Meta Vaux Warrick 1877 - Artist
• Cole Porter (Cole Albert Porter) 1891 - Composer, songwriter
• Fred Waring 1900 - Musician (The Pennsylvanians), bandleader, radio-television personality
• Louis Kutner 1908 - Human rights activist, lawyer, helped to found Amnesty International
• Robert "Bob" Cummings (Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings) 1910 - Actor
• Les Paul (Lester William Polsfuss) 1915 - Musician, songwriter, inventor (solid-body electric guitar)
• Charles Loloma 1921 - Artist
• George Axelrod 1922 - Screenwriter
• Mona Freeman (Monica Elizabeth Freeman) 1926 - Actress
• Marvin L. Kalb 1930 - Journalist
• Joe Santos 1931 - Actor
• Jimmy Spruill 1934 - Musician
• Jackie Wilson (Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr.) 1934 - Singer, performer
• Diana Van Der Vlis 1935 - Actress
• Letty Cottin Pogrebin 1939 - Writer, journalist
• Dick Vitale (Richard J. "Dick" Vitale) 1940 - Basketball sportscaster
• Billy Hatton 1941 - Musician (The Fourmost)
• Jon Lord 1941 - Musician (Whitesnake, Deep Purple)
• Trevor Bolder 1950 - Musician (Spiders from Mars, Uriah Heep)
• Dave Parker (David Gene "The Cobra" Parker) 1951 - Baseball player
• Billy Knight (William R. "Billy" Knight) 1952 - Basketball player
• Patricia Cornwell 1956 - Mystery author
• Michael J. Fox 1961 - Actor ("Family Ties")
• Aaron Sorkin 1961 - Writer, producer ("The West Wing")
• Johnny Depp (John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II) 1963 - Actor, musician
• Wayman Tisdale 1964 - Basketball player
• Gloria Reuben 1965 - Singer, actress ("ER")
• Dean Felber 1967 - Musician (Hootie & the Blowfish)
• Dean Dinning 1967 - Musician (Toad the Wet Sprocket)
• Tedy Bruschi 1973 - Football player
• Matthew Bellamy 1978 - musician (MUSE)
• Natalie Portman 1981 - Actress ("Star Wars" movie series)
• Mae Whitman 1988 - Actress ("Arrested Development")