Thursday, March 21, 2024

conniption \kuh-NIP-shuhn\, noun:

A fit of hysterical excitement or anger.

Conniption is actually an invented word. It first appeared in America in 1833 and may be related to the word corruption which was use in the sense of "anger" in the early 1800s.
 
lightweight reader

• Someone who gets sleepy or passes out shortly after starting to read.

"Im so screwed for this test, I didn't study at all." 
"Why not? We had all week!" 
"Im a lightweight reader man, I never made it past section one."

 

History

• Archbishop of Canterbury: Thomas Cranmer, who helped move England towards Protestantism, was burned at the stake (1556)
• Code Napoléon: the first modern legal code of France took effect; it was divided into laws of personal status, laws of property, and laws of acquiring property (1804)
• Henry Stanley: journalist began his trek in Africa to locate missing Scottish missionary/explorer David Livingstone; his quest ended with the famous and possibly fictitious words, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" (1871)
• "Who shot JR?": J.R. Ewing, the character played by Larry Hagman on Dallas, was shot by an unidentified attacker; a summer of intense curiosity ensued and an advertising catchphrase was born (1980)
• Rick Hansen: set off on his Man in Motion tour to circumnavigate the world in his wheelchair (1985); he returned to Vancouver 2 years and 2 months later, having raised millions for spinal cord research

Birthdays

• Johann Sebastian Bach 1685
• Benito Juarez 1806
• James Jesse Strang 1813
• Modest Mussorgsky 1839
• Florenz Ziegfeld 1869
• Bascom Lunsford 1882
• Phyllis McGinley 1905
• Julio Gallo 1910
• Fonty Flock (Truman Fontello) 1921
• Mort Lindsey 1923
• James Coco 1929
• Joseph Silverstein 1932 - Violinist, conductor
• Al Freeman, Jr. 1934 - Actor
• Kathleen Widdoes 1939 - Actress ("As the World Turns")
• Timothy Dalton 1944 - Actor
• Marie-Christine Barrault 1944 - Actress
• Rose Stone 1945 - Musician (Sly & the Family Stone)
• Bill Plummer 1947
• Eddie Money 1949 - Singer
• Roger Hodgson 1950 - Musician (Supertramp)
• Conrad Lozano 1951 - Musician (Los Lobos)
• Russell Thompkins, Jr. 1951 - Singer (The Stylistics)
• Gary Oldman 1958 - Actor
• Sabrina LeBeauf 1958 - Actress ("The Cosby Show")
• Robert Sweet 1960 - Musician (Stryper)
• Rosie O'Donnell 1962 - Hack Comedian
  

  
• Matthew Broderick 1962 - Actor ("Ferris Bueller's Day Off")
• Cynthia Geary 1966
• Maxim 1967 - MC (Prodigy)
• Jonas "Joker" Berggren 1967 - Musican (Ace of Base)
• Andrew Copeland 1968 - Musician (Sister Hazel)
• Albert Khan 1969
• DJ Premier 1969 - DJ (Gang Starr)
• Ronaldinho 1980 - Soccer player
  Sonequa Martin-Green 1985 Actress (The Walking Dead)
• Adrian Peterson 1985 - Football player