Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Sardanapalian \sahr-dn-uh-PEYL-yuhn\, adjective:

• Excessively luxurious.

First used in English in the 1860s, Sardanapalian is an eponym that comes from the legendary Assyrian king Sardanapal who was famous for his decadence.

 

Facebook Philosopher

• An individual whose Facebook statuses are often cliched quotes such as "when in doubt, just take the next small step", "make peace with the past so it doesn't screw up the present", or "sometimes its hard to understand, but time tells truth." These give the impression that said Facebook user is wise, when in fact they are merely putting on airs.

A: "Wow, Jeff is pretty deep!"

B: "Nah, he's just a Facebook Philosopher"

Holiday

• Juneteenth (southern United States) - June 19 - Celebrated in Texas to commemorate the day in 1865 when Union General Granger proclaimed the slaves of Texas free. Also proclaimed as Emancipation Day by the Florida legislature. Juneteenth has become an occasion for commemoration by African Americans in many parts of the US.

History

• Belmont Stakes: had its first running (1867)
• Julius and Ethel Rosenberg: were executed in New York's Sing Sing prison for conspiracy to commit espionage for the USSR (1953)
• Civil Rights Act of 1964: was approved after outlasting an 83-day US Senate filibuster
• The Rocky Horror Show: romped for the first time, on stage in London (1973)
• John Neumann: Philadelphia bishop became the first US male saint when he was canonized by Pope John Paul II (1977)
• Garfield: Jim Davis's comic strip about a lazy, overeating cat debuted (1978)

Birthdays

• Blaise Pascal 1623
• Moe Howard 1897
• Charles Cunningham Boycott 1897
• Elbert Hubbard 1856
• Guy Lombardo 1902
• Lou Gehrig 1903
• Earl Bascom 1906
• Mildred Natwick 1908
• Abe Fortas 1910
• Martin Gabel 1912
• Lester Flatt 1914 - Musician (Flatt and Scruggs)
• Pat Buttram 1917
• Pauline Kael 1919
• Louis Jourdan 1920
• Shelley Mayfield 1924
• Nancy Marchand 1928
• Pier Angeli 1932
• Marisa Pavan 1932
• Gena Rowlands 1930 - Actress
• Tommy DeVito 1936 - Singer (The Four Seasons)
• Robert Aspromonte 1938
• Al Wilson 1939
• Spanky McFarlane 1942 - Musician (Spanky and Our Gang)
• Aung San Suu Kyi 1945 - Politician
• Salman Rushdie 1947 - Author

  
• Walt McKechnie 1947
• Phylicia Rashad 1948 - Actress
• Ann Wilson 1951 - Musician (Heart)
• Larry Dunn 1953 - Musician (Earth, Wind & Fire)
• Kathleen Turner 1954 - Actress
• Doug Stone 1956
• Mark DeBarge 1959 - Musician (DeBarge)
• Paula Abdul (Paula Julie Abdul) 1962 - Singer, dancer, judge on "American Idol"
• Brian Vander Ark 1964
• Andy Lauer 1965
• Robin Tunney 1972 - Actress
• Bumper Robinson 1974
• Poppy Montgomery 1975 - Actress ("Without a Trace")

  Garfield 1978 - comic strip cat invented by Jim Davis
• Zoe Saldana 1978 - Actress ("Avatar" "Star Trek")
• Lauren Lee Smith 1980 - Actress ("CSI")

.