Monday, August 10, 2026

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Hasselhoff Wednesday: Eris and Pluto

Spotlight: Easy come, easy go. On this date in 2005, astronomers announced the discovery of Eris, a heavenly body slightly larger than Pluto, and called it the 10th planet. The International Astronomical Union did a little further research and decided that both bodies were too small to be official planets, so Eris and Pluto were demoted to the official designation of dwarf planet. Along with its moon, Dysnomia, Eris is the most distant known object in orbit around the sun. The word "pluto" took on a new meaning with this move — it came to be defined as "to demote or devalue someone or something."

 

Quote: "Mmm. Lost a planet, Master Obi-Wan has. How embarrassing. How embarrassing." — Yoda, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

ambulant \ AM-byuh-luhnt \ , adjective;

1. moving from place to place; itinerant; shifting. 
2. Medicine/Medical . a. not confined to bed; able or strong enough to walk. b. serving patients who are able to walk. 

Origin: Ambulant comes from the Latin ambulāre meaning "to walk." It entered English in the mid-1600s. 

bats in the cave

• visible clumps of nose goblins, often found clinging to nasal hair.

"you need to blow your nose, you got some serious bats in the cave!!"

 

History

• Spanish Armada: was defeated by the English, led by Sir Francis Drake (1588)
  
• NASA: President Eisenhower signed a bill creating the space agency (1958)
• Lady Di: married Prince Charles at St. Paul's Cathedral in London (1981)
• switch hitter: Red Sox batter Bill Mueller became the first Major League Baseball player to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in a single game (2003)
• Eris, a heavenly body slightly larger than Pluto, was discovered and called it the 10th planet. (2005)

Birthdays

• Booth Tarkington 1869
  
• Benito Mussolini 1883
• Sigmund Romberg 1887
• Theda Bara 1890
• Clara Bow 1894
• Melvin Belli 1907
• Stephen McNally 1913
• Richard Egan 1923
• Lloyd Bochner 1924
• Robert Horton 1924
• Ted Lindsay 1925
• Don Carter 1926
• Paul Taylor 1930
• Randy Sparks (New Christy Minstrels) 1933
• Robert Fuller 1934
• Peter Jennings 1938
• David Warner 1941
• Neal Doughty (REO Speedwagon) 1946
• Simon Kirk (Bad Company) 1949
• Ken Burns 1953
• Geddy Lee (Rush) 1953
• Michael Biehn 1956
• Patti Scialia (E Street Band) 1956
• Alexandra Paul 1963
• Martina McBride 1966
• Chris Gorman (Belly) 1967
• Wil Wheaton 1972
• Stephen Dorff 1973
• Wanya Morris (Boyz II Men) 1973

  

 

  

Monday, July 20, 2026

embroil \ em-BROIL \ , verb;

1. to bring into discord or conflict; involve in contention or strife. 
2. to throw into confusion; complicate. 

Origin: Embroil entered English at the turn of the 17th century and comes from the Middle French embrouiller.

baxon

• bacon prepared by t3h bax0jayz

renee: this bacon is amazing!
soula: that's because it's not bacon, it's BAXON!

 

History

• Locust Plague of 1874: largest recorded swarm of locusts descended on North America's Great Plains, destroying some $200m in crops; the plague lasted about 10 days, but larger-than-usual swarms of locusts continued to plague the area for several more years
  
• Sitting Bull: Sioux leader surrendered to the US Army under a promise of amnesty (1881)
• Abdullah I: the king of Jordan was killed by a Palestinian gunman in Jerusalem (1951)
• Sirimavo Bandaranaike: was elected leader of Sri Lanka, becoming the world's first female prime minister (1960)
• Special Olympics: took place for the first time, in Chicago; 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities competed (1968)
• Neil Armstrong: the astronaut became the first human to set foot on the moon (1969)
  Chester Bennington of Linkin Park committed suicide (2017)

Birthdays 

• Francesco Petrarch 1304
  

  
• Veron Felton 1890 - Actress (Picnic, The Oklahoman)
• Theda Bara 1890
• Sir Edmund Hillary 1919 - Explorer, first to climb Mt. Everest
• Ted Schroeder 1921 - Tennis player
• Lola Albright 1925 - Actress (The Tender Trap, The Impossible Years)
• Robert D. Maurer 1924
• Michael Gielen 1927
• Mike Ilitch 1929 - Founder of Little Caesar's Pizza franchises, owner of Detroit Red Wings
• Sally Ann Howes 1930 - Actress (Dead of Night, Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang)
• Nam June Paik 1932
• Chuck Daly 1933
• Sleepy LaBeef 1935
• Butch (Fred) Baird 1936 - Golfer
• Diana Rigg 1938 - Actress (Medea, King Lear, The Avengers)
• Natalie Wood (Natasha Nikolaevna Gurdin) 1938 - Actress (From Here to Eternity, West Side Story, Rebel Without a Cause)
• Tony (Pedro Lopez) Oliva 1938 - Baseball player
• Jo Ann Campbell 1938
• Pete Hamilton 1942 - Auto racer
• Mickey (Mitchell Jack) Stanley 1942 - Baseball Player
• Chris Amon 1943 - Auto racer
• John Lodge 1943 - Musician (The Moody Blues)
• T.G. Shepherd (William Bowder) 1944 - Singer
• Betty Burfeindt 1945 - Golfer
• Kim Carnes 1946 - Singer
• John Almond 1946 - Musician (Johnny Almond and the Music Machine)
• Carlos Santana 1947 - Musician (Santana)
• Frank Whaley 1953
• Paul Cook (Sex Pistols, Professionals) 1956
• Donna Dixon 1957 - Actress (Wayne's World, Dr. Detroit)
• Mick McNeil 1958 - Musician (Simple Minds)
• Radney Foster 1959
• Dino Esposito 1963 - Singer
• Chris Cornell 1964 - Musician (Soundgarden)
• Stone (Carpenter) Gossard 1966 - Musician (Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog), also known as Carpenter Newton
• Reed Diamond 1967
• Josh Holloway 1969 - Actor ("Lost")
  Judy Greer 1975
• Ray Allen 1975 - Basketball player
• Charlie Korsmo 1978 
• Gisele Bundchen 1980 
  Julianne Hough 1988
  Alycia Debnam-Carey 1993
   
   
  

   

  

  
  
  

            
  
    
  
          

 

 

Friday, July 17, 2026

***717***

braggart \ BRAG-ert \ , noun;

• a person who does a lot of bragging. 

adjective:

• bragging; boastful. 

Origin: Braggart entered English in the 1500s. It finds its roots in the French term braguer meaning "to brag."

Bachelor Wash 

• A quick soap-free rinse of a plate, cup, or utensil which had recently been used. This is most useful for low-oil, water based, or dry foods. Wiping with a paper towel will usually remove residual food particles missed by the bachelor wash.

1. Since we were out of coffee cups, I bachelor washed the ones from breakfast and filled them up.

2. After a quick bachelor wash, the drinking glass went back in the cupboard.

3. I didn't want my date to think I was a pig, so I bachelor washed the dishes and tossed them in the cupboard.

History

• Spanish-American War: ended when Spanish troops surrendered to US in Santiago, Cuba (1898)
• House of Windsor: in the wake of anti-German sentiment, British royal family changed its name from Saxe-Coburg Gotha (1917)
• Potsdam Conference: world leaders Truman, Stalin and Churchill begin the final Allied summit of WWII (1945)
• Apollo-Soyuz Test Project: for the first time, an Apollo spaceship docked with a Soyuz spacecraft in orbit; it marked the warming US-USSR relationship (1975)
• Woolworths: the last of the company's five-and-dime stores closed; over 9,000 employees went jobless (1997)

Birthdays

• John Astor 1762
• Luis Munoz-Rivera 1859

  
  
• Erle Stanley Gardner 1889
• Berenice Abbott 1898
• James Cagney 1899
• Christina E. Stead 1902
• William Gargan 1905
• Art Linkletter 1912
• Eleanor Steber 1916
• Lou Boudreau 1917
• Phyllis Diller 1917 - Comedian
• Gordon Gould 1920
• Niccolo Castiglioni 1932
• Mimi Hines 1933
• Pat McCormick 1934
• Donald Sutherland 1934 - Actor
• Diahann Carroll 1935 - Actress, singer
• Peter Schickele 1935 - Musician (P. D. Q. Bach)
• Spencer Davis 1939 - Musician, singer (Spencer Davis Group)
• Connie Hawkins 1942 - Basketball player
• Camilla 1947 - Duchess of Cornwall, wife of Britain's Prince Charles
• Cathy Ferguson 1948
• Mick Tucker 1949 - Musician (Sweet)
• Terence 'Geezer' Butler 1949 - Musician (Black Sabbath)
• Mike Vale 1949 - Musician (Tommy James and the Shondells)
• Lucie Arnaz 1951 - Actress
• Phoebe Snow 1952 - Singer

  
• David Hasselhoff 1952 Actor ("Knight Rider," "Baywatch"), singer, actor, living legend 
• Angela Merkel 1954 - German Chancellor
• Bryan Trottier 1956 - Hockey player
• Nancy Giles 1960
• Regina Belle 1963
• Alex Winter 1965
• Guru (Keith Elam) 1966 - Rapper (Gang Starr)
• Stockley (David "Stokley" Williams) 1967 - Singer (Mint Condition)
• JC (Jarret Cordes, J.C. the Eternal) 1971 - (PM Dawn)
• Kitten Jones 1982