Word of the Day for Saturday, March 1, 2008

amanuensis \uh-man-yoo-EN-sis\, noun:

• A person employed to take dictation or to copy manuscripts.

Urban Word of the Day: pornacopia

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pornacopia&defid=1938067

• An over abundace of porn.

Jerry has a virtual pornacopia under his bed.

Trivia

What automotive "failure" was named after the manufature's son?

• The Ford Edsel was named after Henry's son Edsel Ford. It was a car that was built from what public surveys found to be what people wanted in a car. More about the ill-fated auto here: http://www.answers.com/topic/edsel

Today in History

• Buckeye State: Ohio became the 17th US state; in prehistoric times it was inhabited by Mound Builders (1803)
• Cornhusker State: Nebraska, purchased from France in 1803, became the 37th US state (1867)
• Yellowstone: the world's oldest national park was established; it is noted for its geysers, hot springs, mud pots and fumaroles (1872)
• Lindbergh kidnapping: Lucky Lindy's child was abducted, leading to the Lindbergh Act (1932)
• Peace Corps: JFK established volunteer agency to "promote world peace and friendship" (1961)

Today's Birthdays

• Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849): romantic composer and pianist; other musicians born today include Glenn Miller (1904-1944), Harry Belafonte (81) and Roger Daltrey (64)
• Ralph Ellison (1914-1994): National Book Award-winning author of Invisible Man
• Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995): first native-born prime minister of Israel
• Ron Howard (54): actor-turned-director, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind
• Tim Daly (52): actor, The Nine, Private Practice; among the many other actors born today are David Niven (1910-1983), Robert Conrad (73), Catherine Bach (54), George Eads (41), Mark-Paul Gosselaar (34) and Jensen Ackles (30)