Some stuff to catch up on

Sunday, July 5, 2009
affray \uh-FRAY\, noun:

• A tumultuous assault or quarrel; a brawl.

Affray comes from Old French esfrei, from esfreer, "to disquiet, to frighten."
Today in History:

• Principia Mathematica: Isaac Newton published the three-volume work containing his laws of motion and law of universal gravitation (1687)
• Venezuela, Algeria, Cape Verde: declared independence (1811, 1962, 1975)
• Salvation Army: Christian charitable organization was founded by William Booth to feed the poor of London (1865); it received its name 13 years later
• Dolly the sheep: the first mammal successfully cloned from an adult cell was born in Scotland (1996)

Today's Birthdays:

• P.T. Barnum (1810-1891): showman who believed there was "a sucker born every minute"
• Georges Pompidou (1911-1974): president and premier of France; world leaders Édouard Herriot (1872-1957) and Willem Drees (1886-1988) share this birth date
• Bill Watterson (51): creator of Calvin and Hobbes
• Edie Falco (46): the titular star of Nurse Jackie, formally Carmela Soprano on The Sopranos; actors Katherine Helmond (81), Shirley Knight (73) and Kathryn Erbe (43) were also born on this date
• Amélie Mauresmo (30): tennis champ with the strong one-handed backhand; also, sports figures Rich "Goose" Gossage (58) and James Lofton (53)

Saturday, July 4, 2009

rampart \ram-pahrt\, noun:

1. A fortification consisting of an embankment, often with a parapet built on top.
2. A means of protection or defense; a bulwark.
3. To defend with a rampart.

Rampart derives from Middle French remparer, equivalent to re + emparer "to take the possesion of."

Today's History:

• Walden: Henry David Thoreau took up abode in a small cabin he built himself near Walden Pond, where he spent two years in simple living (1845)
• Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland: Lewis Carroll told Alice Liddell the tale that became the book (1862)
• Lou Gehrig: afflicted by ALS, the baseball player bid farewell to fans at Yankee Stadium, calling himself that day "the luckiest man on the face of the Earth" (1939)
• Philippines: gained independence from the US (1946)
• Operation Entebbe: hostages taken by pro-Palestinian hijackers were rescued by Israeli commandos in Uganda (1976)
• Deep Impact: space probe fulfilled its primary mission by colliding with Comet 9P/Tempel to allow examination of the comet's interior (2005)

Today's Birthdays:

• Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882): Italian patriot
• Stephen Foster (1826-1864): composer of minstrel songs "Old Folks at Home" and "Camptown Races"
• Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933): laconic, no-nonsense 30th POTUS
• Abigail Van Buren (91): advice columnist, "Dear Abby"; her identical twin who also wrote a popular advice column, Ann Landers (1918-2002), shared this birth date
• Neil Simon (82): Tony/Oscar-winning playwright and screenwriter of The Odd Couple and Lost in Yonkers; plus, novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)
• Gina Lollobrigida (82): Italian actor and photographer; actor Eva Marie Saint (85) shares this birth date
• John Waite (54): rock singer

Friday, July 3, 2009

doughty \DOW-tee\, adjective:

• Marked by fearless resolution; valiant; brave.

Doughty comes from Old English dohtig, "brave, valiant, fit."

Today's History:

• Quebec: city was founded by Samuel de Champlain (1608)
• great auks: the last pair of the extinct species, found incubating an egg, was killed (1844)
• Algeria: became independent after 132 years of French rule (1962)

Today's Birthdays:

• Franz Kafka (1883-1924): author of The Metamorphosis; writers M. F. K. Fisher (1908-1992), Tom Stoppard (72) and Jay Tarses (70) share this birth date
• John Kundla (93): basketball hall-of-famer and coach; baseball outfielder Moisés Alou (43) was also born today
• Pete Fountain (79): jazz clarinetist
• Dave Barry (62): humor writer who won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary
• Montel Williams (53): former TV talk-show host
• Yeardley Smith (45): the voice of Lisa on The Simpsons; other actors born on this date include Kurtwood Smith (66), Jan Smithers (60) and Tom Cruise, Thomas Gibson and Hunter Tylo (all 47)