Thursday, November 12, 2009

asseverate \uh-SEV-uh-rayt\, transitive verb:

• To affirm or declare positively or earnestly.

Asseverate comes from Latin asseverare, "to assert seriously or earnestly," from ad- + severus, "severe, serious."

Vulture Capitalist

• A businessman who is looking to buy companies at giveaway prices, as opposed to venture capitalists.

"It's well known that the business is having major problems paying its bills, so I guess it won't be long before the vulture capitalists start circling."

Trivia
What country’s official currency is the tugrik—or tugrug?

• Mongolia‘s.

Today in History

• Kenesaw Mountain Landis: judge was elected the first commissioner of baseball after the Black Sox scandal (1920)
• Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge: eight-mile-long structure opened for traffic (1936)
• Ellis Island: the New York Harbor facility, which served more than 12 million immigrants, was closed (1954)

Today's Birthdays

• Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902): reformer who fought for women's rights
• Baha'u'llah (1817-1892): leader of the Baha'i faith
• Auguste Rodin (1840-1917): sculptor, The Thinker
• Sun Yat-Sen (1866-1925): founder of modern China
• Neil Young (64): singer/songwriter; other musicians born on this date include Brian Hyland (66), Booker T. Jones (65) and Omarion (25)
• Nadia Comaneci (48): the first perfect 10 in Olympics gymnastics
• Sammy Sosa (41): home run slugger
• Anne Hathaway (27): actor nominated for an Oscar for her role in Rachel Getting Married; also, actors Grace Kelly (1929-1982), Wallace Shawn (66), Megan Mullally (51), Sam Lloyd (42), Radha Mitchell (36), Lourdes Benedicto and Tamala Jones (both 35) and Ryan Gosling (29)