Tuesday, November 24, 2009

martinet \mar-t'n-ET\, noun:

1. A strict disciplinarian.
2. One who lays stress on a rigid adherence to the details of forms and methods.

A martinet is so called after an officer of that name in the French army under Louis XIV.
Trivia
Who was named Sexiest Woman of the 20th Century by People magazine?

• Marilyn Monroe, who was also named Number One Sex Star of the 20th Century by Playboy magazine.

Today in History

• Tasmania: southeast Australian island was first seen by Dutchman Abel Tasman, for whom it was later named (1642)
• The Origin of Species: naturalist Charles Darwin published his book explaining evolution(1859)
• Lee Harvey Oswald: JFK assassin was shot to death by Jack Ruby (1963)
• D.B. Cooper: mystery man perpetrated the only unsolved American aircraft hijacking; he parachuted from a plane over Washington state with $200,000 he received as ransom and was never seen again (1971)
• Lucy: Australopithecus skeleton was found in Tanzania; she was about 3 foot 7 (109 cm.) and 3 million years old (1974)

Today's Birthdays

• Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677): rationalist philosopher, Ethics
• Zachary Taylor (1784-1850): POTUS known as "Old Rough and Ready"; Israeli president Yitzhak Ben-Zvi (1884-1963) shared this birth date
• Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901): post-Impressionist painter, famous for his depictions of Montmartre life
• Dale Carnegie (1888-1955): author of self-help bestseller How to Win Friends and Influence People; plus, writers Laurence Sterne (1713-1768), Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924) and William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925-2008)
• Oscar Palmer Robertson (71): basketball hall-of-famer
• Pete Best (68): rocker, The Beatles' drummer pre-Ringo
• Katherine Heigl (31): Izzie on Grey's Anatomy; also, actors Billy Connolly (67), Dwight Schultz (62), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (53) and Colin Hanks (32)