Friday, May 14, 2010

sawyer \SAW-yer\, noun:

1. One that is employed in sawing wood.

2. Also called sawyer beetle. Any of several long-horned beetles, esp. one of the genus Monochamus, the larvae of which bore in the wood of coniferous trees.

3. A tree or a part of a tree that protrudes above the surface in a body of water.

Before it became a surname, sawyer was a common occupational title, from the Middle English sawier, "to saw."

and then I found five dollars

• a phrase used at the end of a story that had really no point to be told to someone. used at the end of boring stories to make them seem more interesting and worthwhile.

"yesterday i went to the fridge and took out a yogurt but put it back and got an apple instead.

...and then i found 5 dollars."

Trivia

What was the first nation in the world to elect a woman prime minister?

• Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), in 1960. The woman was Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

History

• Louis XIV: became king of France at age 4 (1643)
• Lewis and Clark expedition: began its exploratory journey to the Pacific Ocean (1804)
• Israel: the Jewish state was proclaimed independent; Egypt, Transjordan (later Jordan), Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq declared war on it almost immediately (1948)
• Seinfeld: the final episode aired, with 76 million viewers watching (1998)

Berfdays

• Ian Astbury (48): singer, The Cult, The New Doors
• David Byrne (58): singer with the Talking Heads; musicians Otto Klemperer (1885-1973), Sidney Bechet (1897-1959), Patrice Munsel (85), Jack Bruce (67), C.C. DeVille (48), Danny Wood (41) and Shanice (37) were also born on this date
• Robert Zemeckis (58): director/producer, Cast Away, Forrest Gump, Beowulf; filmmakers George Lucas (66), Tim Roth (49) and Sofia Coppola (39) all share this birth date
• Cate Blanchett (41): Oscar-winner for The Aviator; actor Amber Tamblyn (27) was also born today
• Mark Zuckerberg (26): founder of Facebook