Saturday, June 5, 2010

penumbra \pi-NUHM-bruh\, noun:

1. An area in which something exists to an uncertain degree.

2. Astronomy. The partial or imperfect shadow outside the complete shadow of an opaque body, as a planet, where the light from the source of illumination is only partly cut off.

3. The grayish marginal portion of a sunspot.

Penumbra was coined as an astronomy term in 1660, but gained widespread modern usage after Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas wrote about penumbras in the U.S. Constitution, in the landmark 1965 case Griswold v. Connecticut.

bored to debt

• when your so bored with life that you just spend money to make your life seem more exciting.

ben: what did you do this weekend man?

craig: i went and applied for a future shop card and bought a new 3d tv and a ps3. also went and got a dirtbike....

ben: you already have a 60" led flat panel, and you live in the middle of the city, why did you go and get all that shit?

Trivia

What British funnyman dubbed some of Humphrey Bogart’s lines in the offbeat 1953 comedy Beat the Devil?

• Peter Sellers. The lines had to be rerecorded because Bogie had been in an auto accident during filming and lost some teeth, which affected his speaking ability.

History

• Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier: took the first successful balloon flight (1783)
• gold standard: was abandoned by the United States (1933)
• Marshall Plan: Secretary of State George Marshall outlined his aid program for Europe in a speech at Harvard (1947)
• Six-Day War: began; Israel was victorious against Egypt, Syria and Jordan; Jerusalem was reunited (1967)
• Robert Kennedy: US presidential candidate was shot by Sirhan Sirhan; he died the next day (1968)
• AIDS: first cases were reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; they were five people in Los Angeles (1981)

Birthdays

• John Couch Adams (1819-1892): astronomer who predicted the existence of the planet Neptune
• John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946): economist who developed Keynesian economics; economist Adam Smith (1723-1790) shared this birth date

• Ken Follett (61): author of Eye of the Needle; also, writers Federico García Lorca (1898-1936) and Margaret Drabble (71)
• Bob Rosenschein (57): founder and CEO of Answers.com
• Kenny G. (54): smooth jazz saxophonist, Duotones; also, rockers Laurie Anderson (63), Nicko McBrain (58) and Pete Wentz (31)
• Mark Wahlberg (39): actor, Boogie Nights, The Departed; also, actors Bill Hayes (85), Spalding Gray (1941-2004), Ron Livingston (43), Chad Allen (36), and Liza Weil and Navi Rawat (both 33)