Friday, October 22, 2010

simony (SY-muh-nee, SIM-) noun:

• Profiting from holy things, especially buying and selling of holy positions and pardons.

Etymology: After Simon Magus, Samaritan sorcerer in Bible, who wanted to buy spiritual powers -- the ability of transferring the "Holy Spirit" by putting hands on someone -- from Peter.

Cellfish

• An individual who talks on his or her cell phone even when doing so is rude or inconsiderate of other people.

"Can't you stop talking on the phone while ordering your happy meal -- that's cellfish"

Trivia

What famous royal was buried with a plaster cast of a hand?

• Queen Victoria, in 1901. The cast was made from the hand of her beloved husband, Albert, who had died 40 years earlier.

History

• the Great Disappointment: adherents of Millerism found that Jesus had not returned; most left the movement, while the rest figured out that it was the beginning of investigative judgment in heaven (1844)
• the Met: NYC's famous opera house opened with a performance of Charles Gounod's Faust (1883)
• Toastmasters International: public speaking educational organization was founded in Santa Ana, California (1924)
• Cuban Missile Crisis: JFK imposed an air and naval blockade on Cuba after learning of Soviet missile bases there (1962)
• Chandrayaan-1: India launched its first unmanned lunar probe (2008)

Birthdays

• Franz Liszt (1811-1886): pianist/composer
• John Reed (1887-1920): radical journalist who was subject of Warren Beatty's Reds; he is the only US citizen to be buried in the Kremlin
• Doris Lessing (91): author of The Golden Notebook; plus, motivational speaker and author Deepak Chopra (64)
• Timothy Leary (1920-1996): psychedelic drug-taking psychologist
• Tony Roberts (71): stage and screen actor; also, actors Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lloyd (both 72), Annette Funicello (68), Catherine Deneuve (67), Jeff Goldblum (58) and Valeria Golino (44)
• Ichiro Suzuki (37): MLB record-holder for single-season hits; plus, tennis pro Amanda Coetzer (39)
• Zac Hanson (25): singer/songwriter/instrumentalist, Hanson