Friday, October 29, 2010

trepidation \trep-uh-DAY-shuhn\, noun:

1. [Archaic] An involuntary trembling; quaking; quivering.

2. A state of dread or alarm; nervous agitation; apprehension; fright.

Trepidation is from Latin trepidatio, from the past participle of trepidare, "to hurry with alarm, to tremble," from trepidus, "agitated, restless, disturbed." It is related to intrepid, "bold" (from in-, "not" + trepidus).

subprime rib

• A low quality cut of beef, as opposed to prime rib.

A: How is your steak?

B: This crap is subprime rib.

Trivia

What international airport is named for a world-renowned French writer?

• Saint-Exupéry International Airport, which is located near Lyon, France, hometown of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince and a legendary World War II aviator. Formerly known as Lyon Satolas Airport, it was renamed for Saint-Exupéry in 2000.

History

• Republic of Turkey: was established when forces led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, "the father of modern Turkey," wrested control from the Ottoman Empire (1923)
• Black Tuesday: the US stock market crashed and the Great Depression began (1929)
• Star of India: giant star sapphire was stolen, along with other fabulous gems, from the American Museum of Natural History (1964)
• NOW: the women's organization was founded (1966)
• Internet: the first host-to-host connection was made on the ARPANet between UCLA and SRI in California (1969)
• John Glenn: the first American in orbit took flight aboard the Discovery shuttle, becoming, at 77, the oldest person to visit space (1998)

Birthdays

• James Boswell (1740-1795): biographer of Samuel Johnson; plus, writer Jean Giraudoux (1882-1944)
• Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (72): president of Liberia; first woman to lead an African state
• Melba Moore (65): R&B singer; also, musicians Sonny Osborne (73), Denny Laine (66) and Peter Green (64)
• Dan Castellaneta (53): the voice of Homer Simpson; other performers who share this birth date include Fanny Brice (1892-1951), Richard Dreyfuss (63), Kate Jackson (62), Rufus Sewell and Joely Fisher (both 43), Winona Ryder (39), Tracee Ellis Ross and Gabrielle Union (both 38), Milena Govich (34) and Brendan Fehr (33) and Ben Foster (30)