Sunday, October 24, 2010

slugabed \SLUHG-uh-bed\, noun:

• One who stays in bed until a late hour; a sluggard.

Slugabed is from slug, "sluggard" + abed, "in bed."

neverendum

• The act of putting a referendum initiative on the ballot over and over, on the theory that voters will eventually support the proposition because they don't want to hear about it anymore.

"A referendum on banning ice cream again? This is the third time they've tried to get this passed in four years."

"I'm voting in favor this time, just to be done with this neverendum."

Trivia

What sports car is named for a relative of the crocodile?

• The Porsche Cayman, which was named for the caiman because it is “small, agile, fast, and a little bit aggressive,” according to a Porsche exec.

History

• Peace of Westphalia: marked the end of the Thirty Years' War, a series of European conflicts (1648)
• Annie Edson Taylor: seeking fame and fortune, the former schoolteacher became the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel; she used a pickle barrel (1901)
• George Washington Bridge: upper level of the NY-NJ span opened; the lower level opened 31 years later (1931)
• Fair Labor Standards Act: the 1938 act that established the 40-hour work week in the US went into effect (1940)
• Toronto Blue Jays: became the first non-US team to win the World Series, downing the Atlanta Braves in 6 (1992)

Birthdays

• Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723): naturalist who was the first to describe bacteria
• Moss Hart (1904-1961): playwright, You Can't Take it With You; plus, poet Denise Levertov (1923-1997)
• Bob Kane (1915-1998): cartoonist creator of Batman
• Bill Wyman (74): bassist of the Rolling Stones; and, musicians George Crumb (81) and J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson (1930-1959)
• Kevin Kline (63): award-winning actor; other actors born on this date include F. Murray Abraham (71) and B.D. Wong (50)
• Kweisi Mfume (62): former president of the NAACP
• Monica (30): R&B singer
• Wayne Rooney (25): Man United's famous young forward; NFL hall-of-famer Y.A. Tittle (84) shares this birthday