Friday, December 31, 2010

Hogmanay \hog-muh-NEY\, noun:

• a gift given on New Year's Eve.

proper noun:

• New Year's Eve in Scotland.

Hogmanay is the name for Scottish New Year's Eve. It probably comes from the Old French aguillanneuf, "last day of the year."

New Year's Heaves

• To "throw up" multiple times on New Year's Eve, typically caused from excessive drinking after the realization that it was yet another sucky year of life. This happens many times when people see their significant other kissing someone else on the "stroke of 12" during the Midnight hour.

If it wasn't for Bobby having the New Year's Heaves, we could have seen Dick Clark celebrate his 243rd straight New Year's broadcast.

Trivia

What famous TV personality’s gravestone includes the tongue-in-cheek quip, “I will not be right back after this message”?

• Showbiz legend Merv Griffin, who is buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.

History

• light bulb: was first demonstrated by inventor Thomas Edison, in Menlo Park, New Jersey (1879)
• Times Square: Waterford crystal ball dropped for the first time in celebration of New Year's Eve (1907)
• farthing: British coin in use since 13th century ceased to be legal tender (1960)
• Panama Canal: waterway that connects the Caribbean with the Pacific was handed over to Panama by the US in accordance with the Torrijos-Carter Treaties (1999)

Birthdays

• Henri Matisse (1869-1954): French painter, leading Fauvist
• Simon Wiesenthal (1908-2005): Nazi hunter
• Jacques Cartier (1491-1557): explorer of North America
• Connie Willis (65): author of The Doomsday Book
• Donna Summer (62): disco queen; other musicians born on this date include Jules Styne (1905-1994), John Denver (1943-1997), Peter Quaife (1943-2010), Burton Cummings (63), Tom Hamilton (59), Scott "Not" Ian (47) and Joe McIntyre (38)
• Anthony Hopkins (72): Oscar winner for Silence of the Lambs; also, actors Tim Considine (70), Sarah Miles (69), Ben Kingsley (67), Tim Matheson (63), Joe Dallesandro (62), James Remar (57), Bebe Neuwirth (52), Val Kilmer (51), Don Diamont (48) and Gong Li (45)