Tuesday, December 28, 2010

gambrinus \gam-BRAHY-nuhs\, noun:

• A mythical Flemish king, the reputed inventor of beer.

Gambrinus is a folkoric name that has uncertain grounding in history.

mechanic

• A paid assassin who "fixes" a problem, i.e., offs someone who has been causing trouble for the person paying the assassin.

You wantsta rub him out? You hires yourself a mechanic. Easy.

Trivia

What was the original name of the cheerful Alka-Seltzer mascot who has a tablet body and hat?

• Sparky. Soon after he was created in 1951, his name was changed to Speedy to reinforce manufacturer Bayer’s promise of speedy relief.

History

• Westminster Abbey: London church where kings have been crowned since 1066 was consecrated (1065)
• Iowa: the Hawkeye State became America's 29th state (1846)
• chewing gum: patent was issued to William Finley Semple of Ohio (1869)
• Cyrano de Bergerac: Edmond Rostand's heroic comedy premiered in Paris (1897)
• The Pledge of Allegiance: US oath of loyalty was officially recognized by Congress (1945)
• Elizabeth Jordan Carr: the first American in vitro fertilization baby was born in Norfolk, Virginia (1981)

Birthdays

• Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924): 28th POTUS
• Stan Lee (88): co-creator of Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk; and writers Simon Raven (1927-2001) and Manuel Puig (1932-1990)
• Denzel Washington: actor, Oscar winner for Training Day (56); plus, actors Martin Milner (79), Maggie Smith (76), Seth Meyers (37), Sienna Miller (29), Thomas Dekker (22) and Mackenzie Rosman (21)
• Ray Bourque (50): NHL hall-of-famer; also, tennis hall-of-famer Patrick Rafter (38)
• Linus Torvalds (41): computer software engineer who wrote the kernel for Linux; other scientists born on this date include Eliza Lucas Pinckney (1722-1793), Thomas Henderson (1798-1844), William Draper Harkins (1873-1951), Arthur Eddington (1882-1944) and Carl-Gustaf Rossby (1898-1957)
• David Archuleta (20): American Idol runner-up; also, musicians Earl "Fatha" Hines (1903-1983), Johnny Otis (89), Charles Neville and Yehoram Gaon (both 71) and John Legend (32)