Wednesday, December 29, 2010

engram \EN-gram\, noun:

1. The supposed physical basis of an individual memory in the brain.

2. A presumed encoding in neural tissue that provides a physical basis for the persistence of memory; a memory trace.

Engram derives from the Greek roots en, "within," and gram, "something written."

whatever

• Used in an argument to admit that you are wrong without admitting it so the argument is over.

Man, whatever.

Trivia

In 1990, what two Grammy firsts did bald-headed singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor achieve with her hit album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got?

• She was the first winner of a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance and was the first artist to decline a coveted Grammy award.

History

• Thomas Becket: the Archbishop of Canturbury was killed by four knights in his cathedral; he later became a saint (1170)
• Texas: Lone Star State became the 28th American state (1845)
• YMCA: the first such men's club in the US was founded, based on the London model that was started in the previous decade by George Williams (1851)
• Wounded Knee Massacre: last major confrontation between the Sioux and the US Army ended with hundreds of Indians killed (1890)
• Tian Tan Buddha: 110-ft.-(34 m.)-tall bronze Buddha statue in Hong Kong was completed (1993)
• Guatemala: peace treaty ended 36 years of civil strife (1996)

Birthdays

• Charles Macintosh (1766-1843): inventor of waterproof fabrics, mackintosh; inventor Charles Goodyear (1800-1860) shared this birth date
• Andrew Johnson (1808-1875): 17th POTUS and first to be impeached; England's four-time prime minister William Gladstone (1809-1898) shared this birth date
• Pablo Casals (1876-1973): virtuoso cellist; musicians Ray Thomas (69), Marianne Faithfull (64), Yvonne Elliman (59) and Glen Phillips (40) were also born on this date
• Vera Brittain (1893-1970): novelist, poet; plus, novelist William Gaddis (1922-1998)
• Tom Jarriel (76): broadcast journalist
• Patricia Clarkson (51): Emmy-winning actor for Six Feet Under, on screens now in Whatever Works; also, actors Mary Tyler Moore (74), Jon Voight (72), Ted Danson (63), Jennifer Ehle (41), Kevin Weisman (40), Jude Law (38), Mekhi Phifer (35), Shawn Hatosy (35) and Diego Luna (31)