Sunday, January 9, 2011

byzantine \BIZ-uhn-teen\, adjective:

1. Complex or intricate.

2. Characterized by elaborate scheming and intrigue, esp. for the gaining of political power or favor.

3. Of or pertaining to Byzantium.

4. Of or pertaining to the Byzantine Empire.

5. Noting or pertaining to the architecture of the Byzantine Empire and to architecture influenced by or imitating it.

Byzantine derives its general reference to complexity from the intricate workings of the government of Byzantium, an ancient center of both the Roman and Ottoman empires.

pizzarrhea

• The sudden onset of diarrhea by means of the consumption of pizza, be it bad or otherwise.

I got mad pizzarrhea from that janky corner joint the other day.

Trivia

What world-famous athlete’s injured foot was responsible for making metatarsal an everyday word?

• British soccer star David Beckham, who broke a metatarsal on the eve of the 2002 World Cup—single-footedly killing England’s hopes of victory. Media coverage of his injury resulted in metatarsal being named “word of the year” by the Oxford English Dictionary.

History

• daguerreotype: L. J. M. Daguerre announced the first practical photographic process to the French Academy of Sciences (1839)
• autogiro: aeronautical engineer Juan de la Cierva made the first successful flight in the helicopter-like aircraft he had invented, in Madrid (1923)
• Martyr's Day of Panama: the tearing of a Panamanian flag during protests regarding US sovereignty over the Panama Canal Zone led to several days of deadly fighting (1964)
• Commonwealth of Northern Marianas: was established (1978)

Birthdays

• Joseph Strauss (1870-1938): engineer who designed the Golden Gate Bridge
• Richard Nixon (1913-1994): 37th POTUS, who was forced to resign because of the Watergate scandal
• Judith Krantz (83): pop novelist; also, authors Hayyim Nahman Bialik (1873-1934), Giovanni Papini (1881-1956), Karel Čapek (1890-1938), Richard Halliburton (1900-1939) and Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986)
• Bart Starr (77): NFL hall-of-famer; plus, sports broadcaster Dick Enberg (76)
• Joan Baez (70): folk rock singer; also, singers Crystal Gayle (60), Steve Harwell and Dave Matthews (both 44) and A.J. Mclean (33)
• Jimmy Page (67): lead guitarist, Led Zeppelin; and, guitarists Eric Erlandson (48) and Carl Bell (44)
• J.K. Simmons (56): big- and small-screen actor, Law and Order, Juno; also, actors Lee Van Cleef (1925-1989), Bob Denver (1935-2005), Susannah York (69), and Joely Richardson (46)