Sunday, February 27, 2011

rubicund \ROO-bih-kund\, adjective:

• Inclining to redness; ruddy; red.

Rubicund comes from Latin rubicundus, "red, ruddy," from rubere, "to be red."

Russian Toilette

• After sitting on the toilet to poop, you notice that there is less than one-quarter of a roll of toilet paper, and no spare in the bathroom. You decide to poop anyway, gambling on the fact you will have enough toilet paper to have a satifying wipe.

Husband: "Honey, I just played Russian Toilette, and lost"

Wife: "Sucks to be you. Try not to bite your fingernails"

Trivia

What was the name of Superman’s biological mother?

• Lara Lor-Van. She was a librarian on the planet Krypton.

History

• Dominican Republic: became independent of Haiti (1844); then got its first elected president after 38 years of dictatorship (1963)
• Leaning Tower of Pisa: the Italian government requested aid in preventing the tower from toppling; however, it was considered important to retain the tilt (1964)
• carbon-14: radioactive isotope that is the basis of radiocarbon dating was discovered at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (1940)
• Kuwait: oil-rich Arabian Peninsula country was liberated from Iraqi occupation during the Gulf War (1991)

Birthdays

• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882): poet, The Song of Hiawatha; other American writers born today include John Steinbeck (1902-1968), Peter De Vries (1910-1993) and Irwin Shaw (1913-1984)
• Hugo Black (1886-1971): liberal US Supreme Court justice appointed by FDR
• Ariel Sharon (83): Israeli prime minister; he suffered a stroke in 2006 and remains in a coma
• Elizabeth Taylor (79): violet-eyed actress, Cleopatra, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; other actors born today include Joanne Woodward (81), Howard Hesseman (71), Timothy Spall (54), Adam Baldwin and Grant Show (both 49) and Donal Logue (45)
• Josh Groban (30): pop singer, Noël; other singers born on this date include Marian Anderson (1897-1993) and Adrian Smith (54)