Tuesday, February 8, 2011

philomath \FIL-uh-math\, noun:

• A lover of learning; a scholar.

Philomath is from the Greek philomathes, "loving knowledge," from philos, "loving, fond" + mathein, "to learn, to understand."

Ridin' Qwerty

• Texting while driving where it's illegal, taken from Riding dirty

"Hey, sorry I couldn't reply to your SMS, I was ridin' qwerty"

Trivia

What is the longest river in Europe?

• The 2,290-mile-long Volga, which is located entirely in Russia.

History

• Mary, Queen of Scots: was beheaded after being implicated in the Babington plot against Elizabeth I (1587)
• The Devil's Footprints: 100 miles of hooflike prints appeared in the snow in Devon, England (1855)
• Russo-Japanese War: began with a surprise attack by Japan on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur (now Lüshun) (1904)
• The Birth of a Nation: D.W. Griffith's controversial epic premiered in Los Angeles (1915)

Birthdays

• Abi Titmuss: (35): actress / model
• Martin Buber (1878-1965): theologian and philosopher, I and Thou
• John Williams (79): composer of some of filmdom's most famous themes, Star Wars, Schindler's List; plus, musicians Vince Neil (50) and David "Phoenix" Farrell (34)
• Ted Koppel (71): broadcast journalist, original anchor of Nightline
• John Grisham (56): author of The Firm, The Associate; other writers born on this date include John Ruskin (1819-1900), Jules Verne (1828-1905), Kate Chopin (1851-1904) and Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979)
• Alonzo Mourning (41): NBA center
• Creed Bratton (68): The Office's former hippie Creed; also, actors Edith Evans (1888-1976), Lana Turner (1921-1995), Jack Lemmon (1925-2001), James Dean (1931-1955), Nick Nolte (70), Robert Klein (69), Brooke Adams (62), Mary Steenburgen (58), Gary Coleman, (1968-2010) and Josh Morrow and Seth Green (both 37)