Wednesday, February 9, 2011

doppelganger \DOP-uhl-gang-uhr\, noun:

1. A ghostly double or counterpart of a living person.
2. Alter ego; double.

Doppelganger is from the German doppel, "double" + Gänger, "goer."

Logophilia

• This happens when nerds like words so much, they are sexually excited by them.

When Kevin took his SAT, he was sent into logophilia by the critical reading section.

Trivia

How many popes have been honored with the title “the Great”?

• Three: Pope St. Leo I (440–461); Pope St. Gregory I (590–604); and Pope St. Nicholas I (858–867).

History

• John Quincy Adams: the House of Representatives chose America's sixth POTUS, when no candidate received a majority of electoral votes (1825)
• National Weather Service: then known as the United States Weather Bureau, was founded under the US Army Signal Corps; it used to alert fruit growers to the approach of stormy weather by telegraph (1870)
• Davis Cup: international tennis competition was played for the first time; its donor, Dwight F. Davis, won (1900)
• Hollywood Walk of Fame: the first embedded star was awarded, honoring Joanne Woodward (1960)
• The Beatles: the Fab Four appeared for the first time on The Ed Sullivan Show (1964)
• Satchel Paige: became the first Negro League player elected into Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame (1971)

Birthdays

• William Henry Harrison (1773-1841): US president who served only 1 month before dying of pneumonia
• Carole King (69): singer/songwriter, "You've Got a Friend"; plus, musicians Gasparo Angiolini (1731-1803), Joe Ely (64) and Travis Tritt (48)
• Judith Light (62): Claire Meade on Ugly Betty; also, actors Kathryn Grayson (1922-2010), Janet Suzman (72), Joe Pesci (68), Mia Farrow (66), Charles Shaughnessy (56), Julie Warner (46), Jason George (39), Charlie Day (35), A.J. Buckley (34), Zhang Ziyi (32) and David Gallagher (26)
• Alice Walker (67): Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple; other writers born on this date include Amy Lowell (1874-1925), Brendan Behan (1923-1964) and J. M. Coetzee (71)