Monday, December 19, 2011

ectype \EK-tahyp\, noun:

• A reproduction; copy.

As opposed to prototype, ectype originally meant “wrought in relief” in Greek. Its roots are ec, a variant of “ex,” and týpos, a “figure on a wall.”

Computer

• a machine for downloading porn

"oh no, the computer broke, i ejaculated all over the keyboard"

Trivia

In 1619, what fee was a planter in the Jamestown colony charged if he selected a wife from the first shipload of marriageable women transported to the New World?

• 120 pounds of tobacco, which was the currency of the young Virginia colony. The price was raised to 150 pounds for women on later ships.

History

• Benjamin Franklin: began publishing his Poor Richard's Almanack (1732)
• "These are the times that try men's souls": Thomas Paine's famous quote was published in his first American Crisis essay (1776)
• Altair 8800: the precursor to the PC was announced as a do-it-yourself kit (1974)
• FIFA World Cup Trophy: the football trophy named for FIFA president Jules Rimet, consisting of an octagonal cup held by Nike and made of gold and lapis lazuli, was stolen in Rio de Janeiro (1983)
• Titanic: movie with the highest box office earnings (and largest budget to that point) opened in the US, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (1997)
• Bill Clinton: was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice (1998)

Birthdays

• Leonid Brezhnev (1906-1982): Soviet leader
• Edith Piaf (1915-1963): cabaret singer called "the little sparrow"; other musicians born on this date include Robert Sherman (86), Maurice White (70), John McEuen (66) and Lady Sovereign (26)
• Richard Leakey (67): paleoanthropologist and conservationist
• Criss Angel (44): magician, illusionist
• Jake Gyllenhaal (31): actor, Love and Other Drugs; also, actors Ralph Richardson (1902-1983), Robert Urich (1946-2002), Cicely Tyson (78), Tim Reid (67), Jennifer Beals (48), Scott Cohen (47), Rosa Blasi and Alyssa Milano (both 38) and Marla Sokoloff (31)

Read more: http://www.answers.com/