Thursday, December 22, 2011

calvous \KAL-vuhs\, adjective:

• Lacking all or most of the hair on the head; bald.

Calvous is derived from the Latin word calvus which meant simply “bald.”
Holiday Eve

• The day before a company holiday when employees are inclined to do as little work as possible.

Bob: "Rick, can you get me the TPP report today?"
Rick: "No, not today. Today is Holiday Eve and I'm not trying to do a lot of work today. Maybe next week."
Trivia
There are 118 reeds—or ridges—on the edge of a dime, and 150 on the edge of a half-dollar. How many are on the edge of a quarter?

• 119.

History

• Embargo Act: the US banned trade with foreign countries in response to interference with neutral American ships by France and Britain, which were at war with each other (1807)
• Beethoven's Fifth: and Sixth Symphonies premiered (1808)
• Dreyfus Affair: French Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus was wrongly convicted of treason in a trial that raised cries of anti-Semitism; he was later exonerated (1894)
• USGA: governing body of golf was founded (1894)
• Colo: the first gorilla bred in captivity was born in the Columbus Zoo; she is now a great-great-grandmother (1956)
• Flight 63: American Airlines passenger Richard Reid attempted to blow up a plane with a shoe bomb; he is serving a life sentence for that plot (2001)

Birthdays

• Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924): composer of La Bohème and Madame Butterfly
• Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876-1944): writer who founded the Futuristic artistic movement; plus, poet Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935)
• Lady Bird Johnson (1913-2007): wife of President Lyndon Johnson
• Diane Sawyer (66): TV journalist, former co-host of Good Morning America who took over as anchor of ABC World News
• Robin Gibb (62): singer/songwriter, The Bee Gees; also, singers Maurice Gibb (1949-2003) and Jordin Sparks (22)
• Ralph Fiennes (49): Oscar-nominated actor, Schindler's List, The English Patient; other actors born on this date include Peggy Ashcroft (1907-1991), Barbara Billingsley (1915-2010), Hector Elizondo (75), Lauralee Bell (43) and Chris Carmack (31)

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