Monday, January 9, 2017

byzantine \BIZ-uhn-teen\, adjective:

1. Complex or intricate.

2. Characterized by elaborate scheming and intrigue, esp. for the gaining of political power or favor.

3. Of or pertaining to Byzantium.

4. Of or pertaining to the Byzantine Empire.

5. Noting or pertaining to the architecture of the Byzantine Empire and to architecture influenced by or imitating it.

Byzantine derives its general reference to complexity from the intricate workings of the government of Byzantium, an ancient center of both the Roman and Ottoman empires.

pizzarrhea

• The sudden onset of diarrhea by means of the consumption of pizza, be it bad or otherwise.

I got mad pizzarrhea from that janky corner joint the other day.

Trivia

What world-famous athlete’s injured foot was responsible for making metatarsal an everyday word?

• British soccer star David Beckham, who broke a metatarsal on the eve of the 2002 World Cup—single-footedly killing England’s hopes of victory. Media coverage of his injury resulted in metatarsal being named “word of the year” by the Oxford English Dictionary.

History

• daguerreotype: L. J. M. Daguerre announced the first practical photographic process to the French Academy of Sciences (1839)
• autogiro: aeronautical engineer Juan de la Cierva made the first successful flight in the helicopter-like aircraft he had invented, in Madrid (1923)
• Martyr's Day of Panama: the tearing of a Panamanian flag during protests regarding US sovereignty over the Panama Canal Zone led to several days of deadly fighting (1964)
• Commonwealth of Northern Marianas: was established (1978)

Birthdays

• Gracie Fields 1898
• Vilma Banky (Lonchit) 1898
• Chic (Murat Bernard) Young 1901
• George Balanchine 1904
• Simone de Beauvoir 1908
• Richard Milhous Nixon (U.S.) 1913
• Fernando Lamas 1915
• Anita Louise (Fremault) 1915
• Herbert Lom 1917
• Judith Krantz 1928
• Domenico Modugno 1928
• Bart Starr (NFL) 1934
• Bob Denver 1935
• Dick Enberg 1935
• Big Al Downing 1940
• Joan Baez 1941
• Susannah York 1941
  
• Roy Head 1943
• Jimmy Page 1944 - Musician (Led Zeppelin) 
• Scott (Noel) Engel (The Walker Brothers) 1944
• Bill Cowsill 1948 - Musician (Cowsills)
• Rio Reiser 1950
• David Johansen 1950 - Musician (Buster Poindexter)
• Crystal Gayle 1951
  
• J. K. Simmons 1955
• Eric Erlandson 1963 - Musician (Hole)
• Haddaway 1965
• Joely Richardson 1965
• David John "Dave" Matthews 1967
• Carl Bell 1967 - Musician (Fuel)
• Steve Harwell 1967 - Musician (Smash Mouth)
• Joey Lauren Adams 1968
• A.J. McLean 1978
• Catherine Elizabeth Middleton 1982 - Duchess of Cambridge, married to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge  
• Nina Dobrev 1989