Tuesday, January 14, 2025

exordium \ig-ZAWR-dee-uhm\, noun:

1. The beginning of anything.
2. The introductory part of an oration, treatise, etc.

Exordium stems from the Latin root ōrd meaning "to begin." The prefix ex- in this case means "utterly," and the suffix -ium which is often found on nouns borrowed from Latin, such as delirium and tedium.

 

Broscience

• Broscience is the predominant brand of reasoning in bodybuilding circles where the anecdotal reports of jacked dudes are considered more credible than scientific research.

Broscience in action:

"Bro, you gotta slam 40-60 grams of waxy maize plus 20 grams of BCAA within 7 seconds of finishing your last set of squat rack curls. Otherwise, you'll go straight catabolic."

History

• Marilyn Monroe: blonde bombshell wed legendary Yankee Joe DiMaggio; the marriage lasted less than a year, but DiMaggio remained devoted long after that (1954)
• Human Be-In: counterculture event took place in San Francisco, preceding the Summer of Love (1967)
• Margrethe II: ascended the throne of Denmark as its first reigning queen since the early 1400s, thanks to a constitutional amendment that allowed female succession (1972)
• Miami Dolphins: beat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII, becoming the first, and so far only, NFL team to have an undefeated season (1973)

Birthdays

• Benedict Arnold 1741
• Henri Fantin-Latour 1836
• Albert Schweitzer 1875
• Cecil Beaton 1904
• William Bendix 1906
• Russ Columbo 1908
• Mark Goodson 1915
• Billy Butterfield (World’s Greatest Jazz Band) 1917
• Andy Rooney 1919
• Tom Tryon 1926
• Billy Walker 1929
• Caterina Valente 1931
• Clarence Carter 1936
• Sonny Siebert 1937
• Billy Jo Spears 1937
  
• Jack Jones 1938
• Allen Toussaint 1938
• Julian Bond 1940
• Faye Dunaway 1941
• Gibby Gilbert 1941
• Holland Taylor 1943
• Shannon Lucid
• Graham Marsh 1944
• Gene Washington
• Carl Weathers 1948
• T-Bone Burnett 1948
• Lawrence Kasdan 1948
• Geoff Tate (Queensryche) 1959
• Steven Soderbergh 1963
• Mark Addy 1964
• Slick Rick 1965
• Dan Scheider 1966
• Tom Rhodes 1967
• Emily Watson 1967
• L.L. Cool J (James Todd Smith) 1968
• Jason Bateman 1969
• Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana) 1969
• Jordan Ladd 1975