Sunday, October 4, 2026

ethos \ EE-thos, EE-thohs, ETH-os, -ohs \ , noun; 

1. Sociology . the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period: In the Greek ethos the individual was highly valued.
2. the character or disposition of a community, group, person, etc. 
3. the moral element in dramatic literature that determines a character's action rather than his or her thought or emotion.

Origin: Ethos comes from the Greek term meaning "custom; habit; character," and provides the root for the term ethics . It entered English in the 1600s.

manicorn

• a mythical male creature who is successful (read: pursuing his passion and can pay his electric bills/rent), funny, chivalrous, masculine (read: not chauvinistic), adventurous, artistic (read: not suicidal). See any John Cusack film (or Chuck Klosterman's witty commentary on Fake Love in Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Pops), any romantic comedy where the flawed guy comes through in the end...

"Where is my manicorn? I keep going out with all these losers!"

"Too bad I settled when I got married, I just met my manicorn."

Trivia

What was Hannah Montana TV star Miley Cyrus’ given name at birth?

• Destiny. Her childhood nickname, Smiley, morphed into Miley, which legally became her first name in 2008 when she was 15.

 

 

History

• Gregorian calendar: was proclaimed by Pope Gregory XIII; this date, October 4, was followed immediately by October 15 in Spain, Portugal, Poland and most of Italy (1582)
• US Open golf tournament: was played for the first time; the $150 prize was won by Horace Rawlins (1895)
• Sputnik: the space race began when Russia launched the first man-made satellite into orbit (1957)
• Pope Paul VI: became the first pontiff to visit the US when he addressed the UN General Assembly in New York (1965)
• Hooters, the delightfully tacky yet unrefined restaurant chain came into being (1983)
  

  

   

  

  
  

  

   

Birthdays

• Rutherford B. Hayes (U.S.) 1822
• Frederic S. Remington 1861
• Edward L. Stratemeyer 1862
• Damon Runyon 1884
• Buster Keaton 1895
• Frankie Crosetti 1910
• Jan Murray 1917
• Charlton Heston 1924
• Alvin Toffler 1928
• Leroy Van Dyke 1929
• Felicia Farr 1932
• Sam Huff 1934
• Eddie Applegate 1935
• Anne Rice 1941
• Lori Saunders 1941
• Jackie Collins 1941
• Nona Hendryx 1944
• Clifton Davis 1945
• Susan Sarandon 1946
• James Fielder (Buffalo Springfield) 1947
• Armand Assante 1949
• Alan Rosenberg 1950
• Barbara McDonald (Timbuk 3) 1958
• Chris Lowe (Pet Shop Boys) 1959
• Greg Hubbard (Sawyer Brown) 1960
• Jon Secada 1961
• David W. Harper 1961
• Liev Schreiber 1967
• Alicia Silverstone 1976
• Rachael Leigh Cook 1979
• Jimmy Workmann 1980
• Michael Charles Roman 1987