Today is July 23rd. That means that in the U.S. it's National Vanilla Ice Cream Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: Up to a million Britons were affected by floods with both the River Severn and River Thames threatening to break their banks. Up to 350,000 people in Gloucestershire were without running water for two weeks with some people unable to move back to their homes for a year.

2007: It was announced that comedian Drew Carey would replace Bob Barker as host of The Price is Right.

1986: In London, Prince Andrew, Duke of York married Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.

1983: The Sri Lankan Civil War began with the killing of 13 Sri Lanka Army soldiers by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. In the subsequent government-organized pogrom of Black July, about 1,000 Tamils were slaughtered, some 400,000 Tamils fled to neighboring Tamil Nadu, India and many found refuge in Europe and Canada.

1970: Qaboos ibn Sa’id, became Sultan of Oman after overthrowing his father, Sa’id ibn Taimur.

1968: In Cleveland, Ohio, a violent shootout between a Black Militant organization led by Ahmed Evans and the Cleveland Police Department occurred. During the shootout, a riot began that lasted for five days.

1967: In Detroit, Michigan, one of the worst riots in United States history began on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city (43 were killed, 342 injured and 1,400 buildings burned).

1961: The Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) was founded in Nicaragua.

1929: The Fascist government in Italy banned the use of foreign words.

1914: Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia demanding they allow the Austrians to determine who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. When Serbia denied Austria-Hungarian demands, mobilization for World War I began on July 28.

1904: By some accounts, the ice cream cone was invented by Charles E. Menches during the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis.

1888: Scottish veterinarian, John Boyd Dunlop, applied to patent the pneumatic tyre as "an improvement in the tyres or wheels for bicycles, tricycles and other road tyres."

1886: Gottlieb Daimler invented the car, fashioned from a four seat, horse-drawn carriage, with a steering column and a larger engine mounted below the back seat and projecting through the floor..

1881: The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, the world's oldest international sport federation, was founded.

1877: The first telephone and telegraph line in Hawaii was completed.

1840: The Act of Union created the Province of Canada.

1632: 300 colonists bound for New France (modern day Canada) departed Dieppe, France.

Births:
1339: Louis I (King of Naples)

1888: Raymond Chandler (American-born author) [The Big Sleep, The High Window, The Long Goodbye]

1892: Haile Selassie (Emperor of Ethiopia)

1940: Don [John Donald] Imus (American talk radio host)

Deaths:
1916: Sir William Ramsay (Scottish chemist) Discovered the "inert gases", neon, krypton and xenon, and co-discovered argon, radon, calcium and barium.

1923: Pancho Villa [Doroteo Arango Arámbula] (Mexican revolutionary)

1948: D. W. [David Llewelyn Wark] Griffith (American film director) [The Birth of a Nation, Intolerance, Orphans of the Storm]

1999: Hassan II (King of Morocco)

2007: Mohammed Zahir Shah (King of Afghanistan)


Word of the day: catachresis \kat-uh-KREE-sis\
Etymology: Derives via Latin from Greek katakhresthai "to misuse".
(noun)
1. The misuse of words.

Mistfox - who has been guilty of catachresis

Today is July 24th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Tequila Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: Libya freed all six of the “medics” in the HIV trial (Bulgarian nurses affair) in Libya.

1991: A University of Manchester scientist announced finding a planet outside of our solar system.

1983: George Brett, batting for the Kansas City Royals against the New York Yankees, had a game-winning home run nullified in the "Pine Tar Incident".

1969: The Apollo 11 astronauts, two of whom had become the first men to set foot on the moon, splashed down safely in the Pacific.

1959: Then vice president Richard M. Nixon argued with Soviet Leader Nikita Khruschev while at the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow. They were touring a kitchen at the time, and the discussion became known as the "Kitchen Debate".

1956: At New York City's Copacabana Club, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis performed their last comedy show together (they started on July 25, 1946).

1950: The first successful rocket launch from Cape Canaveral took place.

1948: The Looney Tunes character Marvin the Martian made his first appearance in the cartoon Haredevil Hare.

1938: The Nestlé Company commercially introduced Nescafé instant coffee in Switzerland.

1937: The state of Alabama dropped charges against five black men accused of raping two white women in the Scottsboro case.

1924: The World Chess Federation FIDE was founded in Paris.

1923: Greece, Bulgaria and other countries that fought in the First World War signed the Treaty of Lausanne, settling the boundaries of modern Turkey, in Switzerland.

1823: Slavery was abolished in Chile

1673: Edmund Halley entered Queen's College, Oxford, as an undergraduate.

1534: French explorer Jacques Cartier planted a cross on the Gaspé Peninsula in Canada and took possession of the territory in the name of the King Francis I of France.

1411: Battle of Harlaw, one of the bloodiest battles on Scottish soil, was fought.

1148: Louis VII of France laid siege to Damascus during the Second Crusade.

Births:
1860: Alfons Mucha (Czech artist)

1895: Robert Graves (English author/poet/translator) [The White Goddess; I, Claudius; The Golden Ass]

1900: Zelda Fitzgerald (American artist/wife of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald)

1935: Pat [Patrick Bruce] Oliphant (Australian political cartoonist)

1998: Bindi Irwin (Australian entertainer/daughter of Steve Irwin)

Deaths:
1129: Shirakawa (Emperor of Japan)


Word of the day: parapraxis \par-uh-PRAK-sis\
Etymology: Derived from Greek para- "beside, beyond" + praxis "act".
(noun)
1. A slip of the tongue (or pen) that reveals the unconscious mind. (Freudian slip)


Mistfox - who is still dragging from her cold

Today is July 25th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Hot Fudge Sundae Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: Pratibha Patil was sworn in as India's first woman president

1997: It was announced that for the first time human stem cells had been cultured in a laboratory, using tissue taken from aborted human embryos.

1993: Israel launched a massive attack against Lebanon in what the Israelis call Operation Accountability, and the Lebanese call the Seven-Day War.

1969: U.S. President Richard Nixon declared the Nixon Doctrine, stating that the United States now expected its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense. This was the start of the "Vietnamization" of the war.

1956: The Italian liner Andrea Doria collided with the Swedish ship Stockholm off the New England coast, claiming the lives of 51 people.

1952: The U.S. non-incorporated colonial territory of Puerto Rico adopted a "constitution" of local-limited powers, approved by the United States Congress in contravention of then-current International Law.

1948: Bread rationing ended in Britain.

1946: At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis staged their first show as a comedy team.

1946: The U.S. detonated the "Baker" atomic bomb during "Operation Crossroads" at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. This, the first underwater nuclear explosion, was to test results on a naval fleet of war-surplus and captured enemy vessels.

1920: The first transatlantic two-way radio broadcast took place.

1907: Korea became a protectorate of Japan.

1894: The First Sino-Japanese War began when the Japanese fired upon a Chinese warship.

1837: William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone successfully demonstrated the first commercial use of an electric telegraph between Euston and Camden Town in London.

1797: Horatio Nelson lost more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife Island (Spain).

1755: The decision to deport the Acadians took place in Halifax. Thousands of Acadians were sent to the British Colonies in America, France and England. Some later moved to Louisiana, while others later resettled in New Brunswick.

1547: Henry II of France was crowned.

1538: The City of Guayaquil was founded by the Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana and given the name Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de Guayaquil.

1536: Sebastián de Belalcázar, on his search of El Dorado, founded the City of Santiago de Cali.

1139: The independence of Portugal from the Kingdom of León and Castile was declared after the battle against the Almoravids of Ourique.

Births:
1109: Afonso I (King of Portugal)

1848: Arthur Balfour (Prime Minister of the U.K.)

1923: Estelle Getty [Estelle Scher] (American actress) [The Golden Girls]

Deaths:
0306: Constantius Chlorus (Roman Emperor)

1409: Martin I (King of Sicily)

1973: Louis Stephen St. Laurent (Prime Minister of Canada)

1986: Vincente Minnelli [Lester Anthony Minnelli] (American film director/father of Liza Minnelli) [Meet Me in St. Louis, An American in Paris, Brigadoon, Kismet, Gigi, A Matter of Time


Word of the day: orthoepy \or-THO-uh-pee, OR-tho-ep-ee\
Etymology: Via Latin from Greek ortho- "correct" + epos "word".
(noun)
1. Study of the pronunciation of words.
2. Customary pronunciation of a language.


Mistfox - who hasn't had a hot fudge sundae in years

Today is July 26th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Coffee Milkshake Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2005: Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-114 Mission) was launched, NASA's first scheduled flight mission after the Columbia Disaster in 2003.

2005: Mumbai, India received 99.5cm of rain (39.17 inches) within 24 hours, bringing the city to a halt for over 2 days.

1977: The National Assembly of Quebec imposed the use of French as the official language of the provincial government.

1974: Greek Prime Minister Constantin Caramanlis formed the country's first civil government after seven years of military rule.

1965: Full independence was granted to the Maldives.

1963: Syncom 2, the world's first geosynchronous satellite, was launched from Cape Canaveral on a Delta B booster.

1953: Arizona Governor John Howard Pyle ordered an anti-polygamy law enforcement crackdown on residents of Short Creek, Arizona, which became known as the Short Creek Raid.

1952: King Farouk of Egypt abdicated in favor of his son Fuad, in the wake of a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser.

1944: The first German V-2 rocket hit Great Britain.

1943: Los Angeles, California, suffered smog so bad that visibility downtown was limited to three blocks.

1941: In response to the Japanese occupation of French Indo-China during World War II, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the seizure of all Japanese assets in the United States.

1926: Roquefort cheese was the first cheese designated with an appellation d'origine controlee. Only cheese that is processed in Roquefort, France and aged in the caves there may be called “Roquefort Cheese.”

1895: Pierre Curie married Marie Sklodowska (Curie) in Sceaux, France.

1891: France annexed Tahiti.

1882: Richard Wagner's Parsifal premiered at Bayreuth.

1878: In California, the poet and American West outlaw calling himself "Black Bart" made his last clean getaway when he stole a safe box from a Wells Fargo stagecoach. The empty box would be found later with a taunting poem inside.

1822: José de San Martín arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador, to meet with Simón Bolívar.

1581: The northern Low Countries (Netherlands) declared their independence from the Spanish king, Philip II during the Plakkaat van Verlatinghe (Act of Abjuration).

1309: Henry VII was recognized King of the Romans by Pope Clement V.

0811: At the Battle of Pliska Byzantine emperor Nicephorus I was slain and his heir, Stauracius, was seriously wounded.

Births:
1678: Joseph I (Holy Roman Emperor)

1791: Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart (Austrian composer/pianist/conductor/teacher/youngest son of W.A. Mozart)

1894: Aldous Huxley (English-born author) [Brave New World, After Many a Summer Dies the Swan]

1926: Joseph F. Engelberger (American engineer) The "Father of Robotics."

1956: Dorothy Hamill (American figure skater)

Deaths:
0811: Nicephorus I (Byzantine Emperor)

1380: Komyo (Emperor of Japan)

2004: William A. Mitchell (American food scientist) Invented Pop Rocks candy, Cool Whip, the orange drink mix Tang, and quickset Jell-O Gelatin.


Word of the Day: supernumerary \soo-puhr-NOO-muh-rair-ee; -NYOO-\
Etymology: From Latin supernumerarius, from super, "over" + numerus, "number."
(adjective)
1. Exceeding the stated, standard, or prescribed number.
2. Exceeding what is necessary or desired; superfluous.
3. A supernumerary person or thing.
4. An actor without a speaking part, as a walk-on or an extra in a crowd scene.


Mistfox - who would like a coffee milkshake (Arby's used to have a great Jamoca shake)

Today is July 27th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Scotch Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: News helicopters from Phoenix, Arizona television stations KNXV and KTVK collided over Steele Indian School Park in central Phoenix while covering a police chase; there were no survivors. This was the first known incidence of two news helicopters colliding in mid-air, and the worst civil aviation incident in Phoenix history.

2007: Former Qwest Communications chief Joe Macchio was sentenced to six years in prison for illegally selling $52 million in stock while not telling investors that his telecommunications company faced serious financial risks.

1990: The Jamaat al Muslimeen staged a coup d'état attempt in Trinidad and Tobago, occupying Parliament and the studios of Trinidad and Tobago Television, holding Prime Minister A. N. R. Robinson and most of his Cabinet, as well as the staff at the television station hostage for 6 days.

1987: The first expedited salvaging of Titanic wreckage by RMS Titanic, Inc. began.

1981: On the British television series, On Coronation Street, Ken Barlow married Deirdre Langton, which proved to be a national event, with massive viewer numbers earned for the show.

1964: 5,000 more American military advisers are sent to South Vietnam bringing the total number of United States forces in Vietnam to 21,000.

1955: The Allied occupation of Austria stemming from World War II, ended.

1949: The British De Havilland Comet, the world's first jet-propelled airliner, made its maiden flight in England.

1941: Japanese troops occupied French Indo-China.

1928: Alfred Percy "Tich" Freeman became the only (cricket) bowler ever to take 200 first-class wickets before the end of July.

1880: A.P. Abourne patented a method for refining coconut oil.

1549: Jesuit priest Francis Xavier's ship reached Japan.

1214: At the Battle of Bouvines in France, Philip II of France defeated John of England.

Births:
1733: Jeremiah Dixon (English surveyor/astronomer) Best known for his work with Charles Mason, from 1763 to 1767, in determining what was later called the Mason-Dixon line.

1870: Hilaire Belloc (French-born English author) [The Four Men, The Path to Rome, Sonnets and Verses, The Servile State]

1882: Sir Geoffrey De Havilland (English aircraft designer/manufacturer/pioneer in long-distance jet flying)

1929: Jack Higgins [Harry Patterson] (British author) [The Eagle Has Landed, Eye of the Storm, Midnight Never Comes]

1944: Bobbie Gentry [Roberta Lee Streeter] (American singer/songwriter) ["Ode to Billie Joe", "Fancy"]

Deaths:
1101: Conrad (King of Germany and Italy)

1276: James I (King of Aragon)

1910: Charles Stewart Rolls (Co-founder of the manufacturer Rolls-Royce Ltd.)

1984: James Mason (English actor) [The Desert Rats, Georgy Girl , 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Verdict]

1988: Frank Zamboni (American inventor) Invented the modern ice resurfacer.


Word of the Day: testis \TES-tis\ plural -tes \-teez]\
Etymology: From Latin testis "testicle," usually regarded as a special application of testis "witness" (see testament), presumably because it "bears witness" to virility (compare Greek parastates, literally "one that stands by;" and French slang témoins, literally "witnesses"). But some think Greek parastatai "testicles" has been wrongly associated with the legal sense of parastates "supporter, defender" and suggests instead parastatai in the sense of twin "supporting pillars, props of a mast," etc. Others, meanwhile, suggest a connection between testis and testa "pot, shell, etc."
(noun)
1. The male gonad or reproductive gland, either of two oval glands located in the scrotum.


Mistfox - who thought the etymology for this word was very interesting

Today is July 28th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Milk Chocolate Day, National Cheesecake Day, and National Drive-Thru Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: Vice President Dick Cheney had surgery to replace an implanted device that was monitoring his heartbeat.

2005: The Irish Republican Army renounced the use of violence against British rule in Northern Ireland and said it would disarm.

2005: A tornado touched down in a residential area in south Birmingham, England, causing £4,000,000 worth of damages and injuring 39 people.

2002: Nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, were rescued after 77 hours underground.

1996: Kennewick Man, the remains of a prehistoric man, was discovered near Kennewick, Washington.

1977: At 11:02 p.m. the first oil from Prudhoe Bay arrived at Valdez in the trans-Alaskan pipeline. It took 38 days to travel the 800 miles.

1976: An earthquake devastated northern China, killing at least 242,000 people.

1973: 600,000 people attended what was for many years the largest musical concert in history (Summer Jam at Watkins Glen), at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Raceway.

1965: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announced his order to increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.

1943: The British bombed Hamburg, Germany during Operation Gomorrah causing a firestorm that kills 42,000 German civilians.

1942: USSR leader Joseph Stalin issued Order No. 227 in response to alarming German advances into Russia. Under the order all those who retreated or otherwise left their positions without orders to do so would be immediately killed.

1933: The diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Spain were established.

1883: Mr. Ferry pedaled a water tricycle across the English Channel.

1809: During the Peninsular War at the Battle of Talavera, Sir Arthur Wellesley's (later 1st Duke of Wellington) British, Portuguese and Spanish army defeated a French force under Joseph Bonaparte.

1609: Bermuda was first settled, by survivors of the English Sea Venture, en route to Virginia.

Births:
1860: Anastasia Mikhailovna (Grand Duchess of Russia)

1907: Earl Tupper (American inventor/manufacturer) The inventor of Tupperware.

1943: Bill Bradley (American basketball player /Rhodes scholar/politician)

1948: Sally Struthers (American actress) [All in the Family]

1954: Hugo Chávez (President of Venezuela)

Deaths:
1540: Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex (English statesman)

1844: Joseph Bonaparte (Older brother of Napoleon I/King of Naples and Spain)

1849: Charles Albert (King of Sardinia)

1937: Joseph Lee ["Father of the American playground movement"] (American inventor) Introduced the first contemporary neighborhood playground in the U.S.

1942: Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (British archaeologist/Egyptologist)

1996: Roger Tory Peterson (American ornithologist/author/conservationist/wildlife artist) [A Field Guide to the Birds]

2006: David Gemmell (British writer) [Legend, Waylander, The Swords of Night and Day, Lion of Macedon]


Word of the Day: popinjay \POP-in-jay\
Etymology: Via French and Spanish from Arabic babbaga "parrot". The last syllable changed to jay because some thought the word referred to that bird instead of a parrot.
(noun)
1. Someone who indulges in vain and empty chatter


Mistfox - who is going over to help her dd settle into her first apartment on her own today

And for some reason, I think of Diane. I stand at the ready, pal!

And I'm just listening for my name. Any time, any place... any reason!

Diane

Today is July 29th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Lasagna Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2005: Astronomers announced their discovery of Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the ninth largest body known to orbit the Sun directly.

2003: Boston Red Sox batter Bill Mueller became the first player in major league history to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in a single game in a 14-7 win at Texas.

1996: The controversial child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act (1996) was struck down as too broad by a U.S. federal court.

1987: British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand signed the agreement to build the tunnel under the English Channel (Eurotunnel).

1977: Buffalo, New York declared this day "Chicken Wing Day" in honor of the famous Buffalo Chicken Wings, created in October, 1964. Teressa Bellissimo at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, created them for her son and some friends for a midnight snack.

1976: In New York City, the "Son of Sam" killed one person and seriously wounded another in the first of a series of attacks.

1967: During the fourth day of celebrating its 400th anniversary, the city of Caracas, Venezuela was shaken by an earthquake, leaving approximately 500 dead.

1957: Jack Paar made his debut as host of NBC's "Tonight" show.

1948: After a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, the first Summer Olympics (XIV) to be held since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin opened in London.

1945: The BBC Light Programme radio station was launched for mainstream light entertainment and music.

1927: The first iron lung (electric respirator) was installed at Bellevue hospital in New York for the post war polio epidemic.

1921: Adolf Hitler became leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party.

1899: The First Hague Convention was signed. These are among the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the nascent body of secular international law.

1870: America's first asphalt pavement was laid in Newark, N.J.

1836: The Arc de Triomphe in Paris was inaugurated.

1830: Charles X of France abdicated.

1793: John Graves Simcoe decided to build a fort and settlement at Toronto, having sailed into the bay there.

1014: During the Battle of Kleidion, Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicted a decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army, and his subsequent savage treatment of 15,000 prisoners reportedly caused Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria to die of shock.

Births:
1166: Henry II of (Count of Champagne/King of Jerusalem)

1805: Alexis de Tocqueville (French historian/political scientist/author) [Democracy in America, The Old Regime and the Revolution]

1938: Peter Jennings (Canadian-born journalist) [ABC's World News Tonight]

Deaths:
238: Pupienus [Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus] (Roman Emperor) Assassinated by disaffected elements of the Praetorian Guard.

238: Balbinus [Decimus Caelius Calvinus Balbinus] (Roman Emperor) Assassinated by disaffected elements of the Praetorian Guard.

1030: Olaf II (King of Norway)

1844: Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart (Austrian composer)

1998: Jerome Robbins (American choreographer) [On the Town, High Button Shoes, The King And I, The Pajama Game, Bells Are Ringing, West Side Story, Gypsy: A Musical Fable, Fiddler on the Roof]

2007: Tom Snyder (American television personality) [The Tomorrow Show, The Late Late Show, NBC News Update]


Word of the Day: croupier \KROO-pee-uhr, -pee-ay\
Etymology: From French, literally one who sits behind another on horseback, from croup "rump". The term arose because originally such a person stood behind a gambler to offer advice.
(noun)
1. An attendant at a gaming table at a casino who collects and pays bets, deals the cards, spins the roulette, etc.


Mistfox - who wonders how the mosquitoes got into the house (itch, itch)

Today is July 30th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Cheesecake Day. ( Hmm, didn't we just have a national cheesecake day. I hate it when my sources aren't consistent. )


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2006: The world's longest running music show, Top of the Pops, was broadcast for the last time on BBC Two. The show had aired for 42 years.

2002: Expelled from Congress a week earlier, an unrepentant James A. Traficant Jr. was sentenced to eight years behind bars for corruption.

1990: The first Saturn automobile rolled off the assembly line.

1971: During the Apollo 15 Mission, David Scott and James Irwin on the Apollo Lunar Module module, Falcon, landed with the first Lunar Rover on the moon.

1954: Elvis Presley made his debut as a public performer as part of The Blue Moon Boys, at the Overton Park Shell, with Slim Whitman headlining.

1932: Walt Disney's Flowers and Trees, the first Academy Award winning cartoon and first cartoon short to use Technicolor, premiered.

1898: Scientific American carried the first magazine automobile advertisement when the Winton Motor Car Company of Cleveland, OH, invited readers to "dispense with a horse".

1866: New Orleans's Democratic government ordered police to raid an integrated Republican Party meeting, killing 40 people and injuring 150.

1811: The Spanish executed Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, leader of the Mexican insurgency, in Chihuahua, Mexico.

1792: The French national anthem, "La Marseillaise" by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, was first sung in Paris.

1739: Caspar Wistar founded the first successful large scale glass factory in the U.S. in Allowaystown, New Jersey.

1629: An earthquake in Naples, Italy killed 10,000 people.

1608: At Ticonderoga (now Crown Point, New York), Samuel de Champlain shot and killed two Iroquois chiefs. This was to set the tone for French-Iroquois relations for the next one hundred years.

Births:
1872: Clémentine (Princess of Belgium)

1929: Sid Krofft (Canadian children's television producer) [H.R. Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters]

1939: Peter Bogdanovich (American film director) [The Last Picture Show, Paper Moon]

1941: Paul Anka (Canadian singer/composer) ["Put Your Head on My Shoulder", "She's A Lady", "Lonely Boy"]

Deaths:
1811: Miguel Hidalgo [Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla Gallaga Mondarte Villaseñor] (Mexican patriot/independence leader)

1912: Meiji (Japanese emperor)

2007: Ingmar Bergman (Swedish stage and film director) [Smiles of a Summer Night , Cries and Whispers, Fanny and Alexander]

2007: Bill Walsh (American football coach)


Word of the Day: boustrophedon \boo-struh-FEED-n, -FEE-don\
Etymology: From Greek boustrophedon, literally "ox-turning", referring to the movement of an ox while plowing a field, from bous "ox" and strophe "turning". [It's the same strophe that shows up in catastrophe (literally, an overturning) and apostrophe (literally, turning away, referring to the omission of a letter).]
(noun)
1. A method of writing in which lines are written alternately in opposite direction, from left to right, and right to left.


Mistfox - who bets you're glad I don't do the On This Day in boustrophedon

Today is July 31st. That means that in the U.S. it's National Raspberry Cake Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force for Sudan's Darfur region.

2007: Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and longest-running British Army operation ever, came to an end.

1997: New York City police seized five bombs believed bound for terrorist attacks on subways.

1987: A rare, class F-4 tornado ripped through Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people and causing $330 million in damage.

1981: The 42-day strike of Major League Baseball ended in the United States.

1977: The "Son of Sam" killer claimed his last victims when he shot and killed Stacy Moskowitz, 20, and seriously wounded her date as they sat in a parked car in Brooklyn, N.Y. (David Berkowitz was arrested less than two weeks later.)

1965: The last cigarette commercial appeared on British television.

1961: At Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in major league baseball history occurred when the game was stopped in the 9th inning because of rain.

1956: Jim Laker set an extraordinary record at Old Trafford in the fourth Test of taking nineteen wickets in a first-class match (the previous best was seventeen).

1951: Japan Airlines was established.

1938: Archaeologists discovered engraved plates of gold and silver from King Darius in Persepolis.

1936: The International Olympic Committee announced that the 1940 Summer Olympics would be held in Tokyo. However, the games were given back to the IOC after the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out, and were eventually cancelled altogether because of World War II.

1919: Germany's Weimar Constitution was adopted.

1865: The first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opened at Grandchester, Australia.

1849: Benjamin Chambers was issued a U.S. patent for the breech loading cannon.

1658: Aurangzeb was proclaimed Moghul emperor of India.

0904: Thessalonica fell to the Arabs, who destroyed the city.

30 BCE: During the Battle of Alexandria, Mark Antony achieved a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserted, leading to his suicide.

Births:
1143: Nijo (Emperor of Japan)

1527: Maximilian II (Holy Roman Emperor)

1923: Stephanie Kwolek (American chemist) The inventor of Kevlar.

1951: Evonne Goolagong (Australian tennis player)

Deaths:
1508: Na'od (Emperor of Ethiopia)

1556: Ignatius Loyola (Spanish priest/founder of the Jesuits)

1750: John V (King of Portugal)

1993: Baudouin I (King of Belgium)


Word of the Day: sommelier \sum-uhl-YAY\
Etymology: From French sommelier, from somm(er)ier "one charged with transporting supplies", from somier "beast of burden", from somme "burden".
(noun)
1. A wine steward in a restaurant.


Mistfox - who thinks it sounds like Laura's been Nora's sommelier (though more like the original meaning than the modern)

NOTE: I won’t be posting again until Tues. Tomorrow, bright and early, I’m going to a bagpiper’s convention in Vermont.

Today is Aug. 5th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Mustard Day and National Waffle Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: Authorities in Mozambique seized thousands of boxes of counterfeit toothpaste, which they feared might contain the dangerous chemical diethylene glycol.

1995: Croatian forces captured the city of Knin, a significant Serb stronghold, during Operation Storm. The date is celebrated as the day of victory (Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day) in Croatia.

1969: Mariner 7 made its closest fly-by of Mars (3,524 kilometers).

1966: The album "Revolver" by the Beatles was released.

1960: Burkina Faso, then known as "Upper Volta", became independent from France.

1925: Plaid Cymru was formed with the aim of disseminating knowledge of the Welsh language, which was in danger of dying out.

1912: Japan's first taxicab service began in Ginza, Tokyo.

1909: The U.S. Congress passed the first corporation tax.

1901: Peter O'Connor set the first IAAF recognized long jump world record of 24ft 11¾ins. The record would stand for 20 years.

1888: Bertha Benz drove from Mannheim to Pforzheim, Germany in the first long distance automobile trip. In Germany, a festive annual holiday celebrates this historic trip and features antique automobiles.

1882: Standard Oil of New Jersey was established.

1864: Union Adm. David G. Farragut is said to have given his famous order "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" as he led his fleet against Mobile Bay, Ala., during the Civil War.

1861: The United States Army abolished flogging.

1858: Cyrus West Field and others completed the first transatlantic telegraph cable after several unsuccessful attempts. It operated for less than a month.

1735: New York Weekly Journal writer John Peter Zenger was acquitted of seditious libel against the royal governor of New York, on the basis that what he published was true.

1695: The Scottish Parliament established a General Post Office.

1620: The Mayflower departed Southampton, England on the first attempt to reach North America.

0910: The last major Viking army to raid England was defeated at the Battle of Tettenhall by the allied forces of Mercia and Wessex, led by King Edward and Earl Aethelred.

0642: At the Battle of Maserfeld, Penda of Mercia defeated and killed Oswald of Bernicia.

Births:
1850: Guy de Maupassant (French author) [Pierre et Jean, La Maison Tellier, Au soleil]

1862: Joseph Merrick [the "Elephant Man"] (British side-show “freak”/medical patient)

1934: Wendell Berry (American poet/writer/farmer) [The Memory of Old Jack, A World Lost, Hannah Coulter, The Way of Ignorance]

1939: Irene (Princess of the Netherlands)

Deaths:
0882: Louis III (King of France)

1063: Gruffydd ap Llywelyn (King of Gwynedd)

1364: Kogon (Emperor of Japan)

1792: Frederick North, Lord North (Prime Minister of the U.K.)

1955: Carmen Miranda [Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha, “the Brazilian bombshell”] (Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer/actress) [Something for the Boys, Copacabana, Nancy Goes to Rio]

1991: Soichiro Honda (Japanese engineer/race car driver/industrialist) Founded the Honda Motor Company, motorcycle and car manufacturer.

2006: Susan Butcher (American Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion)


Word of the Day: haggard \HAG-uhrd\
Etymology: Of uncertain origin, apparently from Old French hagard "wild falcon", perhaps influenced by the word hag. The word is still used for a hawk captured as an adult.
(adjective)
1. Looking gaunt or exhausted, as from fatigue, suffering, hunger, age, etc.


Mistfox - who wonders if anyone became haggard because they had no On This Day while I was gone

Add to this incredible list--the amazing Little Man, my bub, MURPHY!

He was born on this date 4 years ago!

Here's a picture I took of Maggie and Murphy in the car the day I brought him home--Maggie was only about 4 months old--so you can see how SMALL he was!



Here's one of him eating--note: that plate is a SAUCER!



And here he is -- note: his eyes aren't really red--it's the flash off his pupils!



---

4 years later--you can see in my sig line how much he's changed; he's also bigger than Maggie (in fact, if he's not careful, he's going to be a FAT cat! ). He's also full of vinegar and piss--always finding something to get into trouble with!

~Sue

Today is Aug. 6th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Root Beer Float Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: United States District Court judge Ronald Whyte struck down a California law aimed at prohibiting minors from buying or renting violent videogames on First Amendment grounds.

2007: The Crandall Canyon Mine in central Utah collapsed, trapping six coal miners. (All six miners died, along with three would-be rescuers.)

2001: A White House briefing entitled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” was delivered to George W. Bush. This document foreshadowed the September 11, 2001 attacks.

1997: British Prime Minister Tony Blair shook hands with Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams in the first meeting in 76 years between a British leader and the IRA's allies.

1991: Doi Takako, chair of the Social Democratic Party (Japan), became Japan's first female speaker of the House of Representatives.

1990: The United Nations Security Council ordered a global trade embargo against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

1986: A low-pressure system that redeveloped off the New South Wales coast dumped a record 328 millimeters (13 inches) of rain in a day on Sydney.

1960: In response to a United States embargo, Cuba nationalized American and foreign-owned property in the nation.

1942: Queen Wilhelmina was the first reigning queen to address a joint session of the United States Congress.

1926: Harry Houdini performed his greatest feat, spending 91 minutes underwater in a sealed tank before escaping.

1914: Denis Patrick Dowd Jr. enlisted in the French Foreign Legion, becoming the first American to fight in World War I.

1914: Two days after the United Kingdom declared war on Germany over the German invasion of Belgium, ten German U-boats left their base in Helgoland to attack Royal Navy warships in the North Sea.

1909: Alice Ramsey and three friends became the first women to complete a transcontinental auto trip.

1901: Kiowa land in Oklahoma was opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation.

1819: Norwich University was founded in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States.

1538: Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada founded Bogotá, Colombia.

Births:
1180: Go-Toba (Emperor of Japan)

1697: Charles VII (Holy Roman Emperor)

1775: Daniel O'Connell [The Liberator, The Emancipator] (Irish politician )

1934: Piers Anthony [Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob] (English-born American writer) [On a Pale Horse, A Spell for Chameleon, Stork Naked, Bio of an Ogre]

Deaths:
1272: Stephen V (King of Hungary)

1414: Ladislas (King of Naples)

1931: [Leon] Bix Beiderbecke (American cornetist/pianist/composer)

1975: Peter Hodgson (American marketing executive/entrepreneur) He named "Silly Putty" and promoted it as a toy.


Word of the Day: spoony \SPOO-nee\
Etymology: From the slang term spoon, meaning "a simpleton or a silly person."
(adjective)
1. Foolish; silly; excessively sentimental.
2. Foolishly or sentimentally in love.


Mistfox - who can't believe how tiny Murphy was (and remembers the discussions on what to name him)

Today is Aug. 7th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Raspberries & Cream Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants broke baseball great Hank Aaron's record by hitting his 756th home run.

1991: The world's largest Burger King opened in Budapest.

1981: The Washington Star ceased all operations after 128 years of publication.

1973: NBC aired the final day of the Watergate hearings on U.S. daytime television.

1971: Apollo 15 returned to Earth after a manned mission to the moon.

1959: The Lincoln Memorial design on the U.S. penny went into circulation. It replaced the "sheaves of wheat" design and is still in use.

1955: Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering, the precursor to Sony, began selling its first Transistor radios in Japan.

1933: The Iraqi Government slaughtered over 3,000 Assyrians in the village of Sumail. The day becomes known as Assyrian Martyrs Day.

1927: The Peace Bridge opened, between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York.

1819: Simón Bolívar triumphed over Spain in the Battle of Boyacá.

1679: The brigantine Le Griffon, commissioned by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, was towed to the southeastern end of the Niagara River, to become the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes of North America.

1461: The Ming Dynasty Chinese military general Cao Qin staged a coup against the Tianshun Emperor; after setting fire to the eastern and western gates of the Forbidden City (which were doused by pouring rains during the day-long uprising), Cao Qin found himself hemmed in on all sides by imperial forces, lost three of his own brothers in the fight, and instead of facing execution he fled to his house and committed suicide by jumping down a well located within the walled compound of his urban Beijing home.


322 BCE: Following the death of Alexander the Great, the Battle of Crannon between Athens and Macedon was fought.

Births:
0317: Constantius II [Flavius Iulius Constantius] (Roman emperor)

1560: Elizabeth Báthory (Hungarian countess/serial killer)

1876: Mata Hari [Margaretha Geertruida "Grietje" Zelle] (Dutch exotic dancer/spy)

Deaths:
0461: Majorian [Iulius Valerius Maiorianus ] (Roman Emperor)

0479: Yuryaku (Emperor of Japan)

1106: Henry IV (Holy Roman Emperor)

1782: Andreas Sigismund Marggraf (German chemist) Discovered beet sugar, which led to the development of the modern sugar industry.


Word of the Day: paper tiger \PAY-puhr TY-guhr\
Etymology: Translation of Chinese zhi lao hu, from zhi "paper" + lao hu "tiger".
The term is often used to describe countries.
(adjective)
1. One who is outwardly strong and powerful but is in fact powerless and ineffectual.


Mistfox - who has bunches of stuff to do today and no energy to do it with

Today is Aug. 8th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Frozen Custard Day and Sneak Some Zucchini on Your Neighbor's Porch Night


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: An EF2 tornado touched down in Kings County and Richmond County, New York State, the most powerful tornado in New York to date and the first in Brooklyn since 1889.

2007: Barbara Morgan became the first educator to safely reach space when she was launched on the U.S. Space Shuttle Endeavour en route to the International Space Station.

2006: Krispy Kreme donuts opened its first Asian outlet in Hong Kong.

2005: President George W. Bush signed The U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005. However, in "authorizing" certain programs, no actual "appropriation" of the necessary funding was made.

1988: The lights were turned on at Wrigley Field for the first time, making it the last major league stadium to host night games. (The game, against the Philadelphia Phillies, is rained out after three-and-a-half innings.)

1973: U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew went on television to denounce accusations he had taken kickbacks while governor of Maryland.

1963: Britain's "Great Train Robbery" took place as 15 thieves made off with 2.6 million pounds in banknotes.

1929: The German airship Graf Zeppelin began a round-the-world flight.

1911: Francis Holton filed the millionth patent in the United States Patent Office for a tubeless vehicle tire.

1908: Wilbur Wright made his first flight at a racecourse at Le Mans, France during the Wright Brothers' first public flight.

1876: Thomas Edison received a patent for his mimeograph.

1863: Tennessee's "military" Gov. Andrew Johnson freed his personal slaves. During the early 20th century, blacks in Tennessee celebrated the day as a holiday.

1854: Smith & Wesson patented metal bullet cartridges.

1829: The first steam locomotive for railroad use in the U.S., the Stourbridge Lion, made its first run in America.

1794: Joseph Whidbey and George Vancouver led an expedition to search for the Northwest Passage near Juneau, Alaska.

1786: Mont Blanc on the French- Italian border was climbed for the first time by Jacques Balmat and Dr Michel-Gabriel Paccard.

1709: Bartolomeu de Gusmão's "Passarola", a lighter-than-air airship, is the first man-made design to take flight (in Lisbon).

1605: Charles IX of Sweden founded the city of Oulu, Finland.

1509: The Emperor Krishnadeva Raya was crowned, marking the beginning of the regeneration of the Vijayanagara Empire in India.

Births:
1079: Horikawa (Emperor of Japan)

1921: Esther Williams (American actress/swimmer) [Million Dollar Mermaid, Bathing Beauty]

1932: Mel [Lonnie Melvin] Tillis (American singer) ["I Ain't Never", "Good Woman Blues", "Coca-Cola Cowboy"]

1935: Donald P. Bellisario (American television producer) [NCIS, Quantum Leap, Battlestar Galactica]

Deaths:
0869: Lothair II (King of Lotharingia)

2005: Barbara Bel Geddes (American actress) [Dallas, Vertigo, I Remember Mama]


Word of the Day: diadem \DY-uh-dem\
Etymology: Derives from Greek diadema, "a band," from diadein, "to bind around," from dia, "through, across" + dein, "to bind."
(noun)
1. A crown.
2. An ornamental headband worn (as by Eastern monarchs) as a badge of royalty.
3. Regal power; sovereignty; empire -- considered as symbolized by the crown.


Mistfox - who never tried to grow zucchini

Today is Aug. 9th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Rice Pudding Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada toured the Arctic regions of Canada to assert wider claims of sovereignty over the region following a recent claim by Russia to the North Pole.

2006: The Indian state of Kerala banned the sale and manufacture of soft drinks belonging to PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company due to the high levels of pesticide residue in the water used in these products.

1999: Russian President Boris Yeltsin fired his Prime Minister, Sergei Stepashin, and for the fourth time fired his entire cabinet.

1985: A federal judge in Norfolk, Va., found retired Navy officer Arthur J. Walker guilty of seven counts of spying for the Soviet Union.

1977: The military-controlled Government of Uruguay announced that it would return the nation to civilian rule through general elections in 1981 for a President and Congress.

1956: The first statewide, state-supported educational television network went on the air in Alabama.

1942: During the Battle of Savo Island, Allied naval forces protecting their amphibious forces during the initial stages of the Battle of Guadalcanal were surprised and defeated by an Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser force.

1907: The first Boy Scout encampment concluded at Brownsea Island in Southern England.

1892: Thomas Edison received a patent for a two-way telegraph.

1810: Napoleon annexed Westphalia as part of the First French Empire.

0681: Bulgaria was founded as a Khanate on the south bank of the Danube, after defeating the Byzantine armies of Emperor Constantine IV south of the Danube delta.

Births:
1776: Amedeo Avogadro (Italian chemist/physicist)

1809: William Barret Travis (American lawyer/soldier/commander at Battle of the Alamo)

1896: Jean Piaget (Swiss child psychologist/zoologist)

1949: Jonathan Kellerman (American psychologist/writer) [When The Bough Breaks, The Murder Book, Double Homicide, Capital Crimes]

Deaths:
1107: Horikawa (Emperor of Japan)

1250: Eric IV (King of Denmark)

2006: James Alfred Van Allen (American physicist) Discovered the Earth's magnetosphere, two toroidal zones of radiation due to trapped charged particles encircling the Earth (also known as the Van Allen radiation belts).


Word of the Day: egress \EE-gress\
Etymology: From Latin egressus, from egredi, "to go out," from e-, "out" + gradi, "to step."
(noun)
1. The act of going out or leaving, or the right or freedom to leave; departure.
2. A means of going out or leaving; an exit; an outlet.
3. To go out; to depart; to leave.


Mistfox - who has a joke in her family substituting "female egret" for egress (hey, my family has lots of lame family jokes that no one else understands )

Today is Aug. 10th. That means that in the U.S. it's National S'Mores Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: Hamid Ansari became the 13th Vice-President of India.

2006: More than 1.5 million Chinese evacuated when Super Typhoon Saomai, the strongest to land in China in 50 years, made landfall in Wenzhou, Zhejiang.

2000: The World Population reached 6 billion according to ibiblio.org world population tracker.

1995: Los Angeles Dodgers were forced to forfeit against the St. Louis Cardinals after fans threw souvenir baseballs on to the field en masse.

1990: The space probe Magellan arrived at its planned polar orbit around Venus.

1981: The head of John Walsh's son Adam was found in Hollywood, Florida. This event would later prompt the U.S. Congress to pass the Missing Children's Act to give the Federal Bureau of Investigation greater authority to track the disappearance of children, as well as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It also made Walsh a national spokesman against crime and eventually led to the establishment of America's Most Wanted.

1948: Candid Camera made its television debut after being on radio for a year as Candid Microphone.

1932: A 5.1-kg (11.2-pound) chondrite-type meteorite broke into at least seven pieces and landed near the town of Archie in Cass County, Missouri.

1913: The Second Balkan War ended when delegates from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece signed the Treaty of Bucharest.

1905:Russian and Japanese peace negotiations during the Russo-Japanese War began in Portsmouth.

1897: Dr. Felix Hoffmann successfully created a chemically pure and stable form of acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin).

1776: Word of the United States Declaration of Independence reached London.

1680: The Pueblo Revolt (Popé's Rebellion) began in New Mexico.

1675: The foundation stone of the Royal Greenwich Observatory in London was laid.

1628: The Swedish warship Vasa sunk in the Stockholm harbor after only about 20 minutes on her maiden voyage.

0955: At the Battle of Lechfeld, Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor defeated the Magyars, ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of the West.

0610: In Islam, the traditional date of the Laylat al-Qadr, when Muhammad began to receive the Qur'an.

Births:
1267: James II (King of Aragon)

1397: Albert II of Germany (Holy Roman Emperor)

1560: Hieronymus Praetorius (German composer)

1814: Henri Nestlé [Heinrich Nestle] (Swiss industrialist) Founder of Nestlé S.A, inventor of the first infant formula.

1889: Charles Darrow (American inventor) Designed the board game Monopoly.

Deaths:
612 BC: Sinsharishkun (Assyrian king)

1759: Ferdinand VI (King of Spain)

1929: Aletta Henriette Jacobs (Dutch physician) Pioneered family planning with the world's first birth control clinic.

1932: Rin Tin Tin (German shepherd dog)


Word of the Day: tittle-tattle \TIT-uhl TAT-uhl\
Etymology: A varied reduplication of tattle, which derives Middle English tatelen, "to stammer", from Medieval Dutch tatelen, "to babble".
(noun)
1. Idle, trifling talk; empty prattle.
2. An idle, trifling talker; a gossip.
3. To talk idly; to prate.


Mistfox - who just had s'mores with BettyD after not having had any for years

I tried to post a picture of s'moring with Ms. Jean and her family; but failed. Woe is me. But, it was fun!

Today is Aug. 11th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Raspberry Bombe Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: Voters in Sierra Leone went to the polls for the first time since the end of the country's civil war in 2002.

2003: A heat wave in Paris resulted in temperatures rising to 112°F (44° C), leaving about 144 people dead.

1968: The last steam passenger train service ran in Britain. A selection of British Rail steam locomotives made the 120-mile journey from Liverpool to Carlisle and returned to Liverpool before having their fires dropped for the last time. This working was known as the Fifteen Guinea Special.

1954: A formal peace took hold in Indochina, ending more than seven years of fighting between the French and the Communist Vietminh.

1929: Babe Ruth became the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs in his career with a home run at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio.

1919: The Constitution of the Weimar Republic was adopted.

1903: The first U.S. patent for instant coffee was issued to Satori Kato of Chicago, Illinois.

1877: American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered the two moons of Mars, which he named Phobos and Deimos.

1804: Francis II assumed the title of first Emperor of Austria.

0355: Claudius Silvanus, accused of treason, proclaimed himself Roman Emperor against Constantius II.

Births:
1872: Shidehara Kijuro (Prime Minister of Japan)

1953: Hulk Hogan [Terry Gene Bollea] (American professional wrestler/actor) [Rocky III, Suburban Commando, Mr. Nanny, American Gladiators]

1968: Mabel [Mabel Martine Los, Mabel Martine Wisse Smit] (Princess of Orange-Nassau)

Deaths:
0480 BC: Leonidas (King of Sparta)

1204: Guttorm [Guttorm Sigurdsson] (King of Norway)

1937: Edith Wharton (American author/landscape architect/interior designer) [The Decoration of Houses, The House of Mirth, The Age of Innocence, Ethan Frome, A Backward Glance]

1994: Peter Cushing (British actor) [The Curse of Frankenstein, Dr. Who and the Daleks, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Star Wars


Word of the Day: asperity \as-PAIR-uh-tee\
Etymology: From Latin asperitas, from asper, "rough." It is related to exasperate, "to irritate in a high degree," from ex- (here used intensively) + asperatus, past participle of asperare, "to roughen," from asper.
(noun)
1. Roughness of surface; unevenness.
2. Roughness or harshness of sound; a quality that grates upon the ear.
3. Roughness of manner; severity; harshness.


Mistfox - who has to get her stuff together for Aqua Aerobics after a week off

Today is Aug. 12th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Toasted Almond Bar Day. It is also the peak of the Perseid meteor shower and is known as the "Glorious Twelfth" in the U.K., as it marks the traditional start of the grouse-shooting season.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: Bulk carrier M/V New Flame collided with oil tanker Torm Gertrud at the southernmost tip of Gibraltar, ending up partially submerged.

2007: A gunman opened fire in the sanctuary of a southwest Missouri church, killing a pastor and two worshippers. (Suspect Eiken Elam Saimon is charged with murder.)

2005: An F1 tornado struck Glen Cove, New York, a rare event on Long Island.

1990: Sue, the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex, was discovered near Faith, South Dakota.

1982: Mexico announced it was unable to pay its enormous external debt, marking the beginning of a debt crisis that spread to all of Latin America and the Third World.

1966: John Lennon apologized at a news conference in Chicago for saying "the Beatles are more popular than Jesus."

1964: South Africa was banned from the Olympic Games due to the country's racist policies.

1953: The Soviet atomic bomb project continued with the detonation of Joe 4, the first Soviet thermonuclear weapon.

1833: Chicago was founded.

1281: The fleet of Qubilai Khan was destroyed by a typhoon while approaching Japan.

1164: At the Battle of Harim, Nur ad-Din defeated the Crusader armies of the County of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch.

30 BC: Cleopatra committed suicide after her lover Mark Antony's defeat at the battle of Actium.

Births:
1629: Alexei I (Tsar of Russia)

1643: Afonso VI (King of Portugal)

1762: George IV (King of the U.K.)

1856: James Buchanan ["Diamond Jim"] Brady (American financier/philanthropist)

1932: Somdet Phra Nang Chao Sirikit Phra Borommarachininat (Queen of Thailand)

Deaths:
30 BCE: Cleopatra[Cleopatra VII Philopator] (Pharaoh of Egypt)

875: Louis II (Holy Roman Emperor)

1424: Yongle (Emperor of China)

1948: Harry Brearley (English metallurgist) Invented stainless steel in 1912.

1990: B. [Barnard] Kliban (American cartoonist) [Never Eat Anything Larger Than Your Head, The Biggest Tongue in Tunisia]

2007: Merv [Mervyn Edward] Griffin (American television host/singer/game show creator [The Merv Griffin Show] Created Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.


Word of the Day: austral \O-struhl\
Etymology: Latin auster "south".
(adjective)
1. Southern.
Australia got its name from this. However Austria, in central Europe, is a Latinized form of its German name Österreich (eastern empire, referring to the eastern boundary of the Frankish Empire at one time).


Mistfox - who thinks she's coming down with another cold, curse it

Whodathunk I was being celebratory when I bought Heath Klondike bars at the grocery last night? Breakfast, anyone?

And I'm getting a cold too!

Today is Aug. 13th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Filet Mignon Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: Karl Rove, Deputy White House Chief of Staff and George W. Bush's leading political adviser, told the Wall Street Journal that he intended to resign at the end of August.

2003: At its convention in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, the United Church of Canada voted overwhelmingly to ask the federal government to allow same-sex marriage.

1987: Fossil bones discovered in Texas in 1984 were proclaimed to be the remains of possibly the world's oldest birds.

1940: Battle of Britain began when the Luftwaffe launched a series of attacks on British fighter bases and radar installations.

1918: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) was established as a public company in Germany.

1918: Women enlisted in the United States Marine Corps for the first time. Opha Mae Johnson was the first woman to enlist.

1913: Otto Witte, an acrobat, was supposedly crowned King of Albania.

1704: During the War of the Spanish Succession, at the Battle of Blenheim, the English and Austrians were victorious over the French and Bavarians.

1536: Buddhist monks from Kyoto's Enryaku Temple set fire to 21 Nichiren temples throughout Kyoto in the Tenbun Hokke Disturbance. (Traditional Japanese date: July 27)

1415: During the Hundred Years' War, Henry V of England landed at Chef-en-Caux, France with 8000 men.

3114 BC: According to the Lounsbury correlation, the Maya calendar started.

Births:
1311: Alfonso XI (King of Castile and Leon)

1655: Johann Christoph Denner (German inventor/maker of musical instruments) Inventor of the clarinet.

1814: Anders Angstrom (Swedish physicist) His pioneering use of spectroscopy is recognized in the name of the angstrom.

1902: Felix Wankel (German engineer/inventor) Inventor of the Wankel engine.

1959: Danny Bonaduce (American actor/radio and television personality) [The Partridge Family]

Deaths:
1863: Eugène Delacroix (French painter)

1958: Otto Witte (Acrobat and supposed King of Albania)

1991: John W. ["Jack"] Ryan (American inventor/engineer) Designed best-selling toys for Mattell Inc., including the Barbie doll, Hot Wheels and Chatty Cathy as well as designing the Navy's Sparrow III and Hawk guided missiles.

2005: David Lange (Prime Minister of New Zealand)


Word of the Day: nugacity \noo-GAS-i-tee, nyoo-\
Etymology: From Latin nugax "trifling", from nugari "to trifle".
(noun)
1. Triviality; futility.


Mistfox - who actually had filet mignon for dinner last night

Today is Aug. 14th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Creamsicle Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: The Mattel toy company recalled 18.6 million lead-tainted, Chinese-made toys worldwide.

1994: Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, the terrorist known as "Carlos the Jackal", was captured.

1973: The constitution of 1973 went into effect in Pakistan

1953: The whiffle ball, a ball that curved when it was thrown, was invented by David Mullany Sr. for his 13-year-old son.

1936: Rainey Bethea was hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky in the last public execution in the United States.

1935: United States Social Security Act passed, creating a government pension system for the retired.

1933: Loggers caused a forest fire in the Coast Range of Oregon, later known as the first forest fire of the Tillamook Burn. It was extinguished on September 5, after destroying 240,000 acres (970 km²).

1894: Oliver Lodge demonstrated the first wireless transmission of information using Morse code during a meeting of the British Association at Oxford.

1885: Japan's first patent was issued to the inventor of a rustproof paint.

1846: The Cape Girardeau meteorite, a 2.3 kg chondrite-type meteorite struck near the town of Cape Girardeau in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri.

1598: At the Battle of the Yellow Ford, Irish forces under Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, defeated an English expeditionary force under Henry Bagenal.

1385: During the Battle of Aljubarrota, Portuguese forces commanded by King João I and his general Nuno Álvares Pereira defeated the Castilian army of King Juan I.

1183: Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan took the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures and fled to western Japan to escape pursuit by the Minamoto clan.

Births:
1297: Hanazono (Emperor of Japan)

1688: Frederick William I (King of Prussia)

1851: "Doc" [John Henry] Holliday (American dentist/gambler/gunfighter)

1876: Aleksandar Obrenovic (King of Serbia)

1947: Maddy Prior (English folk singer) [Steeleye Span, Silly Sisters]

1959: "Magic" [Earvin] Johnson (American basketball player)

1966: Halle Berry )American actress) [Monster's Ball, X-Men, Die Another Day, Catwoman]

Deaths:
0582: Tiberius II Constantine (Byzantine Emperor)

1433: John I (King of Portugal)

1988: Enzo Ferrari (Italian automobile manufacturer/designer/racing-car driver)


Word of the Day: chichi \SHEE-shee\
Etymology: From the French word that literally means "curl of false hair"; used figuratively in the phrases faire des chichis, "to have affected manners, to make a fuss"; and gens à chichis, "affected, snobbish people." Sometimes spelled "chi-chi."
(adjective)
1. Affectedly trendy.


Mistfox - who tries not to be chichi

Today is Aug. 15th. That means that in the U.S. it's National Lemon Meringue Pie Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2007: An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastated Ica and various regions of Peru, killing 514 people and injuring 1,090.

1998: A car bomb in Omagh, Northern Ireland, killed 29 people and injured 370. It was the single deadliest act of violence in 30 years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

1995: In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner became the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel, but drops out in less than a week.

1994: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued a press release that physicists there recently cooled atoms to 700 nanokelvins, the coldest temperature ever recorded for matter.

1977: The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by The Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, received a radio signal from deep space. The event was named the "Wow! signal" for a notation made by a volunteer on the project.

1973: The United States bombing of Cambodia ended.

1965: The Beatles played to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, marking the birth of stadium rock.

1947: The founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was sworn in as first Governor General of Pakistan at Karachi.

1877: Thomas Edison coined the telephone greeting "Hello."

1843: Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opened in Copenhagen, Denmark.

1824: Freed American slaves formed Liberia.

1461: The Empire of Trebizond surrendered to the forces of Sultan Mehmet II. This was the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David was exiled and later murdered.

1309: The city of Rhodes surrendered to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights established their headquarters on the island, and renamed themselves as the Knights of Rhodes.

1261: Michael VIII Palaeologus was crowned Byzantine emperor in Constantinople.

1248: The foundation stone of the Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, was laid. Construction was eventually completed in 1880.

Births:
1171: Alfonso IX (King of Leon)

1771: Sir Walter Scott (Scottish novelist/poet) [Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, The Lady of The Lake, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian, The Bride of Lammermoor]

1859: Charles Comiskey (American baseball owner)

1935: Jim Dale (English actor/singer/songwriter/audio book narrator) [Carry On, Pushing Daisies, the Harry Potter audiobook series]

1950: The Princess Anne [Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise] (Princess Royal of the United Kingdom)

Deaths:
1038: Stephen I (King of Hungary)

1118: Alexius I Comnenus (Byzantine Emperor)

1967: René Magritte (Belgian painter)


Word of the Day: blackguard \BLAG-uhrd\
Etymology: From black + guard. The term originally referred to the lowest kitchen servants of a court or of a nobleman's household. They had charge of pots and pans and kitchen other utensils, and rode in wagons conveying these during journeys from one residence to another. Being dirtied by this task, they were jocularly called the "black guard."
(noun)
1. A rude or unscrupulous person; a scoundrel.
2. A person who uses foul or abusive language.
3. Scurrilous; abusive; low; worthless; vicious; as, "blackguard language."
4. To revile or abuse in scurrilous language.


Mistfox - who hasn't had a good lemon meringue pie in a long time