Today is December 25th. That means that Christians celebrate Christmas Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: Mistfox was a lazy bum and spent the morning eating chocolate, playing Wii, and making duck soup.

Mistfox - hoping everyone who is celebrating has a Merry Christmas

Today is December 26th. That means that it's the feast of St. Stephen and the Commonwealth of Nations celebrate Boxing Day. It's also the first day of Kwanzaa.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2008: Pakistan deployed between five and twenty thousand additional troops along its border with India.

2004: A 9.0 magnitude earthquake created a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000 people.

1996: Six-year-old beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado.

1979: The opening night of the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea (a benefit concert for the citizens of Cambodia who were victims of dictator Pol Pot) at the Hammersmith Odeon occurred.

1941: Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.

1933: The Nissan Motor Company was organized in Tokyo, Japan.

1898: Marie and Pierre Curie announced the isolation of radium.

1878: The first electric lighting in an American store was installed, using eight dynamos to run 28 Brush arc lamps at John Wanamaker's extensive "Grand Depot" department store, Philadelphia, Pa.

1861: Confederate diplomatic envoys James M. Mason and John Slidell were freed by the U.S. government, thus heading off a possible war between the U.S. and Britain (The Trent Affair).

1793: The wedding of Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia and Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz took place.

1776: The British suffered a major defeat in the Battle of Trenton during the Revolutionary War.

1481: At the Battle of Westbrook, Holland defeated troops of Utrecht.

Births:
1751: Clement Hofbauer [Johannes ("Hansl") Hofbauer] (Austrian missionary/saint)

1771: Julie Clary (Queen consort of Naples)

1791: Charles Babbage (English mathematician/inventor) Pioneer of mechanical computation.

1918: George Rallis (Greek politician/Prime Minister of Greece)

1933: Caroll Spinney (American puppeteer) [Sesame Street] He plays Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.

1949: José Ramos-Horta (President of East Timor)

Deaths:
1909: Frederic Remington (American artist)

1972: Harry S. Truman (President of the U.S.)

1999: Shankar Dayal Sharma (President of India)

2006: Gerald Ford (President of the U.S.)


Word of the Day: embonpoint \ahn-bohn-PWAN\
Etymology: From French, literally "in good condition" (en, "in" + bon, "good" + point, "situation, condition").
(noun)
1. Plumpness of person; stoutness.
Usage: "His embonpoint expands by the day and his eyes are buried in the fat of his cheeks."


Mistfox - who needs to use the Wii Fit she got every day so she doesn't develop embonpoint

Today is December 27th. That means that it's the feast of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist and Saint Nicarete. It's also the second day of Kwanzaa.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2008: Israel launched Operation Cast Lead, a three-week military conflict between Israel and Hamas that took place in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel, in retaliation for rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns. This is known as the Gaza massacre in the Arab world.

1996: Taliban forces retook the strategic Bagram air base, which solidified their buffer zone around Kabul.

1979: Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. Babrak Karmal replaced President Hafizullah Amin, who was overthrown and executed.

1949: Queen Juliana of the Netherlands granted sovereignty to Indonesia after more than 300 years of Dutch rule.

1945: The World Bank was created with the signing of an agreement by 28 nations.

1939: An earthquake hit Erzincan, Turkey.

1927: The landmark musical "Show Boat" - with music by Jerome Kern and libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II - opened at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City.

1845: Dr. Crawford Williamson Long, in Jefferson, Georgia, used ether anesthetic for childbirth for the first time.

1831: Charles Darwin embarked on his journey aboard the HMS Beagle, during which he would begin to formulate the theory of evolution.

1703: Portugal and England signed the Methuen Treaty, which gave preference to Portuguese imported wines into England.

Births:
1571: Johannes Kepler (German astronomer)

1773: Sir George Cayley (English aeronautical pioneer) He built the first successful man-carrying glider.

1822: Louis Pasteur (French scientist)

1943: Cokie [Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs] Roberts (American journalist/author) [Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation]

Deaths:
1836: Stephen F. Austin ["the Father of Texas"] (American pioneer)

1923: Michael Joseph Owens (American glass manufacturer) He invented the automatic glass bottle making machine that revolutionized the industry.

1978: Houari Boumédienne (President of Algeria)

1979: Hafizullah Amin (President of Afghanistan)


Word of the Day: spatulate \spach-uh-lit, -leyt\
Etymology: From Latin spatula "broad piece, spatula," diminutive of spatha "broad, flat tool or weapon," from Greek spathe "broad blade" + from Latin -atus, past participle suff. of verbs in -are.
(adjective)
1. Shaped like a spatula; rounded more or less like a spoon.
2. Botany. Having a broad, rounded end and a narrow, attenuate base, as a leaf.
Usage: "It was a very distinctive dabbling duck with a large spatulate bill."


Mistfox - who is sore from using the Wii Fit yesterday

Today is December 28th. That means that it's the Feast of the Holy Innocents. It's also the third day of Kwanzaa.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2008: The U.S. vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution aimed at stopping Israeli air strikes against Gaza. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the United Kingdom, European Union, Russia, France, and China all called for a ceasefire.

1989: A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hit Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.

1974: Senegalese Marxist group Reenu-Rew founded the political movement And-Jëf at a clandestine congress.

1958: The Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants in the first ever National Football League sudden death overtime game at New York's Yankee Stadium ("The Greatest Game Ever Played").

1908: An earthquake rocked Messina, Sicily killing over 75,000.

1904: The first weather reports relayed by wireless telegraphy were published in London.

1897: "Cyrano de Bergerac," a play by Edmond Rostand, premiered in Paris.

1879: The Tay Bridge Disaster occurred when the central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland collapsed as a train passed over it, killing 75.

1869: William Finley Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio, was issued the first U.S. patent for chewing gum.

1836: Spain recognized the independence of Mexico.

1832: John C. Calhoun became the first Vice President of the U.S. to resign.

1612: Galileo Galilei became the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star.

Births:
1782: Joseph Arnold (English botanist) He discovered the largest flower known while traveling as a naturalist to Sir Stamford Raffles. The Rafflesia arnoldi has neither leaves nor branches, but the flower is a yard across. Its petals are one foot long and its nectarium contains 12 pints.

1809: John Stough Bobbs ["the father of cholecystotomy"] (American physician) He performed the first U.S. gallstone operation in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1856: Woodrow Wilson (President of the U.S.)

1879: Billy Mitchell (American military aviation pioneer)

1924: Milton Obote (President of Uganda0

1954: Denzel Washington (American actor/screenwriter/director/film producer) [Training Day, Cry Freedom, Glory, Malcolm X, Philadelphia, Remember the Titans, The Book of Eli]

Deaths:
1622: Francis de Sales (Bishop of Geneva/saint)

1923: Gustave Eiffel (French civil engineer) [the Eiffel Tower]

1937: Maurice Ravel (French composer) [Boléro, Daphnis et Chloé]

1984: Sam [David Samuel] Peckinpah (American film director) [The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Cross of Iron]

1999: Clayton Moore [Jack Carlton Moore] (American actor/circus acrobat) [The Lone Ranger]

2004: Jerry Orbach (American actor) [Law and Order]


Word of the Day: beldam \BEL-duhm, -DAM\
Etymology: From Middle English beldam "grandmother", from Old French bel "fine" + dame "lady". In Middle English, the prefix bel was used to indicate relationships, such as belsire or belfader "grandfather, ancestor". In Modern French belle is still used to indicate in-law relationships. A belle-mère is a mother-in-law or a stepmother, for example.
(noun)
1. An old woman: a hag.
Usage: "Carr mixes her story with such amusing oddballs as Carthage's mother, a vinegary and vain beldam."


Mistfox - who has been feeling like a beldam a lot lately

Today is December 29th. That means that it's the feast of Saint Thomas Becket. It's also the fourth day of Kwanzaa.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2008: Bangladeshis voted in their country's general election.

2003: The last known speaker of Akkala Sami died, rendering the language extinct.

1999: The Nasdaq composite index closed above 4,000 for the first time, ending the day at 4,041.46.

1989: Playwright Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia by the country's Federal Assembly, becoming the first non-Communist to hold the post in more than four decades.

1959: The Lisbon Metro began operation.

1949: KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut became the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.

1934: Japan renounced the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.

1927: Krakatoa began a new volcanic eruption on the seafloor along the same line as the cones of previous activity.

1911: Sun Yat-sen became the provisional President of the Republic of China; he formally takes office on January 1, 1912.

1851: The first American YMCA opened in Boston, Massachusetts.

1786: During the French Revolution, the Assembly of Notables was convened.

1170: Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II.

Births:
1808: Andrew Johnson (President of the U.S.)

1809: William Ewart Gladstone (Prime Minister of the U.K.)

1843: Elisabeth of Wied [Carmen Sylva] (Queen of Romania/author)

1859: Venustiano Carranza (President of Mexico)

Deaths:
1170: Thomas Becket (Archbishop of Canterbury/saint)

1916: Grigori Rasputin (Russian monk)



Word of the Day: astraphobia \as-truh-FO-bee-uh\
(Also known as astrapophobia and brontophobia, from Greek bronte-, "thunder", which also gave us brontosaurus.)
Etymology: From Greek astrape "lightning".
(noun)
1. An abnormal fear of lightning and thunder.
Usage: "In the USA, it is estimated around 10 per cent of people suffer from astraphobia to some degree."


Mistfox - who is getting this out late because she got up late, went to IHOP for breakfast, then did her Wii Fit for the day

Today is December 30th. That means that it's the feast of Pope Saint Felix I, Saint Sabinus, Saint Anysia of Salonika, Saint Anysius, Saint Aphian, Saint Donatus, Saint Egwin of Worcester, Saint Eugene of Milan, Saint Eugenia Ravasco, Saint Exuperantius, Saint Honorius, Saint John Alcober, Saint Liberius of Ravenna, Saint Mansuetus, Saint Marcellus, Saint Margaret Colonna, Saint Matthia dei Nazzarei, Saint Ralph of Vaucelles, Saint Raynerius of Aquila, Saint Ruggero of Canne, Saint Severus, and Saint Venustian. (Looks like they were trying to fit all the saints in they hadn't gotten to before the year ended.) It's also the fifth day of Kwanzaa.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2008: Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich appointed former Democratic Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to President-elect Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat. Democratic Senate leaders and Secretary of State Jesse White said they would not accept the appointment.

2003: U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself and his office from the Plame affair.

1999: Former Beatle George Harrison fought off a knife-wielding intruder who broke into his mansion west of London and stabbed him in the chest.

1993: Israel and the Vatican established diplomatic relations.

1972: The U.S. halted its heavy bombing of North Vietnam.

1953: The first ever NTSC color television sets went on sale for about USD $1,175 each from RCA.

1947: King Michael of Romania was forced to abdicate by the Soviet-backed Communist government of Romania.

1922: Vladimir Lenin proclaimed the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

1916: The last coronation in Hungary was performed for King Charles IV and Queen Zita.

1906: The All India Muslim League was founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India Empire, which later laid down the foundations of Pakistan.

1897: Natal annexed Zululand.

1873: The American Metrological Society was formed in New York City to improve systems of weights, measures and money.

1853: A dinner party was held inside a life-size model of an Iguanodon created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in south London.

1066: A Muslim mob stormed the royal palace in Granada, crucified Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacred most of the Jewish population of the city.

Births:
1204: Abû 'Uthmân Sa'îd Hakam al Qurashi (Ruler of Minorca)

1819: John W. Geary (1st Mayor of San Francisco)

1851: Asa Griggs Candler (American soft-drink manufacturer) He expanded the marketing of the Coca-Cola soft drink created by pharmacist John "Doc" Pemberton.

1884: Hideki Tojo (Prime Minister of Japan)

1959: Tracey Ullman (English-born American actress/singer) [The Tracey Ullman Show, Tracey Ullman Takes On New York]

Deaths:
1640: John Francis Regis (French saint)

1979: Richard Rodgers (American composer) [Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, The Sound of Music, "The Lady Is a Tramp", "Blue Moon", "Some Enchanted Evening"]

2004: Artie Shaw (American jazz clarinetist/composer/bandleader)


Word of the Day: prude \prood\
Etymology: From Old French prudefemme "wise or good woman", feminine of prud'homme "wise man". The word prude once had positive connotations, but nowadays it is used only in a negative sense.
(noun)
1. A person who is overly concerned with propriety or decorum.
Usage: "I'm not a prude, by any means, but with all her talent, Mariah Carey doesn't need to use her bodacious bod to garner attention."


Mistfox - who used to be a prude, in the modern sense of the word, and hopefully is now one in the older sense

Today is December 31st. That means that it's the feast of Pope Saint Sylvester I. It's also the sixth day of Kwanzaa and New Year's Eve.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2008: One of the world's biggest accumulations of dinosaur fossils was found near Zhucheng, China.

2004: Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych resigned, acknowledging that he had little hope of reversing the presidential election victory of his Western-leaning rival, Viktor Yushchenko.

1999: The United States Government handed control of the Panama Canal (as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone) to Panama. This act complied with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties.

1992: Czechoslovakia was dissolved, resulting in the creation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

1974: Private U.S. citizens were allowed to buy and own gold for the first time in more than 40 years.

1951: The Marshall Plan expired after distributing more than $13.3 billion USD in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.

1946: President Harry S. Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.

1944: Hungary declared war on Nazi Germany.

1909: The Manhattan Bridge opened.

1904: The first New Year's Eve celebration was held in Times Square (then known as Longacre Square) in New York, New York.

1879: Thomas Edison demonstrated incandescent lighting to the public for the first time.

1857: Queen Victoria chose Ottawa, Ontario, as the capital of Canada.

1813: Westminster Bridge in London was illuminated with gaslights.

1759: Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum and started brewing Guinness stout.

1229: James I of Aragon (the Conqueror) entered Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Spain) thus consummating the Christian conquest of the island of Majorca.

0406: Vandals, Alans and Suebians crossed the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gaul.

Births:
1491: Jacques Cartier (French explorer)

1869: Henri Matisse (French painter)

1959: Val Kilmer (American actor) [Top Secret!, Real Genius, Top Gun, Willow, Tombstone, Batman Forever, Spartan]

Deaths:
0335: St. Sylvester (Italian Pope/saint)

1719: John Flamsteed (English astronomer) He helped establish the Greenwich Observatory.

1742: Karl III Philip (Elector Palatine)

2008: Donald E. Westlake [Richard Stark, Alan Marshall, Alan Marsh, Edwin West, Tucker Coe, Samuel Holt] (American author) [The Hot Rock, The Road to Ruin, The Man With the Getaway Face, The Rare Coin Score, Lemons Never Lie]


Word of the Day: dipsomania \dip-suh-MAY-nee-uh\
Etymology: From Greek dipsa "thirst" + -mania "excessive enthusiasm or craze".
(noun)
1. An insatiable, periodic craving for alcohol.
Usage: "As the emperor Janangir began his decline in the old familiar grip of dipsomania (both his brothers had died early of drink), his wife Nur Jahan took complete charge as his proxy."


Mistfox - who has to be at work at 3 (since we're closing early tonight), which is a weird time for me

Today is January 1st. That means that it's the feast of St. Fulgentius of Ruspe, St. Telemachus, and St. Basil. It's also the seventh day of Kwanzaa.
Happy New Year!


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.

2009: The government of the Republic of China adopted Hanyu Pinyin as its official Chinese romanization (before this time, the most commonly used was Tongyong Pinyin).

2009: Slovakia officially adopted the Euro currency and became the sixteenth Eurozone country.

1995: The Kingdom of Sweden and the republics of Austria and Finland were admitted into the European Union, and the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe became the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

1995: An article was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters about the most distant galaxy yet discovered, named 8C 1435+63.

1990: David Dinkins was sworn in as New York City's first black mayor.

1985: Ernie Wise made the first British mobile phone call to Vodafone.

1980: Victoria was crowned princess of Sweden.

1970: Unix epoch time began at 00:00:00 UTC/GMT.

1960: The Republic of Cameroon achieved independence from France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

1950: The state of Ajaigarh joined the Union of India.

1945: In retaliation for the Malmedy massacre, U.S. troops massacred 30 SS prisoners at Chenogne.

1945: France was admitted to the United Nations.

1935: Wirephoto(tm) by AP News(R) was invented. It enabled the transmission of photographs by wire to member newspapers.

1920: The Belorussian Communist Organization was founded as a separate party.

1910: Captain David Beatty was promoted to Rear Admiral, and became the youngest admiral in the Royal Navy (except for Royal family members), since Horatio Nelson.

1885: Twenty-five nations adopted Sanford Fleming's proposal for Standard Time (and also, time zones)

1880: Ferdinand de Lesseps began French construction of the Panama Canal.

1860: The first Polish stamp was issued.

1850: The lamp was lit at the first iron pile lighthouse in the U.S., just outside the Boston Harbor.

1800: The Dutch East India Company was dissolved.

1700: Russia began using the Anno Domini era and no longer used the old slovian era. According to the old slovian era it happened in the year 7209.

1600: Scotland began its numbered year on January 1 instead of March 25.

45 BCE: The Julian calendar took effect for the first time.

Births:
1600: Friedrich Spanheim (Dutch theologian)

1735: Paul Revere (American silversmith/patriot0

1745: Anthony ["Mad Anthony"] Wayne (American general/statesman)

1810: Charles Ellet, Jr. (American engineer) He built the first wire-cable suspension bridge in America, across the Schuylkill River at Fairmont, Penn.

1895: J. Edgar Hoover (American director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation)

1900: Xavier Cugat (Spanish musician)

1930: Gaafar al-Nimeiry (President of Sudan)

1950: Deepa Mehta (Indian-born Canadian film director/screenwriter)

Deaths:
0379: Saint Basil of Caesarea (Bishop of Caesarea)

0404: Saint Telemachus (Roman monk)

1560: Joachim du Bellay (French poet)

1940: Panuganti Lakshminarasimha Rao (Indian writer/essayist)

1960: Margaret Sullavan (American actress) [Only Yesterday, Three Comrades, No Sad Songs For Me]

2009: Aarne Arvonen (Finnish supercentenerian) He was born in 1897.


Word of the Day: quantum \KWON-tuhm\
Etymology: From Latin, neuter of quantus "how much or how great". In physics, a quantum jump or quantum leap is usually a small change, while in popular usage the term is used to mean a significant change.
(noun)
1. A quantity or amount.
2. A portion.
3. A large amount.
4. The smallest amount of something that can exist independently.
(adjective)
5. Sudden; major.
Usage: "A quantum jump in the volume of traffic has made major snarls on the capital's periphery a routine affair for commuters."


Mistfox - who is late getting this out because she got up, made breakfast, and then watched the Rose Parade

Today is January 2nd. That means that it's the feast of St. Basil the Great, St. Caspar del Bufalo, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, St. Macarius the Younger, St. Seraphim of Sarov, and St. Defendens of Thebes.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: A Swedish charter aircraft carrying 150 passengers touched down at Baghdad International Airport, becoming the first European commercial flight to land there since 1990.

1975: Kenneth C. Brugger discovered the long-unknown winter destination of the monarch butterfly in the mountains of Mexico.

1965: The New York Jets signed University of Alabama quarterback Joe Namath for a reported $400,000.

1960: John Reynolds set the age of solar system at 4,950,000,000 years.

1955: Panamanian president Jose Antonio Remon was assassinated

1945: Nuremberg (in German, Nürnberg) was severely bombed by Allied forces.

1935: Bruno Hauptmann went on trial for the murder of Charles Lindbergh, Jr., infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh.

1920: The second Palmer Raid took place with another 6,000 suspected communists and anarchists arrested and held without trial. These raids took place in several U.S. cities.

1905: 1905, Japanese Gen. Nogi received from Russian Gen. Stoessel at 9 o'clock P.M. a letter formally offering to surrender, ending the Russo-Japanese War.

1900: John Hay announced the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China

1860: The discovery of the planet Vulcan was announced at a meeting of the Académie des Sciences in Paris

0533: Mercurius became Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy

Births:
1765: Charles Hatchett (English chemist) He discovered an element he called columbium (niobium).

1860: William Corless Mills (American museum curator) He excavated Indian remains in Ohio, especially the Adena Mound.

1885: Gordon Flowerdew (Canadian Victoria Cross recipient)

1895: Count Folke Bernadotte (Swedish diplomat)

1905: Michael Tippett (English composer)

1920: Isaac Asimov [Isaac Yudovich Ozimov] (Russian-American author/biochemistry professor) [Foundation Series, Galactic Empire series, Robot series, Understanding Physics, Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery, The Intelligent Man's Guide to Science]

1940: Jim Bakker (American televangelist) [The PTL Club]

1950: David Shifrin (American classical clarinetist)

1960: Naoki Urasawa (Japanese manga author)

1970: Eric Whitacre (American composer) [Cloudburst, Water Night, Three Flower Songs, Ghost Train triptych]

1980: Annie Bellemare (Canadian figure Skater)

Deaths:
1685: Harbottle Grimston (English politician)

1915: Carl Goldmark (Hungarian composer)

1955: Jose Antonio Remon (Panamanian president)

1960: Paul Sauvé (Canadian politician)

1990: Alan Hale Jr. [Alan Hale Mackahan] (American actor) [Gilligan's Island, The Gene Autry Show, Up Periscope, Hang 'Em High, The West Point Story]

1995: Siad Barre (President of Somalia)

2000: Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr. (American admiral)

2009: Maria de Jesus (Portuguese supercentenarian) He was born in 1893.


Word of the Day: acrophobia \ak-ruh-FOH-bee-uh\
Etymology: From Greek acro- "height, tip" + -phobia "fear".
(noun)
1. An abnormal fear of heights.
Usage: "Dr. Anthe George suggests that Mark would not even have been able to stand on the balcony of his own accord because of his acute acrophobia."


Mistfox - who has to go to work today, bah humbug

Today is January 3rd. That means that it's the feast of St Genevieve.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: National Democratic Congress candidate John Atta Mills won Ghana's 2008 presidential election after narrowly defeating Nana Akufo-Addo of the incumbent New Patriotic Party in a run-off.

2000: The last new daily "Peanuts" comic strip by Charles Schulz ran in 2,600 newspapers.

1990: Ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces, 10 days after taking refuge in the Vatican's diplomatic mission in Panama City.

1970: A fireball was visible over a large area of the U.S. Midwest. The meteorite that fell was the first to be detected by the Prairie Network operated by the Smithsonian Institution's Astrophysical Observatory

1945: Admiral Chester W Nimitz was placed in command of all U.S. Naval forces in preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan.

1925: Benito Mussolini announced he was taking dictatorial powers over Italy.

1870: The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge began.

1815: Austria, the United Kingdom, and France formed a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia.

Births:
1710: Richard Gridley (American Revolutionary soldier/engineer) The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers considers Gridley 'America's First Chief Engineer.'

1810: Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie (French geographer)

1840: Father Damien [Saint Damien of Molokai, Jozef De Veuster] Flemish missionary/saint)

1870: Henry Handel Richardson [Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson] (Australian author) [The Getting of Wisdom]

1905: Ray Milland (Welsh-American actor/director) [The Lost Weekend, Love Story]

1910: "Frenchy" [Stanley George] Bordagaray (American baseball player)

1950: Victoria Principal (American actress) [Dallas]

Deaths:
0235: Pope St. Anterus (Greek pope/saint) He was pope for only one month and ten days.

1795: Josiah Wedgwood (British potter/inventor/artist]

1875: Pierre Larousse (French grammarian/lexicographer/encyclopaedist/editor ) [Grand Dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle]

1945: Edgar Cayce (American psychic)

1980: Joy Adamson [Friederike Victoria Gessner] (Czech conservationist/naturalist/author) [Born Free]

2009: "Pat' [Martin Patterson] Hingle (American actor) [Hang 'Em High, Batman, Sudden Impact]


Word of the Day: culpable \KUHL-puh-buhl\
Etymology: From Middle English coupable, from Old French, from Latin culpabilis, from culpare, "to blame", from culpa, "fault".
(adjective)
1. Deserving of blame or censure as being wrong, evil, improper, or injurious.
Usage: "He was culpable of the crime, and was sentenced to perform community service for 75 years."


Mistfox - who spent the morning taking down the tree and putting ornaments away

Today is January 4th. That means that it's the feast of St Elizabeth Ann Seton.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson withdrew his nomination to be the next U.S. Secretary of Commerce because of an ongoing federal investigation into possible pay-to-play politics.

1995: The 104th Congress convened, the first entirely under Republican control since the Eisenhower era. Newt Gingrich was elected speaker of the House.

1990: Deposed Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega was arraigned in federal district court in Miami on drug-trafficking charges.

1965: President Lyndon B. Johnson outlined the goals of his ''Great Society'' in his State of the Union address.

1885: William W. Grant performed the first successful appendectomy on Mary Gartside.

1865: The New York Stock Exchange opened its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street in New York City.

1850: The Airy Transit Circle was first used at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. (The transit was used to measure the angle of a star at an instant. From this data, the co-ordinates of that star could be determined and plotted on a star chart.)

1490: Anna of Brittany announced that all those who would ally with the king of France would be considered guilty of the crime of lese-majesty.

Births:
1720: Johann Friedrich Agricola (German composer)

1785: Jacob Grimm (German philologist/folklorist)

1895: Leroy Grumman (American aeronautical engineer/test pilot/industrialist):He co-founded Grumman Aerospace Corporation, now part of Northrop Grumman.

1900: James Bond (American ornithologist) His name was appropriated by writer Ian Fleming for his fictional spy.

1920: William Colby (American CIA director)

1930: Don Shula (American football coach)

1940::Brian D. Josephson (British physicist) He discovered the Josephson effect.

Deaths:
1821: Elizabeth Ann Seton (American nun/saint)

1910: Léon Delagrange (French aviator/sculptor)

1960: Albert Camus (Algerian-born French philosopher/writer/journalist) [The Rebel, The Stranger, The Plague]

1965: T. S. [Thomas Stearns] Eliot (American-born English poet/playwright/literary critic) [The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, The Hollow Men, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, Murder in the Cathedral, The Cocktail Party]

1990: Harold E. [Eugene] Edgerton (American electrical engineer/ultra-high-speed photographer)

1995: Eduardo Mata (Mexican conductor/composer)

2000: Spyros Markezinis (Greek politician)

2009: Gert Jonke (Austrian poet/playwright/novelist) [Geometric Regional Novel, The Perfidy of the Wind Machines, The Sunken Cathedral]

Word of the Day: cothurnal \koh-THUR-nuhl\
Etymology: From Latin, from Greek kothornos "a thick-soled laced boot worn by tragic actors in ancient Athenian tragedies".
(adjective)
1. Of or related to tragedy or tragic acting.
Usage: "The scene wants actors; I'll fetch more, and clothe it In rich cothurnal pomp."


Mistfox - who sent her dh off to work this morning, and so is back to the regular schedule

Today is January 5th. That means that it's Mungday in Discordianism.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: Minnesota's State Canvassing Board certified Democratic candidate Al Franken as the winner of the senatorial election recount. Republican Senator Norm Coleman, whose term officially expired January 3, intended to file a lawsuit challenging the decision.

2005: Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the solar system, was discovered by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz using images originally taken on October 21, 2003, at the Palomar Observatory.

2000: The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) announced the final stage of the worldwide initiative to eradicate Polio.

1975: The bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra struck the Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, killing twelve people,.

1970: The soap opera "All My Children" premiered on ABC-TV.

1940: FM radio was demonstrated to the FCC for the first time.

1925: Nellie T. Ross succeeded her late husband as governor of Wyoming, becoming the first female governor in U.S. history.

1900: Irish leader John Edward Redmond called for a revolt against British rule.

1895: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.

1675: The French army beat Brandenburg at the Battle of Colmar.

1500: Duke Ludovico Sforza conquered Milan.

Births:
1885: Humbert Wolfe (Italian-British poet)

1895: Jeannette Piccard (American teacher/scientist/priest/aeronaut) She was the first licensed female balloon pilot, the first woman to fly to the stratosphere, and one of the first women to be ordained an Episcopalian priest.

1910: Hugh ["Lumpy"] Brannum (American actor) ["Mr. Green Jeans" on Captain Kangaroo]

1950: Chris Stein (American guitarist) [Blondie]

Deaths:
1400: John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury (English politician)

1740: Antonio Lotti (Italian composer)

1940: Humbert Wolfe (Italian-British poet)

1990: [John] Arthur Kennedy (American actor) [High Sierra, They Died with Their Boots On, The Window, The Glass Menagerie, The Desperate Hours, Lawrence of Arabia, The Man from Laramie, Peyton Place]

2009: Ned Tanen (American movie executive)


Word of the Day: steadfast \STED-fast, -fahst, -fuhst\ Also, stedfast.
Etymology: From Middle English stedefast, from Old English stedefæst, stede, "place" + fæst, "fixed, fast".
(adjective)
1. Fixed in direction; steadily directed: a steadfast gaze.
2. Firm in purpose, resolution, faith, attachment, etc., as a person: a steadfast friend.
3. Unwavering, as resolution, faith, adherence, etc.
4. Firmly established, as an institution or a state of affairs.
5. Firmly fixed in place or position.
Usage: "The OBE was awarded for great bravery and steadfast devotion to duty in mine disposal. "


Mistfox - who is both sad and glad that aqua fit starts up again today

Today is January 6th. That means that it's a public holiday in Finland, Italy, Puerto Rico, Greece, Spain and Sweden to mark Epiphany.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: Russia's Gazprom alleged that Ukraine had blocked three key gas pipelines to Europe, making natural gas delivery there impossible.

2005: Former Ku Klux Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen was arrested 41 years after three civil rights workers were slain in Mississippi. (Killen was later convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 60 years in prison.)

1995: A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, led to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack.

1950: The United Kingdom recognized the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severed diplomatic relations with the U.K. in response.

1945: George H.W. Bush married Barbara Pierce in Rye, N.Y.

1930: The first diesel-engined automobile trip was completed (from Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York City).

1870: The Viennese Musikverein (the Vienna concert hall) was opened.

1690: Joseph, son of Emperor Leopold I, became King of the Romans.

1540: King Henry VIII of England married Anne of Cleves.

1205: Philip of Swabia became King of the Romans.

Births:
1655: Eleonore-Magdalena of Neuburg (Holy Roman Empire Empress)

1745: Étienne Montgolfier (French inventor/ballooning pioneer)

1795: Anselme Payen (French chemist) He made important contributions to industrial chemistry and discovered cellulose.

1850: Franz Xaver Scharwenka (Polish-German pianist/composer)

1870: Gustav Bauer (Chancellor of Germany)

1920: Sun Myung Moon (Korean evangelist)

1950: Louis Freeh (Director of the F.B.I.)

1955: Rowan Atkinson (English comedian/actor) [Mr. Bean, Blackadder, The Thin Blue Line]

Deaths:
1275: St. Raymond of Peñafort (Spanish chaplain/lawyer/saint)

1855: Giacomo Beltrami (Italian explorer)

1990: Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov (Soviet physicist) He discovered Cherenkov radiation.

1945: Vladimir Vernadsky (Russian mineralogist/geochemist) He was a founder of the specialist sciences of geochemistry and biogeochemistry.

2000: Don Martin (American cartoonist) [Adventures of Captain Klutz, MAD magazine]

2005: Louis Robichaud (Premier of New Brunswick)

2005: Lois Hole (Lt. Governor of Alberta)

2009: Ron Asheton (American guitarist/co-songwriter) [The Stooges]


Word of the Day: buskin \BUS-kin\
Etymology: Perhaps from Middle French brousequin.
(noun)
1. A thick-soled laced boot, reaching to the knee or calf, worn by actors of ancient Greek tragedies. Also known as cothurnus.
2. A tragic drama.
Note: A counterpart of buskin is sock (a comedy) after soccus, a lightweight low shoe worn by comic actors.
Usage: "'My vein,' wrote Corneille, 'often combines the lofty buskin with the comic sock, and ... pleases the audience by striking contrasting notes.'"


Mistfox - who is having a “Pierre” day (ala Sendak)

Today is January 7th. That means that it's Tricolour day (Festa del Tricolore) in Italy and
Nanakusa (Seven Herbs Festival) in Japan.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: Satyam Computer Services chairman Ramalinga Raju admitted to accounting fraud and resigned.

2005: Actor Brad Pitt and actress Jennifer Aniston announced they were separating after four years of marriage.

1990: The interior of the Leaning Tower of Pisa was closed to the public because of safety concerns.

1980: President Jimmy Carter authorized legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.

1960: The Polaris missile was test launched.

1950: A fire at the Mercy Hospital in Davenport, Iowa, killed 41 people.

1945: British General Bernard Montgomery held a press conference in which he claimed credit for victory in the Battle of the Bulge.

1935: Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval signed the Franco–Italian Agreement.

1920: The New York State Assembly refused to seat five duly elected Socialist assemblymen.

1835: HMS Beagle dropped anchor off the Chonos Archipelago.

1785: Frenchman Jean Pierre Blanchard and American physician and scientist John Jeffries made the first air crossing of the English Channel from England to France in a hot-air balloon - the first international flight.

1610: Galileo Galilei observed the four largest moons of Jupiter for the first time. He named them and in turn the four are called the Galilean moons.

1325: Alfonso IV became King of Portugal.

Births:
1355: Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (Son of King Edward III of England)

1755: Stephen Groombridge (English astronomer) He compiled the Catalogue of Circumpolar Stars, often known as the Groombridge Catalog.

1800: Millard Fillmore (President of the U.S.)

1830: Albert Bierstadt (German-American painter)

1845: Ludwig III (King of Bavaria)

1895: Sir Hudson Fysh (Australian aviator/co-founder of QANTAS)

1910: Orval Faubus (Governor of Arkansas)

1945: Raila Odinga (Prime Minister of Kenya)

1960: David Marciano (American actor) [Due South, The Shield]

Deaths:
1285: Charles I (King of Naples)

1325: Dinis (King of Portugal)

1625: Ruggiero Giovannelli (Italian composer)

1830: Thomas Lawrence (English painter)

1980: Larry Williams (American singer/songwriter) ["Bony Moronie", "Short Fat

Fannie", "Bad Boy", "Dizzy Miss Lizzie", "She Said Yeah"]

2005: Pierre Daninos (French novelist) [The French, They Are a Funny Race]

2009: Maria Dimitriadi (Greek singer)


Word of the Day: wintle \WIN-tl\
Etymology: From the Scots, from early Dutch windtelen "to revolve".
(noun)
1. A rolling or staggering motion.
(intransitive verb)
2. To roll or swing back and forth.
3. To tumble over; capsize.
Usage: "The ladies have been known to wintle after shooting shots."


Mistfox - who really sleepy today

Today is January 8th. That means that it's Commonwealth Day in the Northern Mariana Islands.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.

2009: A magnitude 6.2 earthquake hit Costa Rica

2005: The nuclear sub USS San Francisco (SSN-711) collided with an undersea mountain at full speed south of Guam. One man was killed, but the sub surfaced and was repaired.

1975: Ella Grasso became Governor of Connecticut, becoming the first woman to serve as a Governor in the U.S. other than by succeeding her husband.

1940: Britain introduced food rationing.

1935: The first U.S. patent for a spectrophotometer was issued to Professor Arthur Cobb Hardy of Wellesley, Mass.

1900: President William McKinley placed Alaska under military rule.

1835: The U.S. national debt was 0 for the only time in history.

1815: U.S. forces led by Gen. Andrew Jackson defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans, the closing engagement of the War of 1812.

1790: George Washington delivered the first State of the Union Address in New York City. In it he urged the second session of the First U.S. Congress meeting in New York to support the introduction of new and useful inventions from abroad, and recognize the skill and genius of U.S. inventors.

Births:
1735: John Carroll (American Roman Catholic archbishop)

1870: Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquess of Estella (Spanish dictator/aristocrat/military official/Prime Minister)

1900: Dame [Margery] Merlyn Myer (Australian philanthropist)

1905: Giacinto Scelsi, Count of Ayala Valva (Italian composer)

1925: Helmuth Hubener (German activist)

1935: Elvis Presley, American singer) ["Love Me Tender", "Heartbreak Hotel", "Hound Dog"]

1980: Rachel Nichols (American actress) [Dumb & Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, The Amityville Horror, The Woods, Star Trek, Alias]

Deaths:
1570: Philibert de l'Orme (French architect)

1825: Eli Whitney (American inventor/mechanical engineer/manufacturer)

1880: Joshua A. Norton (British born self-proclaimed Emperor of the U.S./Protector of Mexico)

1975: Richard Tucker [Rivn (Rubin) Ticker] (American tenor)

1980: John W. Mauchly (American physicist/engineer) He co-invented the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), the first general-purpose electronic computer.

1990: Terry-Thomas [Thomas Terry Hoar-Stevens] (British actor/comedian) [The Mouse on the Moon, Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon, The Last Remake of Beau Geste]

2009: Richard John Neuhaus (Canadian-American clergyman/Christian writer/editor) [First Things, The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America]


Word of the Day: discalced \dis-KALST\
Etymology: From Latin dis- "apart, away" + calceare "to fit with shoes", from calceus "shoe", from calx "heel". The word discalced is often used of members of religious orders who go barefoot or wear sandals.
(adjective)
1. Without shoes
Usage: "There were several pairs of shoes involved as well, which the otherwise discalced women had a hard time getting on and off."


Mistfox - who get the fun job of taking the dh to his colonoscopy this morning

Today is January 9th. That means that it's Martyrs' Day in Panama and Republic Day in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: The House of Representatives of the U.S. state of Illinois voted 114–1 to impeach embattled Governor Rod Blagojevich.

2005: Elections were held to replace Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Rawhi Fattouh succeeded him.

1945: The U.S. invaded Luzon in the Philippines.

1880: The Great Gale of 1880 devastated parts of Oregon and Washington with high wind and heavy snow.

1760: Afghans defeated Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat.

1150: Prince Hailing of Jin murdered Emperor Xizong of Jin in a Coup d'état.

0475: Byzantine Emperor Zeno was forced to flee his capital at Constantinople.

Births:
1745: Caleb Strong (6th and 10th Governor of Massachusetts)

1875: Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (American socialite)

1900: Richard Halliburton (American traveler/adventurer/author) Best known for having swum the length of the Panama Canal and paying the lowest toll in its history (thirty-six cents).

1900: Maria of Romania (Queen Consort of Yugoslavia)

1915: Fernando Lamas (Argentine actor) [Tango Returns to Paris, The Merry Widow, The Girl Who Had Everything, The Cheap Detective]

1950: Sir Alec Jefferys (English geneticist) He discovered the technique of DNA fingerprinting,

Deaths:
1150: Xizong (Emperor of Jin)

1895: Aaron Lufkin Dennison ["the father of the American watch factories"] (American watchmaker) He was the first person to apply the interchangeable system to the manufacture of watches.

1945: Jüri Uluots (Estonian Prime Minister)

1985: Robert Mayer (British businessman/philanthropist)

1995: Peter Cook (British actor/comedian) [Beyond the Fringe, Not Only... But Also, Goodbye Again, Bedazzled, The Princess Bride]

1995: Souphanouvong (President of Laos)

2009: T. Llew [Thomas Llewelyn] Jones (Welsh author) [Fy Mhobol I, Llyfrau Darllen Newydd: Llyfr 1, Lleuad yn Olau, Tân ar y Comin]


Word of the Day: swivet \SWIV-it\
Etymology: Origin unknown.
(noun)
1. A state of nervous excitement, haste, or anxiety; flutter.
Usage: "I was in such a swivet that I could hardly speak. "


Mistfox - who is in a swivet because the dd called to say the apt. next to hers is on fire (she just called back and said everything’s okay – whew)

Today is January 10th. That means that it's International Diet Day.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: A boat carrying eight Somali pirates from the freed supertanker MV Sirius Star capsized in the Gulf of Aden, causing the deaths of five and the loss of their portion of US$3 million in ransom.

2005: A mudslide occurred in La Conchita, California, killing 10 people, injuring many more and closing Highway 101, the main coastal corridor between San Francisco and Los Angeles, for 10 days.

2000: America Online agreed to buy Time-Warner for $162 billion. (Time-Warner decided to spin off AOL in 2009.)

1990: Time Warner was formed from the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc.

1920: The League of Nations held its first meeting, and ratified the Treaty of Versailles, therefore ending World War I.

1870: John D. Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil.

1855: English inventor, Henry Bessemer took out a British patent for his "decarbonization process, utilizing a blast of air" that revolutionized steel manufacturing

1810: The marriage of Napoleon and Josephine was annulled.

1645: Archbishop William Laud was beheaded at the Tower of London because he opposed radical forms of Puritanism and supported King Charles I.

Births:
1480: Margaret of Austria (Regent of the Netherlands)

1750: Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine (British Lord Chancellor)

1810: Jeremiah S. Black (American statesman/lawyer)

1880: Manuel Azaña y Diaz (Spanish republican President)

1905: Albert Arlen (Australian pianist/composer/actor/director) [The Sentimental Bloke]

1930: Roy Edward Disney (American film executive)

1945: Rod [Roderick David] Stewart (Scottish singer) ["Maggie May", "Tonight's the Night", "The First Cut Is the Deepest", "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"]

Deaths:
1645: William Laud (Archbishop of Canterbury)

1785: Henry William Stiegel (German-American industrialist) He established iron forges in Lancaster and Berks Counties, Pennsylvania, designed and built the town of Manheim in Lancaster County, and founded a glass factory, for which he imported glassblowers from Venice, England, and Germany to produce glass tableware.

1855: Mary Russell Mitford (English novelist/dramatist) [Our Village]

1935: Edwin Flack (Australian athlete) He was Australia's first Olympic champion.

1970: Pavel Belyayev (Soviet cosmonaut)

1980: George Meany (American labor leader)

2005: Joséphine-Charlotte (Grandduchess of Luxembourg)

2009: William Frederick "Bill" Stone (British World War I veteran)


Word of the Day: gammon \GAM-uhn\
Etymology: Perhaps from Middle English gamen "game".
(noun)
1. Deceitful nonsense; bosh.
2. A secret jargon used by traditionally itinerant people in Great Britain and Ireland, based on systematic inversion or alteration of the initial consonants of Gaelic words. (Also called Shelta.)
(intransitive verb)
3. To talk gammon.
4. To make pretense.
(transitive verb)
5. To humbug.
Usage: "It's us must break the treaty when the time comes; and till then I'll gammon that doctor, if I have to ile his boots with brandy."


Mistfox - who might get her new dressmaker's dummy put together today

Today is January 11th. That means that it's Republic Day in Albania, Independence Resistance Day in Morocco, Unity Day in Nepal, and Eugenio Maria de Hostos Day in Puerto Rico.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: Israeli Defense Forces and Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants battled in Sheikh Ajleen, a suburb of Gaza City.

1990: 300,000 marched in favor of Lithuanian independence.

1935: Aviator Amelia Earhart began a trip from Honolulu to Oakland, Calif., becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean.

1930: The element Fr (francium) was discovered.

1820: A French metallurgist tried to create a rust-proof, or stainless steel. A century would pass before two British scientists continued his work.

1805: The Michigan Territory was created.

1055: Theodora was crowned Empress of the Byzantine Empire.

Births:
1395: Michelle of Valois (Duchess of Burgundy)

1755: Alexander Hamilton (1st United States Secretary of the Treasury)

1800: Ányos Jedlik (Hungarian physicist)

1870: Alexander Stirling Calder (American sculptor)

1895: Laurens Hammond (American engineer/inventor/businessman) He invented the Hammond organ and the Hammond clock.

1930: Rod [Rodney Sturt] Taylor (Australian-born American actor) [The Time Machine, The Birds, The Glass Bottom Boat, Falcon Crest]

Deaths:
1055: Constantine IX Monomachos (Byzantine Emperor)

1735: Danilo I (Vladika of Montenegro)

1980: Barbara Pym (English novelist) [Some Tame Gazelle, No Fond Return Of Love, An Unsuitable Attachment]

1985: Sir William McKell (Premier of New South Wales/Governor-General of Australia)

2000: Ivan Combe (American inventor) He invented Clearasil and Odor Eaters.

2009: David Vine (British sports broadcaster)


Word of the Day: sacerdotal \sas-uhr-DOHT-l, sak-\
Etymology: Via French from Latin sacerdotalis "priestly", from sacerdos "priest, literally one who offers sacrifices", from sacer "holy, sacred" + dare "to give".
(adjective)
1. Of or relating to priests: priestly.
Usage: "My student came from a country where professors hold a sacerdotal status and so took my jest as a brushoff."


Mistfox - who got her new dressmaker's dummy put together, but had to add padding around the tummy area

Today is January 12th. That means that it’s Zanzibar Revolution Day in Tanzania, and National Youth Day and Swami Vivekananda's birthday in India.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: Flooding caused by Tropical Depression 04F killed eight people and displaced more than 6,000 in Fiji.

2005: Deep Impact launched from Cape Canaveral on a Delta 2 rocket. This was a NASA space probe designed to study the composition of the comet interior of 9P/Tempel, by releasing an impactor into the comet.

2000: The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, gave police broad authority to stop and question people who run at the sight of an officer.

1995: Malcolm X's daughter, Qubilah Shabazz, was arrested for conspiring to kill Louis Farrakhan.

1970: Biafra capitulated, ending the Nigerian civil war.

1965: At 10:58 a.m. PST, scientists conducted what they called a "controlled excursion", burning up a nuclear rocket in Nevada. It produced a radioactive cloud over Los Angeles.

1945: Soviet forces began a huge offensive against the Germans in Eastern Europe during World War II.

1915: The Rocky Mountain National Park was formed by an act of the U.S. Congress.

1895: The National Trust was founded in the United Kingdom.

1875: Kwang-su became emperor of China.

0475: Basiliscus became Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople.

Births:
1580: Jan Baptista van Helmont (Belgian chemist/physiologist/physician) He recognized the existence of discrete gases and identified carbon dioxide.

1905: "Tex" [Woodward Maurice] Ritter (American country singer/actor) ["Goodbye Ole Paint", "Sam Hall", "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin')", "The Americans", Arizona Trail, Song of the Buckaroo]

1925: Bill Burrud (American television host) [Safari to Adventure, Treasure!, Natural Wonders]

1930: Tim [Myles Gilbert] Horton (Canadian hockey player/businessman) He was the co-founder of Tim Hortons, now Canada's largest restaurant chain.

1950: Dorrit Moussaieff (First Lady of Iceland)

Deaths:
1705: Luca Giordano (Italian artist)

1960: Nevil Shute [Nevil Shute Norway] (English writer/aeronautical engineer) [Slide Rule, Round the Bend, Beyond the Black Stump]

2000: Bobby Phills (American basketball player)

2009: Arne Næss (Norwegian philosopher)


Word of the Day: conciliate \[kuhn-SIL-ee-eyt\
Etymology: From conciliatus, past participle of conciliare "to bring together, unite in feelings, make friendly," from concilium "council".
(transitive verb)
1. To overcome the distrust or hostility of; placate; win over: to conciliate an angry competitor.
2. To win or gain (goodwill, regard, or favor).
3. To make compatible; reconcile.
(intransitive verb)
4. To become agreeable or reconciled: Efforts to conciliate in the dispute proved fruitless.
Usage: "How does one conciliate being a mom and pursuing a career?"


Mistfox - who wonders what her stylist will do with her hair today

Today is January 13th. That means that this day is still celebrated as New Year's Eve by those on the Julian calendar (Old New Year).


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: Despite an agreement to resume delivery of natural gas from Russia to Europe, the European Union said that "very limited" amounts were transmitted.

2000: Microsoft chairman Bill Gates stepped aside as chief executive.

1985: A passenger train plunged into a ravine at Ethiopia, killing 428 in the worst railroad disaster in Africa.

1935: A plebiscite in Saarland showed that 90.3% of those voting wish to join Nazi Germany.

1915: An earthquake in Avezzano, Italy killed 29,800.

1840: The steamship Lexington burned and sunk four miles off the coast of Long Island with the loss of 139 lives.

1830: The Great fire of New Orleans, Louisiana began.

1785: John Walter published the first issue of the Daily Universal Register (later renamed The Times).

1610: Galileo Galilei discovered Callisto, the fourth satellite of Jupiter.

1605: The controversial play Eastward Hoe (Eastward Ho) by Ben Jonson, George Chapman, and John Marston was performed, landing two of the authors in prison.

1435: Pope Eugene IV promulgated Sicut Dudum about the enslaving of black natives in Canary Islands by Spanish Natives.

Births:
1505: Joachim II Hector (Elector of Brandenburg)

1610: Maria Anna of Austria (Electress of Bavaria)

1865: Princess Marie [Amélie Françoise Hélène] of Orléans (French princess/Danish princess)

1885: Alfred Fuller (Canadian-born American businessman) The "Fuller Brush Man"

1940: Edmund White (American author/literary critic) [A Boy's Own Story, The Farewell Symphony]

1980: Krzysztof Czerwinski (Polish conductor/organist)

Deaths:
1330: Frederick I ["the fair"] (Duke of Austria/King of Germany [as Frederick III])

1855: Henri Braconnot (French chemist) He is known for isolating glucose, a simple sugar, directly from such plant material as sawdust, linen or bark. Previously, glucose had only been derived from starch.

1905: George Thorn (Premier of Queensland)

1995: Max Harris (Australian poet/columnist/publisher) [Angry Penguins]

2009: Patrick McGoohan (American-Irish actor) [The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, Secret Agent, The Prisoner, Braveheart, Ice Station Zebra]


Word of the Day: vatic \VAT-ik\
Etymology: From Latin vates "prophet".
(adjective)
1. Of or related to a prophet or a prophecy: prophetic.
Usage: "'I know one day we will all die,' replied Adi, making a valiant stab at vatic foresight."


Mistfox - who is incredibly sleepy this morning

Today is January 14th. That means that this day is still celebrated as New Year's Day by those on the Julian calendar (Old New Year). It's also Pongal, a Harvest Festival for Tamilians and is now also celebrated as Tamil New Year around the world by Tamil diaspora. It's celebrated as Makar Sankranti in North India, as well as in South India by Kannadigas & Telugu people.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: Steve Jobs took a six-month medical leave of absence as CEO of Apple Inc.

2005: The Huygens probe landed on Saturn's moon Titan.

2000: A United Nations tribunal sentenced five Bosnian Croats to up to 25 years for the 1993 killing of over 100 Muslims in a Bosnian village.

1985: Martina Navratilova won her 100th tournament. She joined Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert Lloyd as the only professional tennis players to win 100 tournaments.

1975: Donald Neilson, aka “the Black Panther”, kidnapped teenage heiress Lesley Whittle.

1970: L-dopa (levo-dihydroxyphenylalanine) was reported to benefit about 5% of the patients in reversing the progress of Parkinson's disease.

1970: Diana Ross and the Supremes performed their last concert together, at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas.

1950: The first prototype of the MiG-17 makes its maiden flight.

1900: Giacomo Puccini's opera "Tosca," premiered in Rome .

1690: The clarinet was invented, in Nuernberg, Germany.

Births:
1705: Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier (French sailor/explorer/governor of the Mascarene Islands)

1780: Henry Baldwin (U.S. Supreme Court Justice)

1800: Ludwig Alois Ferdinand Köchel (Austrian musicologist/writer/composer/botanist/publisher) He is best known for cataloguing the works of Mozart and originating the 'K-numbers' by which they are known (K for Köchel).

1875: Albert Schweitzer (Alsatian physician)

1905: Takeo Fukuda (Prime Minister of Japan)

1915: Mark Goodson (American game show producer)

1940: [Horace] Julian Bond (American civil rights activist/politician/professor/writer)

Deaths:
1640: Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry (English lawyer/judge)

1920: John Francis Dodge (American automobile pioneer)

1965: Jeanette MacDonald (American actress/singer) [Love Me Tonight, The Merry Widow, Naughty Marietta, Rose-Marie, The Love Parade, One Hour With You, San Francisco]

2009: Ricardo Montalbán [Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino] (Mexican-American actor) [Fantasy Island, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spy Kids]


Word of the Day: diaspora \dahy-AS-per-uh\
Etymology: From Greek diaspora, "dispersion", from diaspeirein, "to spread about" : dia-, "apart" + speirein, "to sow, scatter".
(noun)
1. The scattering of the Jews to countries outside of Palestine after the Babylonian captivity.
2. (often lowercase) The body of Jews living in countries outside Palestine or modern Israel.
3. Such countries collectively: the return of the Jews from the Diaspora.
4. (lowercase) Any group migration or flight from a country or region; dispersion.
5. (lowercase) Any group that has been dispersed outside its traditional homeland.
6. (lowercase) Any religious group living as a minority among people of the prevailing religion.
Usage: "Dr. Chen presented a paper on the cultural identity of populations in diaspora."


Mistfox - who could easily go back to bed if she hadn't already paid for aqua fit

Today is January 15th. That means that this day is John Chilembwe Day in Malawi, Korean Alphabet Day in North Korea, Kerala in India, and Jallikattu in South India.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: US Airways Capt. Chelsey Sullenberger guided a jetliner disabled by a bird strike just after takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport to a safe landing in the Hudson River. All 155 people aboard survived.

2005: ESA's (European Space Agency) SMART-1 lunar orbiter discovered elements such as calcium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and other surface elements on the moon.

2005: A military court at Fort Hood, Texas, sentenced Army Specialist Charles Graner, Jr. to 10 years behind bars for physically and sexually mistreating Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison.

1990: AT&T's long distance telephone network suffered a cascade switching failure.

1970: The first evidence was uncovered of the razing by fire of Jerusalem by Roman troops led by General Titus in 70 A.D. upon orders from Caesar.

1870: A political cartoon for the first time symbolized the U.S. Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" by Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly).

1865: Fort Fisher North Carolina fell to the Union, thus cutting off the last major seaport of the Confederacy.

Births:
1795: Alexandr Griboyedov (Russian diplomat/playwright/composer) [Woe from Wit]

1870: Pierre S. du Pont (American businessman) He was president of the E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, later served on its Board of Directors, and managed General Motors at one time.

1920: John Cardinal O'Connor (American Catholic cardinal)

1945: Princess Michael of Kent [Baroness Marie Christine Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz] British royal/author) [Crowned in a Far Country: Eight Royal Brides, The Serpent and The Moon]

Deaths:
1775: Giovanni Battista Sammartini (Italian composer)

1950: Gen Henry "Hap" Arnold (U.S. General of the Air Force)

1970: William T. Piper ["the Henry Ford of Aviation"] (American aircraft designer/manufacturer)

1995: Vera Maxwell (American fashion designer)

2005: Ruth Warrick (American actress/singer/activist) [All My Children, Citizen Kane, The Corsican Brothers]

2009: Lillian Willoughby (American Quaker activist) She founded Take Back the Night.


Word of the Day: queue \kyoo\
Etymology: From French, from Old French cue, "tail", from Latin cauda, coda, "tail".
(noun)
1. A braid of hair worn hanging down behind.
2. A file or line, esp. of people waiting their turn.
3. Computers. A FIFO-organized sequence of items, as data, messages, jobs, or the like, waiting for action.
(intransitive verb, transitive verb)
4. To form in a line while waiting (often followed by up).
5. Computers. To arrange (data, jobs, messages, etc.) into a queue.
Usage: "'Then they had to join the long queue for the camp hospital."


Mistfox - who mispronounced this word for years

Today is January 16th. That means that this day is Teacher's Day in Thailand and National Religious Freedom Day in the United States.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: The computer worm Conficker infected more than eight million Microsoft Windows-based personal computers.

1980: Scientists in Boston produced interferon, a natural virus-fighting substance through genetic engineering.

1970: Buckminster Fuller received the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.

1945: Adolf Hitler moved into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.

1920: Prohibition began as the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution took effect.

1900: The United States Senate accepted the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounced its claims to the Samoan islands.

1120: The Council of Nablus was held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.

0550: The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquered Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison.

Births:
1245: Edmund Crouchback (Son of King Henry III of England)

1910: "Dizzy" [Jay Hanna] Dean (American baseball player)

1935: A.J. [Anthony Joseph] Foyt (American race car driver/team owner)

1950: Robert Schimmel (American comedian/author) [Cancer on $5 a Day* *(chemo not included): How Humor Got Me Through the Toughest Journey of My Life.]

Deaths:
0960: Polyeuctus (Patriarch of Constantinople)

1935: "Ma" [Kate] Barker (American criminal)

2009: Andrew Wyeth (American realist painter)


Word of the Day: pallid \PAL-id\
Etymology: From Latin pallidus "pale," from root of pallere "be pale".
(adjective)
1. Having an abnormally pale or wan complexion.
2. Lacking intensity of color or luminousness.
3. Lacking in vitality or interest.
Usage: "She is a tall, languid young lady with a pallid, oval face and beautiful pale-blue-gray eyes."


Mistfox - who is frelling cranky today

Today is January 17th. That means that this day was Zirgu Diena in Ancient Latvia.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: North Korea claimed to have "weaponized" 30.8 kilograms of plutonium, enough for four to five nuclear warheads.

1995: A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit near Kobe, Japan, causing extensive property damage and killing 6,434 people (the Great Hanshin earthquake).

1950: Eleven thieves stole more than $2 million from the Brinks armored car company's offices in Boston, Massachusetts.

1945: Soviet forces captured the almost completely destroyed Polish city of Warsaw. The Nazis began the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as Soviet forces closed in.

1885: A British force defeated a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan.

1605: Don Quixote (The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha/El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha) was first published by publisher-bookseller Francisco de Robles.

1595: Henry IV of France declared war on Spain.

Births:
1820: Anne Brontë (British author) [Agnes Grey, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall]

1860: Douglas Hyde (President of Ireland)

1880: Mack Sennett (Canadian film director)

1925: Robert Cormier (American author/columnist/reporter) [I Am the Cheese, After the First Death, We All Fall Down, The Chocolate War]

1940: Tabare Vazquez (President of Uruguay)

1970: Genndy Tartakovsky [Gennadij Borisovich Tartakovskij] (Russian-born American animator/director/producer) [Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars]

Deaths:
0395: Theodosius I (Roman Emperor)

1890: Peter Henderson ["the Father of American Horticulture"] (Scottish-American scientist)

1970: Billy Stewart (American singer) ["Reap What You Sow", "Strange Feeling"]

2005: Virginia Mayo [Virginia Clara Jones] (American actress) [The Best Years of Our Lives, White Heat, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty]

2009: Anders Isaksson (Swedish journalist/writer/historian) [Love and war. The Revolution of 1809]


Word of the Day: canonical \kuh-NON-i-kuhl\
Etymology: From Latin canon "measuring rod, rule", from Greek kanon "rule".
(adjective)
1. Authorized; recognized.
2. Religion: Relating to canon law.
3. Art: Relating to a particular artist's works established as authentic and complete.
4. Literature: Relating to a list of literary works permanently established as having highest merit.
5. Math: In simplest or standard form.
6. Music: Relating to a piece of music in which a melody is played by different overlapping voices.
Usage: "Shakespeare, Shaw, Ibsen, and heaven knows what other canonical heavyweights one might care to name?"


Mistfox - who is glad the crankies seem to be over (frelling menopausal hormone shifts)

Today is January 18th. That means that this day is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the U.S., Royal Thai Armed Forces Day, Winnie The Pooh Day, and the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins.


See why I used this smilie last year HERE.


2009: The Republic of China (Taiwan) distributed shopping vouchers to all its 22.7 million citizens as part of a US$2.53-billion plan to stimulate the economy.

2005: The world's largest commercial jet, an Airbus A380 that can carry 800 passengers, was unveiled in Toulouse, France.

2000: The Tagish Lake meteorite impacted on the Earth.

1990: A jury in Los Angeles acquitted former preschool operators Raymond Buckey and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, of 52 child molestation charges.

1955: The Battle of Yijiangshan Islands, between forces of the Republic of China Army and the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China, occurred.

1945: the Red Army liberated The Budapest ghetto.

1915: Japan issued the "Twenty-One Demands" to the Republic of China in a bid to increase its power in East Asia.

1895: James Dewar demonstrated the intimate connection between phosphorescence and photographic action of the electric light on bodies cooled to the temperature of boiling liquid air.

1670: Henry Morgan captured Panama.

1535: Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro founded Lima, the capital of Peru.

1520: King Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeated the Swedes at Lake Åsunden.

0350: Generallus Magnentius deposed Roman Emperor Constans and proclaimed himself Emperor.

Births:
0885: Daigo (Emperor of Japan)

1825: Sir Edward Frankland ["the father of valency"] (English chemist)

1850: Seth Low (American educator/mayor of Brooklyn/President of Columbia University/diplomat/mayor of New York City)

1905: Giuseppe ["Joe Bananas"] Bonanno (Sicilian-born American Mafioso)

1955: Kevin Costner (American actor) [Dances with Wolves, JFK, Field of Dreams, The Untouchables, The Bodyguard]

Deaths:
1425: Edmund de Mortimer, 5th Earl of March (English politician/heir presumptive to King Richard II)

1970: David O. McKay (President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

1980: Sir Cecil Beaton (English fashion designer)

1995: Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt (German biochemist) He was the co-winner of the 1939 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for pioneering work on sex hormones, primarily the isolation of estrone (a hormone that influences development of the female reproductive tract.)

2009: Bob May (American actor) [Lost in Space (Robot), The Time Tunnel, McHale's Navy]


Word of the Day: accord \uh-KAWRD\
Etymology: Derives from Middle English accorden, from Old French acorder, from Medieval Latin accordare, "to bring into agreement".
(intransitive verb)
1. To be in agreement or harmony; agree.
(transitive verb)
2. To cause to conform or agree; bring into harmony.
3. To grant; bestow.
(noun)
4. Agreement; harmony.
5. A settlement or compromise of conflicting opinions.
6. A settlement of points at issue between nations.
Usage: "My aunt was all in accord with my trip to the West, she said it would do me good."


Mistfox - who just noticed a typo in last year's On This Day that she should have caught