13 May 2019
mal de ojo
Spanish (literally, ‘evil from the eye’).
evil eye
n.
1. A look or stare believed to cause injury or misfortune to others. Example: they feared the mal de ojo.
2. The presumed power to cause injury or misfortune to others by magic or supernatural means.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Today’s quote
I hope everyone that is reading this is having a really good day. And if you are not, just know that in every new minute that passes you have an opportunity to change that.
– Gillian Anderson
On this day
13 May 1941 – birth of Richard Steven Valenzuela, otherwise known as Richie Valens. 1950s rock and roll star, famous for songs such as, ‘Come On, Let’s Go’, and ‘La Bamba. Died in a plane crash on 3 February 1959 with other musicians, Buddy Holly, J.P. ‘Big Bopper’ Richardson and the pilot, Roger Peterson. Their deaths were immortalised in the Don McLean song, ‘American Pie’, when he sang about the day the music died.
13 May 1981 – Pope John Paul II is injured in front of 2,000 people in St Peter’s Square after being shot by Turkish man, Mehmet Ali Agca.
13 May 1985 – Philadelphia Police drop two bombs on a house inhabited by black rights organisation, MOVE. The bombing results in a fire that destroys 65 neighbouring houses, killing 11 people (six adults including MOVE leader John Africa, and five children) and leaving more than 200 homeless. MOVE had previously been declared a terrorist organisation. Prior to the bombing, police had obtained arrest warrants for four members of MOVE, but when they attempted to execute the warrants, they claim a gunfight broke out which they used to justify using a helicopter to drop the bombs.