Today’s WOTD – 13 November 2012

rapporteur

[rap-awr-tur; Fr. ra-pawr-tœr]

noun

plural: rapporteurs  [-turz; Fr. -tœr]

– a person responsible for compiling reports and presenting them, as to a governing body.

Example Sentences

‘Each break-out group had a rapporteur take notes and summarize the group discussion’.

‘One option being touted is a regional rapporteur who would monitor anti-crime strategies’.

Today’s aphorism

‘Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.’

― Albert Einstein

On this day

13 November 1940 – the prototype of the Jeep was submitted to U.S. Army for approval by car-maker Willys-Overland. Following the U.S. declaration of war 12 months later, production of the Jeep began. By the end of the war in 1945, there had been 600,000 produced.

13 November 1940 – Walt Disney releases his animated movie, Fantasia, which eventually became a cult-classic. At time of release though, the movie was not a commercial success.

13 November 1956 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules that laws which segregated buses were illegal.

13 November 1970 – the worst disaster of the 20th century occurs when a devastating cyclone strikes Bangladesh, killing over 500,000 people. The cyclone with 160km/h winds, caused tidal waves and storm surges which swept over the densely-populated, low-lying regions of the Ganges Delta and nearby islands.

13 November 1971 – Space voyager Mariner 9, reaches Mars and becomes the first spacecraft to orbit another planet.

13 November 2009 – NASA announces that a significant resource of water has been located on the moon by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.