13 November 2014

titivate

[tit-uh-veyt]

verb (used with object), titivated, titivating.
1. to make smart or spruce:
She titivated her old dress with a new belt.

verb (used without object), titivated, titivating.
2. to make oneself smart or spruce.

Also, tittivate.

Origin
1795-1805; earlier tidivate (tidy + (ele)vate; i.e., tidy up)

Related forms
titivation, noun
titivator, noun

Dictionary.com

Anagram

tie it vat

Today’s aphorism

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

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 natural 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 Reconnaisance Orbiter.