15 August 2015
petard
[pi-tahrd]
noun
1. an explosive device formerly used in warfare to blow in a door or gate, form a breach in a wall, etc.
2. a kind of firecracker.
3. (initial capital letter). Also called Flying Dustbin. a British spigot mortar of World War II that fired a 40-pound (18 kg) finned bomb, designed to destroy pillboxes and other concrete obstacles.
Idioms
4. hoist by /with one’s own petard, hurt, ruined, or destroyed by the very device or plot one had intended for another.
Origin of petard
1590-1600; < Middle French, equivalent to pet (er) to break wind (derivative of pet < Latin pēditum a breaking wind, orig. neuter of past participle of pēdere to break wind) + -ard -ard
Dictionary.com
Anagram
parted
depart
Today’s quote
The Woodstock dove on the iconic poster is really a catbird. And it was originally perched on a flute.
– Shawn Amos
On this day
15 August 1769 – birth of Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor.
15 August 1945 – Japan announces its surrender to the Allies following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The official ‘Instrument of Surrender’ was signed on 2 September 1945.
15 August 1947 – India Independence Day. At the stroke of midnight (14/15 August), India was partitioned and granted independence from British rule.
15 – 18 August 1969 – the Woodstock Music & Art Fair (or just ‘Woodstock’), a festival of peace and music, was held over three days at Max Yasgur’s dairy farm, 69 kilometres south-west of the town of Woodstock in New York State. It featured artists such as Joan Baez, Ravi Shankar, Arlo Guthrie, Mountain, the Grateful Dead, Canned Heat, Janis Joplin, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Cocker, Jimi Hendrix, Cosby Stills Nash and Young, Blood Sweat and Tears, Ten Years After. A number of high profile musicians declined to play, including The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Chicago, The Byrds, Jethro Tull, Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Iron Butterfly and Joni Mitchell. Woodstock is still considered to be the ultimate rock and counter-cultural festival. The promoters hoped for 50,000 to attend and were caught unprepared when more than 500,000 people attended.