12 August 2014

kinetic

[ki-net-ik, kahy-]

adjective

1. pertaining to motion.
2. caused by motion.
3. characterized by movement: Running and dancing are kinetic activities.

Origin:
1850–55; < Greek kīnētikós moving, equivalent to kīnē- (verbid stem of kīneîn to move) + -tikos -tic

Related forms
ki·net·i·cal·ly, adverb
non·ki·net·ic, adjective

Anagram

Ice knit
nice kit

Today’s aphorism

Well, the protester I think is a very powerful thing. It’s basically a mechanism of democracy that, along with capitalism, scientific innovation, those things have built the modern world. And it’s wonderful that the new tools have empowered that protestor so that state secrets, bad developments are not hidden anymore.

– Bill Gates

On this day

12 August 30BC – Cleopatra VII, last Pharoah of Ancient Egypt, suicides after learning of the suicide of her lover, Mark Antony (after he lost the Battle of Actium to Emperor Octavian). She reportedly allowed herself to be bitten by an asp. Soon after, Egypt became a Roman province under Octavian.

12 August 1964 – death of Ian Fleming, British author of the ‘James Bond’ novels.

12 August 2009 – death of Les Paul, (born Lester William Polsfuss) American musician and inventor of the solid body electric guitar. The popular Gibson Les Paul was designed in collaboration with him. (Born 1915)

11 August 2014

parlay

[pahr-ley, -lee]

verb (used with object)

1. to bet or gamble (an original amount and its winnings) on a subsequent race, contest, etc.
2. Informal. to use (one’s money, talent, or other assets) to achieve a desired objective, as spectacular wealth or success: He parlayed a modest inheritance into a fortune.
noun
3. a bet of an original sum and the subsequent winnings.

Origin:
1820–30, Americanism; alteration of earlier paroli < French < Neapolitan Italian, plural of parolo, perhaps derivative of paro equal < Latin pār; see pair

Anagram

lay rap

Today’s aphorism

The mind that perceives the limitation is the limitation.

– Buddha

On this day

11 August 3114BC – ok, so there is an argument that the month of August didn’t exist in 3114BC, but humour me … some mathemetician type has calculated the equivalent Mesoamerican date using the Gregorian calendar and determined that it was on this day that the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, (aka the Mayan Calendar) came into being. It was used by a number of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures. Oddly enough, the creation of the calendar wasn’t a problem. The problem has arisen with the lack of fore-thought on the end-date. Inconveniently, some inconsiderate Mesoamerican culture (let’s blame the Mayans) decided the calendar would end on 21 December 2012, which has caused a little consternation amongst some of the inhabitants of Earth, who fear the calendar ends on that date because the world ends on that date … considering that the earth has managed to survive beyond 21/12/12, speculation is rife that perhaps the calendar ended on that date because its creator got bored, or was called in for dinner, or went hunting sabre-tooth tigers and never returned …

11 August 480BC – death of Leonidas, King of Sparta, famous for the Battle of Thermopylae in which he led an Army of 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans and managed to hold off Persian Army (estimated to be at least 100,000 strong) led by Xerxes. Leonidas was eventually over-run and killed. He would have been stoked to know a Hollywood movie would be made about him in 1962 and again in 2006.

11 August 1897 – birthday of Enid Blyton, British author of numerous series of children’s stories, including ‘Noddy‘, ‘Famous Five‘, and ‘Secret Seven‘. Died 1967.

11 August 1921 – birthday of Alex Haley, U.S. author of ‘Roots‘, ‘Malcolm X‘. (Died 1992).

11 August 1945 – Japan offers surrender, conditional on the retention of their Emperor, Hirohito. The U.S. rejects the offer, demanding that Emperor Hirohito subject himself to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces.

11 August 1994 – death of Peter Cushing OBE,English actor who mostly appeared in Hammer Horror films, including The Curse of Frankenstein and Dracula (in which he played vampire hunter, Van Helsing). Born 26 May 1913.

10 August 2014

apocryphal

[uh-pok-ruh-fuhl]

adjective

1. of doubtful authorship or authenticity.
2. Ecclesiastical .
a. (initial capital letter) of or pertaining to the Apocrypha.
b. of doubtful sanction; uncanonical.
3. false; spurious: He told an apocryphal story about the sword, but the truth was later revealed.

Origin:
1580–90; apocryph(a) + -al1

Related forms
a·poc·ry·phal·ly, adverb
a·poc·ry·phal·ness, noun

Anagram

parlay chop

Today’s aphorism

People who lean on logic and philosophy and rational exposition end by starving the best part of the mind.

– William Butler Yeats

On this day

10 August 587BC – Solomon’s Temple (also known as the ‘First Temple’) destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzer II during the Siege of Jerusalem. The temple was later rebuilt.

10 August 70AD – Solomon’s Temple (also known as the ‘Second Temple’) set alight by Roman Army, led by future Emperor Titus.

10 August 1960 – birthday of José Antonio Domínguez Banderas, Spanish actor, otherwise known as Antonio Banderas.

10 August 1964 – Following the Gulf of Tonkin incidents on 2 and 4 August 1964, the US Congress passes ‘The Southeast Asia Resolution’ (the ‘Gulf of Tonkin Resolution’), which authorised the United States ‘to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom‘. The passage of this Resolution led to US involvement in the Vietnam War.

8 August 2014

scintillate

[sin-tl-eyt]

verb (used without object), scin·til·lat·ed, scin·til·lat·ing.

1. to emit sparks.
2. to sparkle; flash: a mind that scintillates with brilliance.
3. to twinkle, as the stars.
4. Electronics. (of a spot of light or image on a radar display) to shift rapidly around a mean position.
5. Physics.
a. (of the amplitude, phase, or polarization of an electromagnetic wave) to fluctuate in a random manner.
b. (of an energetic photon or particle) to produce a flash of light in a phosphor by striking it.

verb (used with object), scin·til·lat·ed, scin·til·lat·ing.

6. to emit as sparks; flash forth.

Origin:
1615–25; < Latin scintillātus (past participle of scintillāre to send out sparks, flash). See scintilla, -ate1

Anagram

elastic lint
a lit stencil
a client list

Today’s aphorism

Writing is the painting of the voice.

– Voltaire

On this day

8 August 1864 – Formation of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland.

8 August 1945 – The Soviet Union declares war on the Empire of Japan and invades the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. In late, July 1945 Japan, naively, had been petitioning the neutral Soviets to broker a peace deal favourable to the Japanese. While the invasion violated the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact, it was in accordance with the secret Yalta Agreements that the Soviet Union made with the United States and the United Kingdom at the Crimea Conference held between 4-11 February 1945, in which Stalin agreed to attack Japan within 3 months of Germany’s surrender.

8 August 1959 – death of Albert Namatjira, Australian Aboriginal artist. Born 28 July 1902.

8 August 1974 – USA President Richard Nixon resigns because of his impending impeachment for ‘obstruction of justice’, ‘abuse of power’, and ‘contempt of congress’, in relation to the Watergate Scandal.

8 August 1979 – birthday of Emiliano Zapata Salazar, Mexican revolutionary.

8 August 1981 – birthday of Roger Federer in Switzerland, champion tennis player.

8 August 1988 – The ’8888′ Uprising in Burma, from which Aung Sun Suu Kyi gains popularity and becomes a national hero.

4 August 2014

multifarious

[muhl-tuh-fair-ee-uhs]

adjective

1. having many different parts, elements, forms, etc.
2. numerous and varied; greatly diverse or manifold: multifarious activities.

Origin:
1585–95; < Late Latin multifārius many-sided, manifold, equivalent to Latin multifāri ( am ) on many sides + -us adj. suffix (see -ous); see multi-, bifarious

Related forms
mul·ti·far·i·ous·ly, adverb
mul·ti·far·i·ous·ness, noun

Anagram

a futurism oil
a four stimuli
i suit formula
if sumo ritual

Today’s aphorism

Man has no right to kill his brother. It is no excuse that he does so in uniform: he only adds the infamy of servitude to the crime of murder.

– Percy Bysshe Shelley

On this day

4 August 1181 – Supernova (not the rock band), SN1181, observed by Chinese and Japanese astronomers in the constellation Cassiopeia. It was visible for 185 days. A supernova is the explosive death of a star, resulting in a nebula of illuminated gas.

4 August 1792 – birth of Percy Bysshe Shelley, English romantic poet, considered to be one the finest lyric poets of all time. Died 8 July 1822.

4 August 1914 – United States declares its neutrality in World War I.

4 August 1944 – German police and Gestapo officers arrest Jewish diarist, Anne Frank and her family, in Amsterdam. The family was eventually transported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. In March 1945 a typhus epidemic spread through the camp, claiming the Anne’s life. The camp was liberated only weeks later, in April 1945, by British troops. Anne Frank kept a diary which later was published and became a best seller.

4 August 1964 – the second Gulf of Tonkin Incident in which it was believed North Vietnamese troops fired on two US destroyers, the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy. It is now believed the second incident may have involved false radar images and not the North Vietnamese.