24 July 2014

firkin

[fur-kin]

noun

1. a British unit of capacity usually equal to a quarter of a barrel.
2. a small wooden vessel or tub for butter, lard, etc.

Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English ferdkyn, firdekyn, equivalent to ferde (variant of ferthe fourth) + -kin -kin

Anagram

fin irk

Today’s aphorism

A person who doubts himself is like a man who would enlist in the ranks of his enemies and bear arms against himself. He makes his failure certain by himself being the first person to be convinced of it.

– Alexandre Dumas

On this day

24 July 1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots, forced to abdicate after being accused of adultery and murder. Her 1 year old son becomes King James VI of Scotland, and later King James I, when Scotland and England unify. He also sponsored the Authorised Translation of the bible, which was named after him, the King James Bible.

24 July 1802 – birthday of Alexandré Dumas, French author of celebrated works such as ‘Count of Monte Christo‘, ‘The Three Musketeers‘, ‘The Black Tulip‘.

24 July 1938 – Nescafe, or freeze-dried, coffee invented. Although this wasn’t the invention of instant coffee, but rather the refinement of it. Instant coffee was first invented in 1901 by Satori Kato. In 1906, George Washington invented the first mass produced instant coffee.