24 March 2013

soliloquy

[suh-lil-uh-kwee]

noun, plural so·lil·o·quies.
1. an utterance or discourse by a person who is talking to himself or herself or is disregardful of or oblivious to any hearers present (often used as a device in drama to disclose a character’s innermost thoughts): Hamlet’s soliloquy begins with “To be or not to be.”
2. the act of talking while or as if alone.
Origin:
1595–1605; < Late Latin sōliloquium a talking to oneself, soliloquy, equivalent to sōli- soli-1 + loqu ( ī ) to speak + -ium -ium; see -y3

Today’s aphorism

A man may be very industrious, and yet not spend his time well. There is no more fatal blunderer than he who consumes the greater part of life getting his living.

– Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)

On this day

24 March 1958 – Elvis Presley is conscripted into the U.S. Army as a Private. He was discharged on 2 March 1960 with the rank of Sergeant.

24 March 1989 – the oil-tanker, Exxon Valdez, is seriously damaged after running aground on a reef in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. Over 11 million gallons of crude oil  was released, resulting in a five mile oil slick, which caused severe environmental damage, including the deaths of 250,000 birds, 3,000 sea otters, 300 seals, 22 killer whales and an untold number of fish.

24 March 1973 – Pink Floyd release their iconic ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ album, which is the 6th best-selling album of all time with over 40 million sales worldwide.