27 December 2016

whist drive

noun

1. a social gathering where whist is played; the winners of each hand move to different tables to play the losers of the previous hand.

Example

Every Friday night, for years they attended a whist drive.

Anagram

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Today’s quote

The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly.

– Richard Bach

On this day

27 December – the third day of the 12 days of Christmas (Western Christianity).

27 December 1822 – birth of Louis Pasteur, French bacteriologist, one of the founders of microbiology. Invented the process for preventing milk and wine from causing sickness, known as pasteurisation. (Not entirely fool-proof, as over-imbibing wine still seems to cause sickness in some). Died 28 September 1895.

27 December 1923 – death of Gustave Eiffel, French engineer and architect, co-designed the Eiffel Tower. Born 15 December 1832.

27 December 1979 – Soviet Union overthrows the Afghan government, replacing President Hufizullah Amin with Babrak Karmal.

27 December 2007 – Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistani Prime Minister, is assassinated by a suicide bomber immediately after shots were fired at her. Bhutto was the first female head of an Islamic nation. The bombing killed 24 other people.