28 June 2013

willy-nilly

[wil-ee-nil-ee]

adverb

1. in a disorganized or unplanned manner; sloppily.
2. whether one wishes to or not; willingly or unwillingly: He’ll have to do it willy-nilly.
adjective
3. shilly-shallying; vacillating.
4. disorganized, unplanned; sloppy: willy-nilly work.
Origin:
1600–10; from the phrase will ye, nill ye. See will1 , nill

Today’s aphorism

Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.

– Jim Morrison

On this day

28 June 1914 – Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, while in Sarajevo, Bosnia. The assassin, Gavrilo Princip, was one of 16 Bosnian Serbs found guilty of the incident. The assassination led to World War I as European countries took sides in the subsequent retaliation.

28 June 1919 – World War I officially ends as Germany signs the Treaty of Versailles. The armistice had been agreed to on 11 November 1918, but it took until June 1919 to formalise the peace treaty. The treaty forced Germany and her allies to take responsibility for the war, to disarm, to make signficant territorial concessions and to make financial reparations to a number of countries. The Treaty of Versailles was one of the motivators behind Hitler’s rise to power and subsequent attempt to conquer Europe.

28 June 1997 – World heavyweight champion boxer, Mike Tyson, bit Evander Holyfield’s ear during the third round of a world title rematch. Tyson was initially disqualified and then allowed to continue the fight, however, Tyson then bit off a part of Holyfield’s other ear which was later found on the floor of the ring. Tyson was disqualified and later fined $3 million. His boxing licence was rescinded, but reinstated in 1998.