Today’s WOTD – 29 October 2012
pangloss
PRONUNCIATION:
(PAN-glos)
MEANING:
noun: One who is optimistic regardless of the circumstances.
adjective: Blindly or unreasonably optimistic.
ETYMOLOGY:
After Dr. Pangloss, a philosopher and tutor in Voltaire’s 1759 satire Candide. Pangloss believes that, in spite of what happens — shipwreck, earthquake, hanging, flogging, and more — “All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.” The name is coined from Greek panglossia (talkativeness). Earliest documented use: 1794.
USAGE:
“Steven Pinker is a Pangloss … The world is a better place than it used to be.”
Bill McSweeney; Why We Should Look on the Bright Side; The Irish Times (Dublin); Dec 3, 2011.
“Don Regan tried to pick up where Mike Deaver left off in the spin game of gilding foul-ups with a Pangloss sheen, but he was a bit too candid.”
Jim Fain; Lights, Action, Camera Again; Observer-Reporter (Pennsylvania); Aug 14, 1987
Today’s aphorism
‘October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks in. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February.’
– Mark Twain.
On this day
29 October 529BC – International Day of Cyrus the Great, King of Persia, responsible for the Cyrus Cylinder, which has been called the world’s first charter of human rights. The Cyrus Cylinder praised the munificence of King Cyrus and denounced the conquered Babylonian King Nabodinus as an oppressor of the people. It extols King Cyrus as a benefactor of the people, who liberated them from Nabodinus, repatriated them, restored temples and improved their lives.
29 October 1929 – ‘Black Tuesday’, stock market crash leads to the Great Depression. Investors dumped traded 16 million shares and the market crashed a further 12%, losing $30 billion in two days.
29 October 1956 – Israel invades Egypt after President Nasser announces he is nationalising the Suez Canal, starting the Suez Crisis.
29 October 1969 – Creation of the ARPANET, predecessor of the internet, when the first host-to-host communication is sent. ARPANET stands for Advanced Research Projects Agency Network which was operated by the U.S. Department of Defense.
29 October 1982 – Lindy Chamberlain found guilty of murdering her baby daughter, Azaria, after a jury dismissed her claim that a dingo took the baby. Her husband, Michael, was found guilty of being an accessory to the murder. She spent 3 years in jail, before being released. Eight years after the trial, her conviction was overturned. In 1992, her and Michael were acquitted and received $1.3 million in compensation from the Australian government for false imprisonment. There have been four inquests, with the latest being held 2012, with the finding that a dingo did take the baby.