30 December 2012

xylose

[zahy-lohs]

noun, Chemistry .

– a colorless, crystalline pentose sugar, C 5 H 10 O 5, derived from xylan, straw, corncobs, etc., by treating with heated dilute sulfuric acid, and dehydrating to furfural if stronger acid is used.

Origin:
1890–95; < Greek xýl ( on ) wood + -ose2

Today’s aphorism

‘Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners’.

– Vladimir Lenin

On this day

30 December 1922 – Lenin establishes the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

30 December 2006 – Former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, hanged after being found guilty of committing crimes against humanity.