30 January 2014

rambunctious

[ram-buhngk-shuhs]

adjective

1. difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous: a rambunctious child.
2. turbulently active and noisy: a social gathering that became rambunctious and out of hand.

Origin:
1820–30, Americanism; origin uncertain

Related forms
ram·bunc·tious·ly, adverb
ram·bunc·tious·ness, noun

Anagram

subatomic urn
barium counts
rum bacon suit

Today’s aphorism

When you’re drowning, you don’t say ‘I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,’ you just scream.

– John Lennon

On this day

30 January 1648 – signing of the Peace of Munster, between the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of Spain and was officially ratified on the 15 May 1648. This treaty was the first in a series of peace treaties known as the Peace of Westphalia which paved the way for the modern sovereign state. The second being the Treaty of Munster and the Treaty of Osnabrück, both signed on 24 October 1648.

30 January 1882 – birth of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), who was a member of the Democratic Party and became the 32nd President of the USA. He is the only president to serve four consecutive terms. FDR served from 4 March 1933 until his death on 12 April 1945. In 1921, FDR contracted polio, which left him paralysed from the waist down.

30 January 1948 – assassination of Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi.

30 January 1972 – ‘Bloody Sunday’ in Derry, Northern Ireland when 26 unarmed protesters were shot by British soldiers, killing 13 instantly, with a 14th dying some months later from his injuries. Seventeen were injured. John Lennon recorded a song about the incident, entitled ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday‘, which appeared on his ‘Sometime in New York City‘ album.