6 February 2014

despot

[des-puht, -pot]

noun

1. a king or other ruler with absolute, unlimited power; autocrat.
2. any tyrant or oppressor.
3. History/Historical . an honorary title applied to a Byzantine emperor, afterward to members of his family, and later to Byzantine vassal rulers and governors.

Origin:
1555–65; < Greek despótēs master < *dems-pot- presumably, “master of the house,” equivalent to *dems-, akin to dómos house + pot-, base of pósis husband, spouse; cf. hospodar, host

Anagram

sped to
pod set

Today’s aphorism

Memory is the scribe of the soul.

– Aristotle

On this day

6 February 1938 – ‘Black Sunday’, when freak waves strike Bondi Beach, Australia, dragging swimmers hundreds of metres out to sea. Five people drowned and 250 needed rescuing.

6 February 1945 – birth of Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae singer and musician. Died 11 May 1981.

6 February 1952 – King George VI dies, resulting in new sovereign being Queen Elizabeth II.

6 February 1971 – Alan Shephard becomes the first man to hit golf balls on the moon. He smuggled the club and balls on board lunar spacecraft, Apollo 14, by hiding them inside his suit.