8 January 2019
gnurr
gnurr – The substance that collects over time in the bottoms of pockets or cuffs of trousers.
See also related terms for pockets.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
Today’s quote
Nothing in the world can bother you as much as your own mind, I tell you. In fact, others seem to be bothering you, but it is not others. It is your own mind.
– Dalai Lama
On this day
8 January 1642 – death of Galileo Galilei, Italian polymath and central figure in the Renaissance and scientific revolution, known for his work as an astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher and mathematician. Also called the ‘father of observational astronomy’, ‘father of modern physics’, ‘father of the scientific method’, and ‘father of science’. The Catholic church his idea of heliocentrism, that is the earth revolving around the sun, to be heretical, as the church believed the heavens revolved around the Earth. Galileo was tried at an Inquisition and remained under house arrest for the remainder of his life. Born 15 February 1564.
8 January 1935 – birth of Elvis Aaron Presley, the King of Rock and Roll. Died 16 August 1977.
8 January 1942 – birth of Stephen Hawking, English theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author. In 1963, at the age of 21, Hawking was diagnosed with motor neuron disease, a degenerative condition that worsened over the years, leaving him paralysed and unable to speak. He communicated through a speech-generating device. Hawking proposed that black holes emit radiation and set out a theory of cosmology explained by a union of Einstein’s general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. Died 14 March 2018.
8 January 1947 – birth of David Bowie, British musician and actor, born David Robert Jones. Died 11 January 2016.
8 January 1959 – Fidel Castro’s rebel forces take control of Cuba. Castro eventually became President and ruled the nation until 2011.
8 January 1964 – US President Lyndon B. Johnson introduces legislation that results in the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, otherwise known as the War on Poverty, in an effort to reduce the increasing poverty rate, which at that time was around 19%. Through this a number of poverty-reduction strategies were implemented, including Social Security Act 1965, Food Stamp Act of 1964, Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965), Community Action Program, Job Corps, and Volunteers in Services to America. Within 10 years the poverty rate had been reduced to around 11%. In 2014, the rate had risen to around 15%.