9 May 2014

tarantism

[tar-uhn-tiz-uhm]

noun

– a mania characterized by an uncontrollable impulse to dance, especially as prevalent in southern Italy from the 15th to the 17th century, popularly attributed to the bite of the tarantula. Also, tarentism. Compare tarantula.
Origin:
1630–40; < Neo-Latin tarantismus. See Taranto, -ism

Related forms
tar·ant·ist, noun

Anagram

Strait man
anti smart
Titan Mars

Today’s aphorism

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

– Nelson Mandela

On this day

9 May – Russian Victory Day which marks the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

9 May 1960 – the ‘pill’, a contraceptive, is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. It is now used by 100 million women worldwide.

9 May 1970 – 100,000 protestors gather near the White House to protest US involvement in the war in Cambodia.

9 May 1994 – Nelson Mandela is chosen by the newly-elected South African parliament to be the country’s new President.