14 October 2018

tumpline

[tuhmp-lahyn]

noun

1. a strap or sling passed around the chest or forehead to help support a pack carried on a person’s back.

Origin of tumpline

Southern New England Algonquian proto-Eastern Algonquian

1790-1800; tump (earlier mattump, metomp < Southern New England Algonquian < proto-Eastern Algonquian *mat- empty root appearing in names of manufactured objects + *-a·pəy string) + line1

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for tumpline

Historical Examples

This is known as a tumpline, and consists of a band of leather to cross the head, and two long thongs to secure the pack.
Camp and Trail
Stewart Edward White

One night one of them ate a piece out of my tumpline, which was partially under my head, while I slept.
The Long Labrador Trail
Dillon Wallace

Anagram

punt mile
impel nut
I melt pun

Today’s quote

Never mind about 1066 William the Conqueror, 1087 William the Second. Such things are not going to affect one?s life…but 1932 the Mars Bar and 1936 Maltesers and 1937 the Kit Kat – these dates are milestones in history and should be seared into the memory of every child in the country.

– Roald Dahl

On this day

14 October 1066 – Battle of Hastings. When King Edward of England died, William the Duke of Normandy felt the throne should go to him. Meanwhile, Earl Harold Godwinson (cousin of King Edward) felt the throne was his. The two went to battle with William decisively defeating Harold. The battle changed history as William brought England under Norman rule and stripped the Saxons of their rights. King William I introduced three major changes, firstly, he made himself the principal authority, having executive, judicial and legislative power. (This was replaced centuries later by the Westminster System, which separates these three powers). Secondly, William introduced a new language and culture, by replacing 300 years of Anglo-Saxon culture with a French dialect. Thirdly, he introduced the feudal system in which a plot of land (called a fief) would be given to loyal followers. In 1086, William commissioned a survey of land ownership and taxes owing throughout much of England. The survey listed 13,418 places. While the book originally had no formal title, in the 12th century, William’s great survey became known as the Domesday Book, and later as the Doomsday Book, in light of its comparison to the Final Judgement written of in the Bible. At that time, ‘Doom’ meant law, not ruin or death). William was also known as William the Conqueror and William the Bastard. He stated, ‘I have persecuted its native inhabitants beyond all reason. Whether gentle or simple, I have cruelly oppressed them; many I unjustly inherited; Innumerable multitudes, especially in the county of York, perished through me by famine or the sword‘.

14 October 1322 – Scotland forces led by Robert the Bruce defeat England at Byland, forcing King Edward II to grant Scotland’s independence.

14 October 1947 – American pilot, Chuck Yeager, breaks the speed of sound in the experimental jet, Bell X-1, travelling at Mach 1 and at 45,000 feet.

14 October 1959 – death of Errol Flynn, Australian-born American actor. Born 20 June 1909.

14 October 2012 – Felix Baumgarten, Austrian adventurer, becomes the first man to break the speed of sound while in freefall after jumping from a helium balloon at the edge of space, 39km above the surface of the earth. He reached a speed of 1,342 km/hr (1.24 times the speed of sound). He also broke the record for the highest altitude reached in a manned balloon flight.

13 October 2018

Lacandon

The Lacandon are one of the Maya peoples who live in the jungles of the Mexican state of Chiapas, near the southern border with Guatemala. Their homeland, the Lacandon Jungle, lies along the Mexican side of the Usumacinta River and its tributaries. The Lacandon are one of the most isolated and culturally conservative of Mexico’s native peoples. Almost extinct in 1943, today their population has grown significantly, yet remains small, at approximately 650 speakers of the Lacandon language.

Wikipedia.org

Anagram

nod canal
a clan don

Today’s quote

When in Rome, live as the Romans do; when elsewhere, live as they live elsewhere.

– Saint Ambrose

On this day

13 October 54AD – death of Claudius, Roman Emperor. He was treated as an imbecile because he’d been born with a limp and slight deafness. As a result he was not seen as a threat by others and therefore survived the purges by Caligula and Tiberius. He was the last surviving man in his family following Caligula’s assassination, leading to him being declared emperor by the Praetorian Guard. He proved himself to be an able administrator and constructed many roads, aqueducts and canals across the empire. He successfully invaded Britain, something that previous emperors, including Caligula, had failed to achieve. He was assassinated by poisoning, many believe by his wife. He was succeeded by his grand-nephew, Nero. Born 1 August 10BC.

13 October 1307 – Pope Clement V orders the overthrow, arrest and torture of Knights Templar in France. This is believed to be the origin of Black Friday or Friday the 13th being unlucky.

12 October 2018

Hunab Ku

(Mayan pronunciation: [huˈnaɓ ku]) is a Colonial period Yucatec Maya reducido term meaning “The One God”. It is used in colonial, and more particularly in doctrinal texts to refer to the Christian God. Since the word is found frequently in the Chilam Balam of Chumayel, a syncretistic document heavily influenced by Christianity, it refers specifically to the Christian god as a translation into Maya of the Christian concept of one God, used to enculturate the previously polytheist Maya to the new Colonial religion.

References to Hunab Ku have figured prominently in New Age Mayanism such as that of José Argüelles.

wikipedia.org

Anagram

a bunk uh

Today’s quote

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.

– Douglas Adams

On this day

12 October 1492 – Christopher Columbus lands on an island in the Bahamas, claiming ‘East Asia’ for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.

12 October 1810 – world’s first Oktoberfest when the people of Munich are invited to celebrate a Bavarian royal wedding.

12 October 1823 – Charles MacIntosh, Scottish inventor, sells his first water-proof ‘rubber raincoat’, which became known as the ‘MacIntosh’ or ‘Mac’.

12 October 1944 – ‘Columbus Day Riot’ in which 35,000 hysterical teenage girls dressed in bobby socks, descend on Times Square, New York City, in anticipation of Frank Sinatra appearing.

12 October 1979 – ‘Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams is first published. He eventually wrote a total of 5 books in the series, with a sixth one being written by Eoin Colfer.

12 October 1994 – A 1,200-seat stand at a Pink Floyd concert in Earl’s Court collapses, injuring 90 people.

12 October 2002 – Terrorist bombings of the Sari Club and Paddy’s Bar in Kuta, Bali, kill 202 people and injure 209. Members of Jemaah Islamiyah, a group linked with Al Qaeda, are convicted of the crime and on 9 November 2006, three of them are executed by firing squad.

11 October 2018

chayote

[chahy-oh-tee]

noun

1. a tropical American vine, Sechium edule, of the gourd family, having triangular leaves and small, white flowers.
2. the green or white, furrowed, usually pear-shaped, edible fruit of this plant.

Also, choyote.

Also called christophene, mirliton, vegetable pear.

Origin of chayote

Mexican Spanish Nahuat

1885-1890, Americanism; < Mexican Spanish < Nahuatl chayohtli

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for chayote

Historical Examples

The chayote was not cultivated in Cayenne ten years ago.1353 Nothing indicates an ancient cultivation in Brazil.
Origin of Cultivated Plants
Alphonse De Candolle

Anagram

Hey taco
each toy

Today’s quote

You can’t forgive without loving. And I don’t mean sentimentality. I don’t mean mush. I mean having enough courage to stand up and say, ‘I forgive. I’m finished with it.’

– Maya Angelou

On this day

11 October – International Day of the Girl.

11 October 1844 – birth of Henry John Heinz, founder of Heinz Company, responsible for canned baked beans. Died 14 May 1919.

11 October 1935 – death of Steele Rudd, Australian author, (pen-name for Arthur Hoey Davis). Wrote ‘On Our Selection‘, which introduced Australia to ‘Dad and Dave’. Born 14 November 1868.

11 October 1930 – Australian Rules football club, Collingwood, win the VFL premiership for the fourth consecutive year.

11 October 1939 – German theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein explains to the United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the possibility of building an atomic bomb.

11 October 1967 – premier of the childrens’ TV series, ‘Johnny Sokko and his flying robot‘.

9 October 2018

en brosse

[ahn braws]

1. (of hair) cut to stand straight in an even row on top, often as a crew cut.

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for en brosse

Historical Examples

Though his jet-black hair was en brosse, I did not think he was French.
Seven Men
Max Beerbohm

Anagram

be snores

Today’s quote

Both now and for always, I intend to hold fast to my belief in the hidden strength of the human spirit.

– Andrei Sakharov

On this day

9 October 1940 – birth of John Lennon. English guitarist and singer-songwriter for the Beatles. Murdered 8 December 1980.

9 October 1967 – death of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, Argentinian Marxist revolutionary, physician, author. Executed in Bolivia. Born 14 June 1928.

9 October 1969 – birth of P.J. Harvey, English musician.

9 October 1973 – death of Sister Rosetta Tharpe (born Rosetta Nubin), gospel singer and the God Mother and inventor of rock and roll. In 1938 she released a hit record called ‘Rock Me’, which fused gospel and what would later became known as rock and roll. She became a sensation, playing sell-out concerts to audiences cheering on as she howled and stamped her way through tunes on her driving electric guitar and singing about faith, love and sexuality. Audiences of the 1930s and 40s, had never seen an act like Sister Rosetta, a gay, black woman punching out energetic songs that fused blues, jazz and gospel. In 1947, she brought to the stage a 14 year old boy named Richard Pennimen. He immediately decided he wanted a career as a musician. Ten years later he was releasing hits under the name, Little Richard. Pioneer rock musicians were inspired by Sister Rosetta, including Elvis Presley, Johnny Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. From 1957 and through the 1960s, Tharpe toured Europe and Britain. Born 20 March 1915.

9 October 1975 – Andrei Sakharov, Soviet dissident, wins Nobel Peace Prize.

7 October 2018

abraxas

[uh-brak-suh s]

noun

1. a word of unknown significance found on charms, especially amulets, of the late Greco-Roman world and linked with both Gnostic beliefs and magical practices by the early church fathers.

Origin of abraxas

Greek From the Greek word abráxas, abrasáx, of obscure origin; the combined numerical value of the Gk letters is 365, an important figure in numerology

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for abraxas

Historical Examples

In this connexion the name abraxas and the abraxas gems must be remembered.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 3
Various

abraxas -stones were so called from having the word abraxas or Abrasax engraved on them.
Finger-Ring Lore
William Jones

abraxas stones, stones with cabalistic figures on them used as talismans.
The Nuttall Encyclopaedia
Edited by Rev. James Wood

Anagram

Arab sax
bars a ax

Today’s quote

As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as they please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the outcome.

– Noam Chomsky

On this day

7 October 1849 – death of Edgar Allan Poe, American poet and novelist, The Raven. Born 19 January 1809.

7 October 1913 – Henry Ford implements the moving assembly line … changing the face of manufacturing forever.

7 October 1931 – birth of Desmond Tutu, Anglican Archbishop of South Africa. Won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

7 October 2001 – United States invades Afghanistan as they hunt for Osama Bin Laden and to take down the Taliban government for allowing him to live there. It was nearly 10 years later, in 2011, that US Special Forces captured and killed Bin Laden in Pakistan.

6 October 2018

psychopomp

[sahy-koh-pomp]

noun

1. a person who conducts spirits or souls to the other world, as Hermes or Charon.

Origin of psychopomp

Greek

1860-1865 First recorded in 1860-65, psychopomp is from the Greek word psȳchopompós conductor of souls. See psycho-, pomp

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for psychopomp

Historical Examples

Hermes himself, the psychopomp, shall lead, and Malahide shall welcome us.
Day and Night Stories
Algernon Blackwood

The rle of general conductor of souls to the realms of the underworld, however, came to be given to Hermes, the psychopomp.
Elements of Folk Psychology
Wilhelm Wundt

As the souls of the departed are symbolized as rats, so is the psychopomp himself often figured as a dog.
Myths and Myth-Makers
John Fiske

Word Origin and History for psychopomp

n.

1835, from Greek psykhopompos “spirit-guide,” a term applied to Charon, Hermes Trismegistos, Apollo; from psykhe (see psyche ) + pompos “guide, conductor.”

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Anagram

chop mop spy

Today’s quote

You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.

– F. Scott Fitzgerald

On this day

6 October 1961 – President John F. Kennedy advises Americans to build fall-out shelters, as Cold War paranoia continues to grow.

6 October 1966 – LSD, a synthetic hallucinogenic drug, is declared illegal in the United States.

6 October 1978 – death of Johnny O’Keefe, Australian rock and roll legend. Known as J.O.K. or ‘The Wild One’. Born 19 January 1935.