Answer of the Day
What's normal body temperature in degrees Celsius? In Celsius, the normal body temperature is considered to be 37 degrees — that's 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. The Celsius temperature scale is named for the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius, who was born on this date in 1701; the scale is also called centigrade, since it is a 100-degrees based scale, with 0 as the freezing point of water and 100 as its boiling point. In 1742, Anders Celsius developed the temperature scale, originally proposing that the freezing point be 100 degrees and the boiling point be 0 degrees. The numbers were inverted a few years later, at the suggestion of botanist Carolus Linnaeus. The Celsius temperature scale is currently used in most places in the world, with the United States being a notable exception. To convert temperatures from Fahrenheit to Celsius, subtract 32 degrees from the Fahrenheit temperature and multiply the result by 5/9.

Quote
"It doesn't matter what temperature the room is, it's always room temperature." — Steven Wright

Penn Station From Above, At Night

Today in History

• Pennsylvania Station: regular service began in the busiest train station in North America (1910)
• scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon: during WWII, the French Navy scuttled its own ships and submarines in Toulon, France, to prevent them from falling into German hands (1942)
• Pope Paul VI: was accosted by a dagger-wielding Bolivian painter at a Manila airport (1970)
• Harvey Milk: San Francisco city supervisor was assassinated, along with mayor George Moscone, by former supervisor Dan White; White used the Twinkie defense and was convicted of manslaughter rather than murder (1978)

Caroline Kennedy

Today's Birthdays

• Chaim Weizmann (1874-1952): Israel's first president; other political leaders born on this date include Alexander Dubček (1921-1992) and Benigno Aquino Jr. (1932-1983)
• James Agee (1909-1955): novelist and screenwriter who won the Pulitzer Prize for his A Death in the Family; plus, author/actor Fanny Kemble (1809-1893)
• Bruce Lee (1940-1973): martial arts actor; also, actors James Avery (61), William Fichtner (53), Fisher Stevens (46), Robin Givens (45), Michael Vartan (41) and Jaleel White (33)
• Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970): rock guitarist, "Purple Haze"; other musicians born on this date are Charlie Benante (47) and Twista (36)
• Bill Nye (54): "the science guy"
• Caroline Kennedy (52): attorney, writer and editor, daughter of JFK

Word of the Day
 filemot
(FIL-mot)

noun, adjective
The color of a dead or faded leaf: dull brown or yellowish brown.

Etymology
From the corruption of the French term feuillemorte, from feuille (leaf) + morte (dead). Ultimately from Indo-European root bhel- (to thrive or bloom) that gave us flower, bleed, bless, foliage, blossom, and blade.

Usage
"The walls were panelled; each panel was comparted like a modern office desk, and each compartment crowded with labelled folios all filemot with age and use." — Lewis Wallace; Ben-Hur; Harper & Brothers; 1880.
  (© Wordsmith.org)

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