Monday, July 12, 2004

 

Spotlight: Personality of the Day: Henry David Thoreau, the American essayist, poet and philosopher who spent two years living in a hut beside Walden Pond, MA, was born on this date in 1817.

Word of the day: inapposite -- inappropriate. Used by George Will in a column about asking voters whether they are better off today than they were four years ago. "But when national traumas have occurred since the previous election, Reagan's question is inapposite. It would have sounded odd in 1864, when more than three years of civil war had intervened. Or in 1944, when the nation again re-elected a president..." (Making the 'better off' argument) (© )

Holiday: Orangemen's Day -- Northern Ireland

Today's News:

• Japan -- Koizumi keeps job but is weakened as opposition gains in poll (story)
• scientific salvos -- Prince Charles invokes thalidomide in warning about nanotechnology (story)
• family feud -- descendants of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr reenact famous duel (story)

Today's History:

• Alfred Dreyfus -- imprisoned for treason, raising issues of anti-Semitism, was declared innocent and released from prison (1906)
• Kiribati -- the former Gilbert Islands gained its independence from the United Kingdom (1979)
• Geraldine Ferraro -- became the first woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket, as Democrat Walter Mondale's running mate (1984)

Today's Birthdays:

• Pablo Neruda -- Chilean Nobel Prize-winning poet and politician (1904-1973)
• Andrew Wyeth -- painter of stark, rural scenes, turns 87
• Bill Cosby -- star of TV's The Cosby Show turns 67