Wednesday, July 21, 2004

 

Spotlight: Personality of the Day: Ernest "Papa" Hemingway -- the macho plain-spoken American writer -- was born 105 years ago today.

Word of the day: "gobsmacked" -- flabbergasted. Did you encounter "gobsmacked" in a description of a limo driver's reaction to being asked to escort Britney Spears down the aisle in her impromptu first marriage? William Safire discussed the origins and usage of this word, and asked whether it will be "a nonce word, passing through the language, soon to be forgotten." (NYTimes column, free registration required) (© )

Today's News:

• Bobby Fischer -- Japan prepares to deport eccentric former chess champ (story)
• syphilis -- medical mystery solved as posthumous diagnosis determines cause of Lenin's death (story)
• hybrid cars -- automakers and transportation experts clash over solo use of HOV lanes (story)

Today's History:

• Battle of Bull Run -- General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson led the Confederate victory (1861)
• John Scopes -- found guilty of teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school; fined $100 (1925)
• Pink Floyd -- performed "The Wall" where the Berlin Wall once stood (1990)

Today's Birthdays:

• Hart Crane -- suicidal poet of The Bridge (1899-1932)
• Janet Reno -- first woman Attorney General of the U. S. turns 66
• Robin Williams -- manic stand-up comic and movie star turns 52