Sunday, January 1, 2006

Spotlight
Happy birthday to J. D. Salinger, wherever he is. The reclusive author of Catcher in the Rye is 87. The tale of alienated adolescent Holden Caulfield was published in 1951, and still reverberates today, remaining a must-read for high-school and college students. Before Catcher in the Rye was published, most of Salinger's works were short stories, published in magazines. He wrote a series of stories about the Glass family, starting with "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," published in 1948. Salinger has not published since 1965.

Quote
"I don't exactly know what I mean by that, but I mean it." – J. D. Salinger

Word of the day
picaresque: in literature, a sympathetic and often satiric tale of an adventurer of lower social class; Catcher in the Rye is a picaresque novel. (© )

Holiday
New Year's Day

Today's News

• Abdel Halim Khaddam: may be tried for high treason for claiming Assad threatened Hariri (story)
• Donald Trump: may run for governor of New York (story)
• footprints: snow helps Hontrop police catch burglars (story)

Today's History

• The Times of London: first edition was published; previously known as The Daily Universal Register (1788)
• New York City: chartered with 5 boroughs — Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island (1898)
• euro: became the official currency for EU member states (2002)

Today's Birthdays

• Paul Revere: US Revolutionary War figure (1735-1818)
• Betsy Ross: the woman said to have sewn the first American flag (1752-1836)
• Flat Stanley: globetrotting fictional character (42)