Thursday, December 28, 2006

Spotlight
The 28th president of the US, Woodrow Wilson, was born on this date in 1856. Wilson was president of Princeton University when he was tapped to run for governor of New Jersey in 1910. He won the race and was elected president two years later. Though at first he opposed entering WWI, when attempts to mediate a peace failed, he recommended that the US enter the war in 1917. He worked diligently to see that the Treaty of Versailles included the establishment of the League of Nations, even though the US never joined the league. In 1919, Wilson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Quote
"I would rather fail in a cause that will ultimately triumph than to triumph in a cause that will ultimately fail." — Woodrow Wilson

Word of the day
fustigate -- to criticize severely (© )

Today's News

• Puget Sound: Seattle body of water is flavored by cinnamon and vanilla (story)
• heartburn: drug therapies raise risk of hip fractures (story)
• polar bears: White House to propose "threatened" status (story)
• peanuts: to be genetically engineered to be safer, more nutritious and easier to grow (story)

Today's History

• Westminster Abbey: was consecrated (1065)
• Iowa: the Hawkeye State became No. 29 (1846)
• chewing gum: patent was issued to William Finley Semple of Ohio (1869)
• Messina, Italy: earthquake plus tsunami killed more than 70,000 (1908)

Today's Birthdays

• Denzel Washington: actor, Oscar winner for Training Day (52)
• Linus Torvalds: initiator of the open-source Linux operating system (37)
• John Legend: singer of "Ordinary People" (28)