| Friday, October 2, 2009 |
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| Smile! |
Answer of the DayCan you make someone smile today? Today is the first Friday in October, which means it's World Smile Day. Artist Harvey Ball created the smiley face icon in 1963 for a Massachusetts insurance company. He never registered the design and made just $45 for his work. It was an instant hit. In 1999, Ball founded the World Smile Corporation which, in turn, kicked off World Smile Day to raise money for children's charities. On the agenda for today? "Do an act of kindness — make one person smile."
Word of the dayfaff
Brit. to spend your time doing a lot of unimportant things instead of the thing you should be doing
I wish you'd stop faffing about and do something useful! {Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs}
George Bernard Shaw pithily observed, "England and America are two countries separated by a common language." For the next fortnight, we'll examine words that are current in the UK but may be unfamiliar to the average American.
Today's History
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| Snoopy of 'Peanuts' |
- Siege of Jerusalem: Islamic military leader Saladin retook the holy city from the Crusaders (1187)
- HMS Beagle: naturalist Charles Darwin returned to England after a five-year sea voyage, during which he formulated his theory of natural selection (1836)
- Opus Dei: Roman Catholic organization was founded by St. Josemari'a Escriva; it was popularized in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code (1928)
- Peanuts: comic strip about Charlie Brown, his beagle, Snoopy, and their friends debuted; it ran for nearly 50 years (1950)
- Rock Hudson: movie star died of AIDS; he was the first celebrity to announce he had the disease (1985)
Today's Birthdays
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| Annie Leibovitz |
- Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948): leader who used civil disobedience to win Indian independence
- Groucho Marx (1890-1977): wisecracking comedian, one of the Marx Brothers; comedian Bud Abbott (1897-1974) shared this birth date
- Graham Greene (1904-1991): author of The Quiet American and The Honorary Consul; poet Wallace Stevens (1879-1955) was also born on this date
- Donna Karan (61): fashion designer, DKNY
- Annie Leibovitz (60): celebrity photographer
- Sting (58): musician formerly with The Police; also, musicians Don McLean (64), Phil Oakey (54), Robbie Nevil (51), Bud Gaugh (42) and Kelly Willis (41)
- Lorraine Bracco (55): Dr. Jennifer Melfi in The Sopranos; actors Avery Brooks (61) and Kelly Ripa (39) share this birth date
