Today's Highlights:
Sunday, March 23, 2008
| Sunday, March 23, 2008 |
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| Grant and Colfax |
Spotlight: What do you know about Hannibal Hamlin? How about Alben Barkley, Garret Hobart or George M. Dallas? Each of these men served as US Vice President. Schuyler Colfax, born on this date in 1823, was a journalist before he decided to run for Congress in 1854. In 1869, Colfax became vice-president under Ulysses S. Grant, serving for one term. Late in his term, Colfax was implicated in the Crédit Mobilier scandal, accused of taking money from the Union Pacific Railroad while he was still Speaker of the House. Though he was never punished for his involvement, the scandal effectively ended his political career.
Question of the Day: Did any US vice presidents die while in office?Seven vice presidents of the United States died while still in office. They were: George Clinton (under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison), Elbridge Gerry (under James Madison), William R. King (under Franklin Pierce)... More
Word of the day: juvenescent (adj.
Becoming young or youthful.
[Latin iuvenescens, iuvenescent-, present participle of iuvenescere, to reach the age of youth, from iuvenis, young. See juvenile.]
juvenescence ju've·nes'cence n.Usage: The peals of laughter from the juvenescent group brought smiles from the older passersby.
For those in the northern hemisphere, spring has sprung. Flowers are blooming, the world is green, and we can feel summer in the air. Take a whiff of this week's words having to do with spring and regrowth.
Today's History:
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| Mir Space Station |
- "Give me liberty or give me death": Patrick Henry demanded freedom from England for the colonies (1775)
- Pakistan: became the first Islamic republic (1956)
- Mir: Russian space station ended 15 years of orbit, disintegrating and falling into the South Pacific (2001)
Today's Birthdays:
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| Jason Kidd |
- Erich Fromm (1900-1980): psychoanalyst, The Art of Loving
- Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998): film director, Ran
- Wernher von Braun (1912-1977): rocket scientist who helped build America's space program
- Roger Bannister (79): first runner to break the 4-minute mile; another racer born on this date was Donald Malcolm Campbell (1921-1967)
- Chaka Khan (55): Grammy-winning R&B singer
- Jason Kidd (35): Dallas Mavericks point guard; NBA Hall-of-Famer Moses Malone (53) was also born on this date
- Keri Russell (32): star of Felicity, Waitress; other actors born on this date include Amanda Plummer (51) and Hope Davis (44)
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