Sunday, October 11, 2009

Answer of the Day
What did we do before the calculator? Since we only have 10 fingers to count on, eventually someone had to come up with the idea of an adding machine. One of the first of these was developed by Blaise Pascal in 1642. It had eight digits and was called the pascaline. On this date in 1887, Dorr Felt received a patent for his comptometer. It was the first mechanical device that could add, subtract, multiply and divide simply by pressing keys. Since all the keys could be pressed simultaneously, a skilled operator could make the comptometer work faster than one of today's calculators.

Quote
"You always admire what you really don't understand." — Blaise Pascal

Word of the day
oscitant

1. Yawning; gaping.
2. Sleepy; drowsy; dull; sluggish; careless.
   
   He must not be oscitant, but intent on his charge.
   Barrow.

(© Webster's 1913 Dictionary)

Today's History

George Carlin

• Daughters of the American Revolution: lineage-based, conservative patriotic society was founded (1890)
• Vatican II: ecumenical council that led to liberalization and modernization of the church was convened by Pope John XXIII (1962)
• Hillary Rodham: married fellow Yale Law student Bill Clinton (1975)
• Saturday Night Live: late-night comedy-variety show debuted on NBC; George Carlin hosted (1975)

Today's Birthdays

Elmore Leonard

• H. J. Heinz (1844-1919): manufacturer of 57 varieties; industrialist Charles Revson (1906-1975) shared this birth date
• Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962): former FLOTUS, social activist
• Jerome Robbins (1918-1998): choreographer, West Side Story
• Elmore Leonard (84): crime, western writer, Get Shorty
• Steve Young (48): quarterback for the 49ers
• Emily Deschanel (34): Dr. Temperance Brennan on Bones; also, actors Ron Leibman (72), David Morse (56), Stephen Spinella (53), Joan Cusack (47), Sean Patrick Flanery (44), Luke Perry (43), Jane Krakowski (41) and Michelle Trachtenberg (24)
• Michelle Wie (20): golf prodigy from Hawaii