| Thursday, December 18, 2008 |
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| Keith Richards |
SpotlightBack in 1989, when The Rolling Stones came out with their album Steel Wheels, the joke was, with the rock group already 27 years old, it should be called Steel WheelCHAIRS. It's nearly 20 years later and the Stones are still going strong. Of course, not all the players are the same, but the two founders and main songwriters — Mick Jagger and Keith Richards — still lead the group. They've sold over 200 million records and their A Bigger Bang tour (2005-2007) was the highest-grossing tour of all time, raking in some $560 million. In 1986, they received a Grammy for lifetime achievement, and in 2002, Q magazine named them one of the "50 bands to see before you die." Happy birthday to Keith Richards, who turns 65 today.
Question of the DayWhat is the origin of the name 'Rolling Stones'?
Go way back to the 1st Century BC. Plubilius Syrus wrote a bunch of Latin proverbs, including one about people who are constantly on the move who do not put down roots...
Word of the daylake-effect snow
Lake-effect snow is produced in the winter when cold, Arctic winds move across long expanses of warmer lake water, providing energy and picking up water vapor which freezes and is deposited on the lee shores. The same effect over bodies of salt water is called ocean effect snow, sea effect snow, or even bay effect snow....
Schoolkids are commonly taught that the Eskimos of Alaska have dozens of words for snow. As it turns out, English has plenty, too.
Today's History
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| A Scene From 'The Nutcracker' |
- Amendment XIII: anti-slavery amendment to the US Constitution was declared ratified by Secretary of State William Seward, abolishing the practice (1865)
- The Nutcracker: Tchaikovsky's classic holiday ballet premiered in Saint Petersburg (1892)
- capital punishment in the United Kingdom: was abolished by both houses of Parliament (1969)
- Tokyo Wan Aqua-Line: 1.5 trillion yen, 15-kilometer bridge-tunnel opened across Tokyo Bay (1997) after 31 years of construction
Today's Birthdays
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Supercouple Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie |
- Francis Ferdinand (1863-1914): Archduke of Austria whose assassination sparked WWI; plus, world leader Willy Brandt (1913-1992)
- Ty Cobb (1886-1961): baseball hall of famer
- Steven Spielberg (62): highest-grossing filmmaker of all time; directors George Stevens (1904-1975), Ossie Davis (1917- 2005), Alan Rudolph (65) and Gillian Armstrong (58) were also born on this date
- Leonard Maltin (58): movie critic
- Brad Pitt (45): heartthrob actor and activist; also, actors Roger Smith (76), Ray Liotta (53), Rachel Griffiths (40) and Katie Holmes (30)
- Christina Aguilera (28): Grammy-winning pop singer; also, musicians Lonnie Brooks (75), Alejandro Sanz (40) and DMX (38)
