Today's Highlights:
Thursday, May 8, 2008
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Israel's 60th Independence Day Source |
Spotlight: It's a country smaller than New Jersey, with fewer residents than New York City. Yet Israel has contributed a nearly unparalleled amount to the world's advances in science, technology and culture. IM, the modern cell phone, the computer firewall, Intel's Pentium MMX and Centrino chips were all born in Israel. So were Natalie Portman, Itzhak Perlman and Bar Rafaeli. GOOG, MSFT, IBM and MOT all have active research labs in Israel. The mini-camera-in-a-pill, the once-a-day pill for Parkinson's, and drugs to treat Alzheimer's, MS, diabetes, flu, acne, and many kinds of cancer are the result of Israeli scientific innovation. Today, Israel celebrates its 60th birthday.
Question of the Day: What is the Israel Trail?The Israel Trail is a marked trail that runs the full length of Israel, from north to south. It is 590 miles/950 kilometers long, and zigzags its way from Israel's northern border with Lebanon down to the Red Sea and Eilat. The trail winds its way through Israeli towns, forests and along the coast. It takes approximately 40 to 60 days to hike the whole trail. More
Word of the day: stasis (noun) A stable state characterized by the cancellation of all forces by equal opposing forces: balance, counterpoise, equilibrium, equipoise. See order/disorder.
Usage: "One more flawless article of clothing, one more elaborate toy, the truly perfect diet, the harmless but necessary drug, the almost final elective surgery, the ultimate cosmetic — are all designed to maintain hunger for stasis." — Toni Morrison, from her commencement address at Wellesley College, 2004
Commencement season is beginning in universities and colleges in the Northern Hemisphere. This week's interesting words are gleaned from commencement addresses over the years.
Today's History:
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| Mt. Pelée Erupts |
- Joan of Arc: broke the siege of Orléans (1429)
- pyroclastic flow: Martinique's Mt. Pelée erupted a cloud of hot gas, ash and rock, killing 40,000 people (1902)
- eye bank: first one was established, in New York City (1944)
- V-E Day: the UK and US celebrated their defeat of the Third Reich (1945)
Today's Birthdays:
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| David Attenborough |
- Jean-Henri Dunant (1828-1910): founder of the International Red Cross
- Harry S. Truman (1884-1972): 33rd POTUS; he succeeded FDR
- David Attenborough (82): environmentalist who pioneered the nature documentary
- Don Rickles (82): caustic comedian
- Enrique Iglesias (33): Grammy-winning Latin singer; musicians Chris Frantz (57) and Alex Van Halen (55) were also born on this date
