Tuesday, January 1, 2008

 

Spotlight: It's possible that if Samuel Pepys (pronounced peeps) had known that the diary he inaugurated on this date in 1660 would still be read today, he would have been more discreet. Scholars learned much about Restoration society through Pepys' candid and vivid observations. His personal life was also covered in lusty detail, including his thoughts about his wife, his friends and himself. Pepys' failing eyesight forced him to close his diary on May 31, 1669. It was first revealed to the public some two centuries later; in 1983 the first unabridged version of the diary was released.

Quote: "I find my wife hath something in her gizzard, that only waits an opportunity of being provoked to bring up; but I will not, for my content-sake, give it." — Samuel Pepys, in his diary, June 17, 1668

Word of the day: frieze
An ornamental band that runs around a building. Friezes are usually on the exterior of a building and are often sculpted in bas-relief. (© Houghton Mifflin Company)

Holiday: New Year's Day

Today's History:

• The Times of London: first edition was published under this title; it was previously known as The Daily Universal Register (1788)
• New York City: was chartered with 5 boroughs — Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island (1898)
• euro: became the official currency for EU member states, creating the Eurozone (2002)

Today's Birthdays:

• Paul Revere (1735-1818): US Revolutionary War figure who took a midnight ride to warn colonists that the British were coming
• J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972): controversial and intimidating director of the FBI
• J.D. Salinger (89): author of The Catcher in the Rye
• Frank Langella (68): actor, currently starring in Starting Out in the Evening
• Flat Stanley (44): globetrotting fictional character