| Tuesday, October 6, 2009 |
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Answer of the DayWhich artist was associated with France's Moulin Rouge? Paris's most famous cabaret, the Moulin Rouge, opened its doors on this date in 1889. Named for one of the windmills in the Montmartre section of the city, near where the nightclub is located, the Moulin Rouge was the home of the French cancan. The word "cancan" in French means "scandal," and the high-kicks and lifting and tossing of skirts did scandalize 19th-century audiences. The nightclub was the venue for twice-weekly masked balls and tame monkeys and donkeys wandered in the area. Artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec created numerous paintings of the cabaret and of the revelers who frequented the place. Nowadays, the Moulin Rouge is a favorite tourist destination for visitors to Paris.
Word of the dayspod
n. Chiefly British Slang
One who spends an inordinate amount of time exchanging remarks in computer chatrooms or participating in discussions in newsgroups or on bulletin boards.
George Bernard Shaw pithily observed, "England and America are two countries separated by a common language." For the next fortnight, we'll examine words that are current in the UK but may be unfamiliar to the average American.
Today's History
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Al Jolson as 'The Jazz Singer' |
- The Jazz Singer: first full-length talkie debuted with songs and 291 spoken words (1927)
- The Curse of the Billy Goat: began when Billy Sianis and his goat were ejected from Wrigley Field during Game 4 of the 1945 World Series; Sianis predicted that the Cubs would never again win a World Series, and, so far, they haven't even been in one since then (1945)
- Yom Kippur War: Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on the holiest day of the Jewish year (1973)
Today's Birthdays
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| Thor Heyerdahl |
- Wenceslas III (1289-1306): king of Hungary
- James McGill (1744-1813): Canadian businessman whose bequest founded McGill University in Montreal
- Jenny Lind (1820-1887): the "Swedish Nightingale"
- George Westinghouse (1846-1914): inventor of the air brakes first used in trains
- Le Corbusier (1887-1965): city planner and painter who was also one of the most influential architects of the 20th century
- Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002): ethnographer and adventurer who went on the Kon Tiki expedition
- Jeremy Sisto (35): Detective Cyrus Lupo on Law & Order; also, actors Britt Ekland (67), Elisabeth Shue (46), Emily Mortimer (38) and Ioan Gruffudd (36)
