| Wednesday, July 23, 2008 |
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Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen |
Spotlight: Who says Disneyland is the happiest place on earth? According to a survey released earlier this month, that title goes to Denmark. The US government-funded World Values Survey, questioning some 350,000 people in 52 countries, found that the most important element for happiness with one's country is the degree to which people have free choice in the way they live their lives. Democracy, peace and social equality all figured high in the happiness quotient. The other top five countries are Puerto Rico, Colombia, Iceland and N. Ireland. You may want to avoid moving to Zimbabwe, Armenia, Moldova, Belarus and the Ukraine — voted the five most miserable places to live.
Quote: "The greatest part of our happiness depends on our dispositions, not our circumstances."
Question of the Day: Denmark was found to be the world's happiest country but is it also the world's richest?No. It just goes to prove that money doesn't buy happiness. The United States is the world's richest nation, but only ranks at No. 16 on the list of happiest countries. Denmark and the other countries that ranked highest in the study (conducted by the World Values Survey and directed by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research) are all prosperous, however.
Word of the day: cyberspaceCoined by William Gibson in his 1984 novel "Neuromancer," it is a futuristic computer network that people use by plugging their minds into it! The term now refers to the Internet or to the online or digital world in general.
"Robot," which first appeared in the 1923 English translation of the Czech play R.U.R. by Karel Čapek, is perhaps the most famous example of a word that originated in science fiction literature and passed into common parlance. This week we'll take a look at other terms coined by sci-fi writers.
Today's History:
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| Hale-Bopp |
- Gamal Abdel Nasser: led the Egyptian army in an overthrow of King Farouk I (1952)
- 12th Street riot: police raid at a blind pig sparked 5 days of race riots in Detroit; 43 people died and 2,000 buildings burned down (1967)
- Hale-Bopp: comet was discovered by Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp (1995)
- Tiger Woods: at 24, became the youngest golfer to win a career Grand Slam (2000)
Today's Birthdays:
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| Nomar Garciaparra |
- Raymond Chandler (1888-1959): novelist who created Philip Marlowe; also, author Elio Vittorini (1908-1966)
- Haile Selassie (1892-1975): emperor who modernized Ethiopia and claimed to be descended from King Solomon
- Don Imus (68): controversial DJ; musicians born on this date include David Essex (61), Blair Thornton (58), Slash (43), Sam Watters (38), Alison Krauss (37) and Michelle Williams (28)
- Philip Seymour Hoffman (41): Oscar-winning actor, Capote, The Savages; also, actors Ronny Cox (70), Woody Harrelson (47), Eriq La Salle (46), Charisma Carpenter (38), Marlon Wayans (36), Omar Epps (35) and Daniel Radcliffe (19)
- Nomar Garciaparra (35): an artful Dodger
