Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Spotlight: George Bernard Shaw once said, "Mark Twain and I are in the same position. We have put things in such a way as to make people, who would otherwise hang us, believe that we are joking." Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain, born on this date in 1835, was known for his gently jaundiced social commentary. One of America's best-loved writers, Twain started out as a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi. His novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was widely considered to be the first modern American novel.

Quote: "Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does all the work." – Mark Twain

Today in History:

• Russo-Finnish War: began (1939)
• Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz: wed (1940)
• Ann Hodges: woman in Sylacauga, Alabama, became the only person on record to have been struck by a meteorite (1954)

Today's Birthdays:

• Jonathan Swift: author of Gulliver's Travels (1667-1745)
• Winston Churchill: British PM (1874-1965)
• performers: Dick Clark (76), Colin Mochrie (48), Ben Stiller (40)

Word of the Day:   lagniappe: an unexpected gift usually given by a merchant to a customer; in Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain called lagniappe "a word worth travelling to New Orleans to get."   (© )