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| Sunday, November 22, 2009 |
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| Mister Rogers |
Answer of the DayWon't you be my neighbor? It's another beautiful day in the neighborhood. On this date in 1984, Fred Rogers (1928-2003) of PBS' Mister Rogers' Neighborhood presented a sweater knitted by his mother to the Smithsonian Institution, as "a symbol of warmth, closeness and caring." Mr. Rogers routinely began his weekday children's show by walking into his house and trading in his suit jacket for a sweater and his dress shoes for sneakers, always being sure to hang up his jacket in the closet, with his shoes placed neatly beneath. Children and their parents loved Mr. Rogers' recurring message, which he credited to his grandfather: "You know, you made this day a really special day, just by being yourself. There's only one person in the world like you. And I happen to like you just the way you are."
Quote"Parents are like shuttles on a loom. They join the threads of the past with threads of the future and leave their own bright patterns as they go."
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Buzz (l.) and Woody of 'Toy Story' |
Today in History
- Blackbeard: the pirate whose real name was Edward Teach was killed during a battle with the British Navy off the coast of Virginia (1718)
- JFK assassination: John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the US, was assassinated by a sniper during a motorcade in Dallas (1963)
- Margaret Thatcher: the prime minister of England quit her post, citing lack of party support (1990)
- Toy Story: the first feature film to be animated entirely by CGI was released (1995)
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| Billie Jean King |
Today's Birthdays
- George Eliot (1819-1880): author of Silas Marner and Middlemarch; other writers born on this date include Abigail Adams (1744-1818) and André Gide (1869-1951)
- Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970): French leader
- Hoagy Carmichael (1899-1981): composer, "Stardust"; also, composer Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
- Terry Gilliam (69): director, Monty Python; plus, director Arthur Hiller (86)
- Billie Jean King (66): tennis champ who won the "Battle of the Sexes" against Bobby Riggs; tennis pro Boris Becker (42) also celebrates his birthday today
- Scarlett Johansson (25): actor, most recently on screen in He's Just Not That Into You; also, actors Rodney Dangerfield (1921-2004), Robert Vaughn (77), Michael Callan (74), Allen Garfield (70), Tom Conti (68), Steve Van Zandt (59), Richard Kind (53), Jamie Lee Curtis (51), Mariel Hemingway (48) and Mark Ruffalo (42)
Word of the Dayabsquatulate
(ab-SKWOCH-uh-layt)
verb intr.
To leave in a hurry; to flee.
Etymology
A Mock-Latinate formation, from ab- (away) + squat + -ulate (as in congratulate). First cited from the late 1830s
Usage
"If you try to absquatulate again, I'll sic the FBI on you." — Elliott Roosevelt; Murder in the Executive Mansion; St. Martin's Paperbacks; 1996.
Miscellaneous words
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