January 18th - Today is the 18th day of the year, with only 347 days remaining in 2006.

Thesaurus Day
On the birthday (1779) of Peter Roget, author of the major thesaurus, we celebrate all thesauri.


"Universal Time" (UT) which is sometimes referred to, now colloquially, as "Greenwich Mean Time" (GMT)
FULL MOON - Jan 14   9:47 a.m.
LAST QUARTER - Jan 22   3:14 p.m.
NEW MOON - Jan 29   2:15 p.m.
FIRST QUARTER - Feb 5   6:28 a.m.


TIPS FOR PROPER ENGLISH
- Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
- Avoid alliteration. Always.
- Contractions aren't necessary.
- Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
- Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
- Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
- Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
- Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
- One should never generalize.
- Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
- Remember to never split an infinitive.
- Who needs rhetorical questions?


ACTING -
1892 Oliver Hardy, Harlem GA, comedy team member (Laurel & Hardy) [D: 08/07/57]
1904 Cary Grant (Archibald ("Archie") Alec Leach), Bristol England, actor (Arsenic & Old Lace, North by Northwest) [D: 11/29/86]
1913 Danny Kaye (David Daniel Kaminski), Brooklyn NY, actor/singer/comedian (Hans Christian Andersen) [D: 03/03/87]
1922 Bob Bell, Flint MI, Clown Hall of Fame 1996 (Bozo the Clown) [D: 12/08/97]
1955 Kevin Costner, Lynwood CA, actor/director (Dances with Wolves - won 7 Academy Awards)
1962 Alison Arngrim, NY NY, actress (Nellie-Little House of the Prairie)
1969 Jesse Lamont Martin, Rocky Mount VA, actor (Ed Green-Law & Order)

ARTISTIC -
1779 Peter Roget, London England, thesaurus fame/inventor (slide rule, pocket chessboard) [D: 09/12/1869]
1882 Alan Alexander Milne, Scotland, English author (Winnie-the-Pooh) [D: 01/31/56]
1933 John Boorman, London England, producer/director (Exorcist II, Deliverance, Excalibur)

HISTORIC -
1782 Daniel Webster, Salisbury NH, orator/politician/lawyer [D: 10/24/1852]
1888 Sir Thomas Sopwith, London England, aviation pioneer (Sopwith Camel) [D: 01/27/89]

MUSIC -
1933 Ray Dolby, Portland OR, sound expert/inventor/billionaire (Dolby NR) National Inventors Hall of Fame 2004
1941 David Ruffin, Whynot MS, lead singer (Temptations-My Girl) [D: 06/01/91]
1941 Bobby Goldsboro, Marianna FL, pop singer (Honey, Autumn of my Life)

SCIENCE -
1854 Thomas A Watson, Salem MA, needed by Bell, inventor assistant (Telephone) [D: 12/13/34]
1856 Dr Daniel Hale Williams, Hollidaysburg PA, first black-owned hospital/first training facility for African-American nurses [D: 08/04/31]
1958 Jeffrey N Williams, Superior WI, Colonel Army/astronaut (STS-101 Atlantis)

SPORTS -
1938 Curtis Charles Flood, Houston TX, center fielder (Reds, Cardinals) All-Star x3/Gold Glove x7 [D: 01/20/97]
1961 Mark Messier, Edmonton Alberta, NHL center, Stanley Cup winner x 6
1980 Julius Frazier Peppers, Wilson NC, defensive end (Panthers) NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year 2002


1535 Lima, Peru founded by Francisco Pizarro.
1778 James Cook is the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the "Sandwich Islands".
1896 First demonstration of an x-ray machine in the US, New York City NY.
1919 The Paris Peace Conference opens in Versailles, France.
1944 The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City for the first time hosts a jazz concert; the performers are Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge and Jack Teagarden.
1964 The Beatles appear on the Billboard magazine charts for the first time.
1969 Expanded 4 party Vietnam peace talks began in Paris.
1974 "The $6 Million Man" starring Lee Majors premieres on ABC TV.
1983 The International Olympic Committee restores Jim Thorpe Olympic medals to his family.
1991 Eastern Airlines shuts down after 62 years citing financial problems.
1993 For the first time, Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is officially observed in all 50 United States states.
1996 Lisa Marie Presley filed for divorce from Michael Jackson in NY.
1998 Matt Drudge breaks the Bill Clinton - Monica Lewinsky affair story on his website The Drudge Report.
MORE EVENTS

SOURCE: Earth Calendar
AtiAtihan Festival - Philippines
Lima Foundation Week - Peru
Maintenance Day - United States of America
Revolution Day - Tunisia


THE ACCIDENT
Two trucks loaded with a thousand copies of Roget's Thesaurus collided as they left a New York publishing house last Thursday, according to the Associated Press.

Witnesses were stunned, startled, aghast, taken aback, stupefied, confused, punchy, shocked, rattled, paralyzed, dazed, bewildered, mixed up, surprised, awed, dumbfounded, nonplused, flabbergasted, astounded, amazed, confounded, astonished, boggled, overwhelmed, horrified, numbed, and perplexed.
--The Rev. Fr. Lee Sissel


What's another word for "thesaurus"? - Stephen Wright


THESAURUS: Ancient reptile with an excellent vocabulary. - Internet Source Unknown

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