And While We Are At It: Merry Xmas

For those who wish to get cranky about it, the abbreviation XMAS is, in fact, based on the Greek letters called the Chi-Ro. They are the first letters in the Greek word Christ.

So no, i'm not being sacrilegious or putting the commercial ahead of the sacred by using it.

Okay, after yesterday and today, i think i'm through ranting for a while.


Today is:

*Bonifacio Day -- Philippines

*Cities for Life Day -- commemorates the abolition of the death penalty in many countries

*Clear Up The Clutter Day -- internet generated, and what!?! in one day!

*Computer Security Day -- International

*Feast of Hecate, Goddess of the Crossroads -- Ancient Roman Calendar (also revered by the Greeks, Egyptians, and came from the Carians of the Bronze Age)

*Ham and Roast Beef Night -- internet generated, but a good idea for a make your own sandwich dinner

*Independence Day -- Barbados; South Yemen

*National Day -- Benin; Scotland

*National Meth Awareness Day

*National Mousse Day

*Perpetual Youth Day -- Dick Clark's birthday

*Regina Mundi Day -- South Africa

*Stay Home Because You're Well Day -- sponsored by the Wellness Permission League -- if you get in trouble with the boss, make sure they will take the fall!

*Saint Andrew the Apostle's Day (Patron of Scotland, Greece, Russia, golfers, fishermen, sailors, spinsters; against gout, neck problems)

*Thanksgiving Day -- Norfolk Island

*Whisp and Thread Fair -- Fairy Calendar


Anniversaries Today:

Lucille Ball marries Desi Arnaz, 1940


Birthdays Today:

Clay Aiken, 1978
Ben Stiller, 1965
Bo Jackson, 1962
Billy Idol, 1955
Shuggie Otis, 1953
Mandy Patinkin, 1952
David Mamet, 1947
Abbie Hoffman, 1936
G. Gordon Liddy, 1930
Dick Clark, 1929
Robert Guillaume, 1927
Richard Crenna, 1926
Shirley Chisholm, 1924
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., 1923
Gordon Parks, 1912
Winston Churchill, 1874
L(ucy) M(aude) Montgomery, 1874 (Anne of Green Gables)
Mark Twain, 1835
Jonathan Swift, 1667


Today in History:

Amsterdam bans assembly of heretics, 1523
Death count by plague in Venice is officially set at 16,000, 1630
Beijing earthquake causes 100,000+ deaths, 1731
Britain signs agreement recognizing US independence, 1782
Peter Leopold Joseph of Habsburg-Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, promulgates a penal reform making his country the first state to abolish the death penalty. November 30 is therefore commemorated by 300 cities around the world as Cities for Life Day, 1786
Spain cedes her claims to Louisiana Territory to France, 1803
First ground is broken at Allenburg for the building of the original Welland Canal, 1824
First Welland Canal opens for a trial run, 5 years to the day from the ground breaking, 1829
Work begins on the first US underwater highway tunnel, in Chicago, 1866
The first international soccer football game is held, in Glasgow; Scotland-England 0-0, 1872
The first commercially successful AC electric power plant opens, Buffalo, NY, 1886
A German engineer patents front-wheel drive for automobiles, 1900
American Old West: Second-in-command of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang, Kid Curry Logan, is sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with hard labor, 1902
Pike Place Market is dedicated in Seattle, Washington, 1907
The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park London destroyed by fire, 1936
Baseball's Negro National League disbands, two years after major league baseball integrated, 1948
In Sylacauga, Alabama, United States, the Hodges Meteorite crashes through a roof and hits a woman taking an afternoon nap in the only documented case of a human being hit by a rock from space, 1954
Exxon and Mobil sign a $73.7 billion USD agreement to merge, thus creating Exxon-Mobil, the world's largest company, 1998
Longtime Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City, Utah finally loses, leaving him with US$2,520,700, television's biggest game show winnings, 2004
John Sentamu becomes the first black archbishop in the Church of England with his enthronement as the 97th Archbishop of York, 2005