Thought for the Day
“Human beings,
who are almost unique
in having the ability to learn from the experience of others,
are also remarkable
for their apparent disinclination to do so.”
~ Douglas Adams
( 1952 – 2001)
Douglas Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English writer, humorist and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a “trilogy” of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television series, several stage plays, comics, a computer game, and in 2005 a feature film.
Source
The Meaning of Liff is a humorous dictionary of toponymy and etymology, written by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, published in the United Kingdom in 1983, and the USA in 1984. The book cover usually bears the tagline “This book will change your life” and is a “dictionary of things that there aren’t any words for yet.” Below are a few excerpts
SCONSER (n.)
A person who looks around then when talking to you, to see if there’s anyone more interesting about.
MINCHINHAMPTON (n.)
The expression on a man’s face when he has just zipped up his trousers without due care and attention.
MANKINHOLES (pl.n.)
The small holes in a loaf of bread which give rise to the momentary suspicion that something may have made its home within.
LIMERIGG (vb.)
To jar one’s leg as the result of the disappearance of a stair which isn’t there in the darkness.
KALAMI (n.)
The ancient Eastern art of being able to fold road-maps properly.
I will post more with other Douglas Adams quotes.
Sources (2)
Happy Birthday
- 1890 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, American general and 34th President of the United States (d. 1969)
- 1893 – Lillian Gish, American actress (d. 1993)
- 1894 – E. E. Cummings, American poet (d. 1962)
- 1916 – C. Everett Koop, 13th United States Surgeon General
- 1940 – Christopher Timothy, British actor
- 1983 – Betty Heidler, German hammer thrower
History Today;
- 1884 – The American inventor, George Eastman, receives a U.S. Government patent on his new paper-strip photographic film.
- 1926 – The children’s book Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. A. Milne, is first published.
- 1960 – Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy suggested formation of a Peace Corps during a talk at the University of Michigan.
- 1964 – Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
- 1994 – The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, The Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, and the Foreign Minister of Israel, Shimon Peres, receive the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in the establishment of the Oslo Accords and the framing of the future Palestinian Self Government.
