Today in History
Word of the Day
March 2011
March 1st
2005 MINCING (adj)
• Dennis Rader, the BTK serial • Dainty or refined.
killer, was charged with 10
counts of first-degree
murder in Wichita, Kansas.
• Importance: Rader later
pleaded guilty and received
multiple life sentences.
March 2nd:
1793 IRIDESCENT (adj)
• Sam Houston was born • Varying in color when seen
near Lexington, Virginia. in different lights or from
different angles
• Importance: he would later
become the first president
of the Republic of Texas.
March 3rd:
2002 SPORTIVE (adj)
• Voters in Switzerland • Relating to or interested in
approved joining the United sports.
Nations.
• Importance: Switzerland
officially abandoned almost
200 years of formal
neutrality.
March 4th:
1933 LUSTROUS (adj)
• Frances Perkins became the • Smooth and bright.
Secretary of Labor.
• Brilliant
• Importance: she was the
first woman to serve in the • Reflecting light.
Cabinet.
March 7th:
1926 SOLSTICE (noun)
• The first successful trans- • Either of the two times of
Atlantic radio-telephone the year when the sun is at
conversation took place. its greatest distance from
the celestial equator.
• Importance: the call was
between New York City and
London.
March 8th:
2008 MALLEABLE (adj)
President George W. Bush • 1. capable of being shaped
vetoed a bill limiting or bent or drawn out
interrogation methods against
suspected terrorists. 2. easily influenced
Importance: the bill would
have banned the CIA from
using “simulated” drowning
and other coercive methods.
March 9th:
1959 EFFERVESCENT (adj)
• Mattel’s Barbie doll made • Giving off bubbles
its public debut at the
American International toy • Marked by high excitement.
Fair in New York.
• Importance: the doll’s
creator, Ruth Handler,
named the doll after her
daughter, Barbara.
March 10th:
1985 EQUIVOCATE (verb)
• Konstantin U. Chernenko, • Be deliberately ambiguous
leader of the Soviet Union or unclear in order to
for just 13 months, died at mislead or withhold
age 73. information.
• Importance: he was
replaced by Mikhail S.
Gorbachev.
March 11th:
1993 PANEGYRIC (noun/adj)
• The Senate unanimously • noun: a formal expression
confirmed Janet Reno as the of praise.
Attorney General.
• adjective: formally
• Importance: Reno was the expressing praise.
first female attorney
general.
March 14th:
2005 EMPATHY (noun)
• A judge in San Francisco • Understanding and entering
ruled that California's ban into another’s feelings
on gay marriage was
unconstitutional.
• Importance: the voters of
California later overturned
that ruling with the
controversial “Proposition
8”.
March 15th:
44 BCE SLEAZY (adj)
• Roman dictator Julius • Very poor quality; flimsy.
Caesar was assassinated by
a group of nobles that • Morally degraded.
included his best friend
Brutus.
• Importance: the phrase to
be “stabbed in the back,”
meaning to be betrayed,
began with this event.
March 16th:
1521 EDDY (noun and verb)
• Portuguese navigator • noun: a miniature whirlpool
Ferdinand Magellan or whirlwind.
reached the Philippines,
where he was killed the • verb: flow in a circular
following month. current of liquids.
• Importance: Magellan’s
crew was the first to
circumnavigate the earth.
March 17th:
1776 MERCANTILE (adj)
• British forces evacuated • 1. of or relating to the
Boston during the economic system of
Revolutionary War. mercantilism.
• Importance: Evacuation Day 2. profit-oriented trade.
has been an official holiday
in Boston since 1901.
March 18th
1940 REPROVE (verb)
• Adolf Hitler and Benito • take to task; admonish.
Mussolini held a meeting at
Brenner Pass.
• Importance: the Italian
dictator agreed to join in
Germany’s war against
France and Britain in WWII.
March 21st
2000 CORRUGATED (adj)
• A divided Supreme Court • Shaped into alternating
ruled the federal parallel grooves and ridges.
government lacked
authority to regulate
tobacco as an addictive
drug.
• Importance: states regulate
the sale of tobacco.
March 22nd:
1972 ATAVISM (noun)
• Congress proposed the ERA, • A reappearance of an
the Equal Rights earlier characteristic.
Amendment to the
Constitution to the states
for ratification.
• Importance: it fell short of
the ¾ approval needed to
pass.
March 23rd:
1983 ALLEGORY (noun)
• President Ronald Reagan • 1. a short moral story, often
proposed the development with animal characters.
of technology to intercept
enemy nuclear missiles. • 2. a visible symbol
representing an abstract
• Importance: the plan was idea.
nicknamed “Star Wars” by
its critics.
March 24th:
1989 DISAFFECTED (adj)
• The nation’s worst oil spill • Unhappy, as toward
occurred as the supertanker authority.
Exxon Valdez ran aground
on a reef in Alaska and
began leaking 11 million
gallons of crude oil.
• Importance: a similar oil
spill occurred in the Gulf of
Mexico in August 2010.
March 25th:
1911 BLANCH (verb)
• A fire occurred at the • Turn pale, as if in fear.
Triangle Shirtwaist Company
in New York City.
• Importance: 146 workers,
mostly young immigrant
women, were killed.
March 28th:
1979 DEFILE (verb)
• America’s worst commercial • 1. make dirty.
nuclear accident occurred
inside a reactor at the Three • 2. spot, stain, or pollute.
Mile Island plant near
Middletown, Pennsylvania.
• 3. place under suspicion or
cast doubt upon.
• Importance: 7 years later
there would be a major
nuclear accident at
Chernobyl in the Soviet
Union.
March 29th
1973 ESTRANGE (verb)
• The last US troops left South • To have hostility or
Vietnam. indifference where there
had formerly been love,
• Importance: this ended affection or friendliness.
America’s direct military
involvement in the Vietnam
War.
March 30th
1981 TRIGGER (noun/verb)
• President Reagan was shot • noun: lever that fires a gun.
and seriously injured
outside a Washington, DC • noun: an act that sets in
hotel by John W. Hinckley Jr. motion some course of
events.
• Importance: White House
news secretary James • verb: put in motion or move
Brady, a Secret Service to act.
agent and a DC police
officer were also injured.
March 31st
1968 DISQUISITION (noun)
• President Johnson stunned • An elaborate analytical or
the nation by announcing explanatory essay or
he would not run for a 2nd discussion.
term as president.
• Importance: 1968 was a
very politically unstable
year in the USA.