Jots & Tittles: 10/15/2014

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Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.
--John F. Kennedy

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The spread of

Ebola

in the United States

Arrogance

and

Incompetence

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Did You Know . . .?

Beer wasn't considered an alcoholic drink in Russia until 2011. Before that, it was considered a soft drink.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1917, the exotic dancer Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad at Vincennes, outside of Paris, for the crime of espionage. A courtesan as well as a dancer, Mata Hari amassed an impressive catalog of lovers, including high-ranking military officers and political figures from both France and Germany. Under interrogation by French military intelligence, Mata Hari herself admitted that she had passed outdated information to a German intelligence officer.

After a last-minute plea to the French president for clemency was denied, French officers carried out the death sentence on October 15, 1917. Unbound and refusing a blindfold, Mata Hari was shot by a firing squad at the Caserne de Vincennes, an old fort outside Paris.

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WORD FOR TODAY

cloaca [klo-AHK-uh]
noun
In birds, the cloaca is the terminal chamber of the gastrointestinal and urogenital systems, opening at the vent. The word comes from Latin, and means sewer, derived from cluo, which meant "cleanse".

Birds also reproduce with this organ; this is known as a cloacal kiss. Birds that mate using this method touch their cloacae together, in some species for only a few seconds, sufficient time for sperm to be transferred from the male to the female.

cloaca

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York

(born October 15 1959)

Sarah Ferguson is the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II. Popularly referred to as "Fergie", she is a charity patron, spokesperson, writer, film producer and television personality. Her children, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie of York, are respectively sixth and seventh in line to succeed their grandmother as monarch of 16 independent Commonwealth realms.

Carole Penny Marshall

(born October 15, 1943)

Penny Marshall is an American actress, television producer, film producer, television director, and film director. After playing several small roles for television, she was cast as Laverne DeFazio on the sitcom Laverne & Shirley, which ran from 1976 until 1983. Marshall has directed several successful feature films since the mid-1980s, including 1988's Big starring Tom Hanks, Awakenings, A League of Their Own, and The Preacher's Wife. Her older brother is Garry Marshall, a writer whose credits include TV's The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–1966).

Tanya Roberts

(born October 15, 1955)

Tanya Roberts is an American actress known for her role as Julie Rogers on the fifth and final season of Charlie's Angels (1980–81) and as Midge Pinciotti on That '70s Show (1998–2001).

Mindy Paige Davis

(born October 15, 1969)