TODAY - MAY 17

 

NIELS’ MORNING GREETINGS

ON: MAY 17

New 2021 edition

TODAY’s LENGTH:

This day is here in Belgium 7 hours and 38 minutes longer than December 21. Its length is 15 hours and 38 minutes – from 05.51 to 21.27.

See more – also in English – about where you are:  www.dagenslaengde.dk

TODAY’s NAME:

Today is BRUNO’s DAY.   Bruno was a bishop in Würzburg in Germany. He was a son of the German-Roman emperor Conrad II.  Bruno died in 1045 when a ceiling fell down in his castle.

He became a saint following rumours about miracles near his grave.

Today is also the United Nations World Day for Telecommunications.

Today is also the national day of Norway. It was on this day that the country got its first democratic constitution, the Eidsvoll constitution following the independence from Denmark. Denmark only got its first democratic constitution 35 years later.

In Belgium the day’s name is:  SAINT PASCAL BAYLON – after a Spanish saint, who lived in the years 1540-92.  He was together with his dad a shepherd.

 

TODAY’s EVENT:

1814:  The signing of the first Norwegian democratic constitution – the Eidsvoll Constitution

TODAY’s QUESTION:

Hocus pocus – where does that expression come from? And what does it mean?

This expression has its origin in the bible: it is a distortion of the words from the communion: hoc est corpus  - Latin for: this is my body. 

It was many years ago in particular used as a swear-word.  Later it changed to be used in relation to magics.  The first time this was seen was in an English handbook on magics from 1634. It carried the title:  Hocus pocus junior.

Today the expression hocus pocus is used when you do or show something almost like a magician.  You make things happen almost out of nothing!  Like many people think about the origins of the expression in Latin.

 

QUESTION FOR TOMORROW:

The Muses  -  what is that? And what is the history?

47 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT EUROPE:

EUROPE AT WORK     www.europe-at-work.be

 

TODAY’s QUOTE & FAMOUS PEOPLE :

1.  Yesterday’s quote:

I read a joke in a column about a guy, who played golf on Long Island. The professional player asked him about his handicap – and he replied:  I am black, a one-eyed Jew – do I need more?

            This was once said by the American entertainer Sammy Davis Jr.   See photo.

2.  Today’s quote:

As none of today’s persons has offered any unforgettable quotations, you get another one by Frank Sinatra:

What in the Subway is considered overcrowded is in a night club pleasant intimacy.

3.  Famous people born on this day:

1803:  Martinus Rørbye  ( died 1848 )

1900:  Ayatollak Khomeini  ( died 1989 )

1918:  Birgit Nilsson  ( died 2005 )

1957:  Peter Høeg

 

4.  Famous people died on this day:

1727:  Catherine I.  ( 43 years )

1987:  Gunnar Myrdal  ( 89 years )

 

Niels Jørgen Thøgersen

niels4europe@gmail.com  

www.simplesite.com/kimbrer   +  EUROPE-AT-WORK   www.europe-at-work.be  


Sammy Davis, Jr.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TODAY - November 29

  NIELS’ MORNING GREETINGS ON: NOVEMBER 29 New edition TODAY’s LENGTH: This day is here in Belgium 8 hours and 7 minutes shorter than June 21. Its length is 8 hours and 22 minutes – from 08.20 to 16.42. Se more – also in English – about where you are on:   www.dagenslaengde.dk TODAY’s NAME: Today’s name is SATURNINUS’ DAY .   He was a missionary in Toulouse in the southwest of France. And later he became a bishop there.   In the year 250 AC the non-Christians decided to kill him. He was tied to the legs of a bull. And the bull was then pursued down the stairs from the local capitol.   Later a church named Notre-Dame-du-Tours was built on that spot. The day’s name in Belgium is SAINT RADBOD – after a Frisian king, who was also bishop in Utrecht in the Netherlands.   He was fighting with the Franconeans and defeated Karel Martel near Cologne.   He died in 719.   TODAY’s EVENT: 1814: The newspaper The Times in London star...
Read more

TODAY - FEBRUARY 8

Image
  NIELS’ MORNING GREETINGS ON: FEBRUARY 8 New 2021 edition TODAY’s PERSON: I have chosen the French author JULES VERNE .   He was born on this day in 1828 and died 77 years old in 1905.   He was and still is very well know for his many book about adventurous travels to many places.   His point of departure was the many new scientific discoveries in his lifetime.   Based upon them he tried to imagine how their use would develop in the future – what they could be used for.    For many he   considered to be the father of science fiction.   In his special way. Among his many famous books are the following: Five Weeks in a Balloon   ( in Africa ) Journey to the Centre of the Earth   ( taking place in Denmark and Iceland ) From the Earth to the Moon In Search of the Castaways / The Children of Captain Grant Twenty-Thousand Under the Sea: A Tour of the Underwater World Around the World in Eighty Days His books were ...
Read more

TODAY - July 12

NIELS’ SUMMER GREETINGS ON: JULY 12 New edition TODAY’s LENGTH: This day is here in Denmark 28 minutes shorter than June 21. Its length is 17 hours and 7 minutes – from 04.47 to 21.54. See more – also in English – about where you are on:   www.dagenslaengde.dk TODAY’s NAME: This day is called HEINRICH’s DAY .    It has its name after Holy Heinrich , who was German-Roman emperor in the years 1002-24. He created the diocese Bamberg and initiated the building of many churches and monasteries. In Belgium the day’s name is SAINT JEAN GUALBERT – after an Italian abbot, who lived in the years 985-1073.   He started the Vallumbrosa order. TODAY’s EVENT: 1920:   The Panama Canal is opened by US president Woodrow Wilson . TODAY’s QUESTION: Sandwich - what's the history of that word? And what is it? We all know what a sandwich is: two pieces of bread put on top of one another and with some nice stuff like meat, ...
Read more