Philitas of Cos (<abbr title="circa">c.</abbr> 340 – c. 285 BC) was a scholar and poet during the early Hellenistic period of ancient Greece. A Greek associated with Alexandria, he flourished in the second half of the 4th century BC and was appointed tutor to the heir to the throne of Ptolemaic Egypt. He was thin and frail; Athenaeus later caricatured him as an academic so consumed by his studies that he wasted away and died. Philitas was the first major writer who was both a scholar and a poet. His reputation continued for centuries, based on both his pioneering study of words and his verse in elegiac meter. His vocabulary Disorderly Words described the meanings of rare literary words, including those used by Homer. His poetry, notably his elegiac poem Demeter, was highly respected by later ancient poets. However, almost all his work has since been lost.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philitas_of_Cos

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1776:

American Revolutionary War: Ships of the Continental Navy unsuccessfully attempted to capture the HMS Glasgow near Block Island. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Block_Island

1793:

French Revolution: The Committee of Public Safety was established, and would become the de facto executive government during the forthcoming Reign of Terror. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_of_Public_Safety

1886:

Vancouver, one of British Columbia's youngest cities, was incorporated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver

1941:

World War II: The Axis Powers began both Operation Marita and Directive n. 25, invading Greece and Yugoslavia, respectively. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Greece

2009:

A 6.3 Mw earthquake struck the region of Abruzzo in central Italy , killing 308 people in injuring more than 1,500 others. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_L%27Aquila_earthquake

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

spallation (n): 1. Fragmentation due to stress or impact. 2. (physics) A nuclear reaction in which a nucleus fragments into many nucleons http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spallation

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Little drops of water,

Little grains of sand, Make the mighty ocean And the pleasant land.

Thus the little minutes, Humble though they be, Make the mighty ages

Of eternity. --Julia Abigail Fletcher Carney http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Julia_Abigail_Fletcher_Carney