Word of the day. 14-12-2013

Word of the Day

glutton
Definition:	(noun) A person who eats and drinks excessively or voraciously.
Synonyms:	gourmand, gorger, gannet, gobbler, pig
Usage:	He is a real glutton when it comes to junk food,  but somehow he stays skinny as a toothpick. Quote of the Day To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume  can ever be written on the flea, though many  there be who have tried it. Herma Today's Birthday George VI, King of Great Britain and Ireland (1895) The subject of the Academy Award-winning 2010 film  The King's Speech, George VI became king of the  United Kingdom following the abdication of his brother,  Edward VIII. George was an important symbolic  leader of the British people during World War II,  supporting the wartime leadership of Winston  Churchill and visiting his armies on the  battlefield. He earned the respect of his people by scrupulously  observing the responsibilities of a constitutional monarch and  by overcoming  handicap. George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom  and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from  11 December 1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India, and the first Head of the Commonwealth. As the second son of King George V, he was not expected  to inherit the throne and spent his early life in the shadow  of his elder brother, Edward. He served in theRoyal Navy and Royal Air Force during World War I, and after the war  took on the usual round of public engagements. He married  Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 and they had two daughters,  Elizabeth and Margaret. George's elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII on the death of their father in 1936. However, later that year  Edward revealed his desire to marry the divorced American  socialite Wallis Simpson. British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin advised Edward that for political and religious reasons he could  not marry Simpson and remain king. Edward abdicated in order  to marry, and George ascended the throne as the third monarch  of the House of Windsor. During George's reign the break-up of the British Empire and  its transition into theCommonwealth of Nations accelerated. The parliament of the Irish Free Stateremoved direct mention of the monarch from the country's constitution on the day of his accession. Within three years, the Empire and Commonwealth,  except the Irish Free State, was at war with Nazi Germany. In the next two years, war with Italy and Japan followed. Though Britain and its allies were ultimately victorious, the United States and the Soviet Union rose as pre-eminent  world powers and the British Empire declined. After the  independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, George remained  as king of both countries, but the title Emperor of India was  abandoned in June 1948. Ireland formally declared a republic,  leaving the Commonwealth, in 1949 and India became a republic within the Commonwealth the following year. George adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth.  He was beset by health problems in the later years of his reign. His eldest daughter, Elizabeth, succeeded him.