Oxford Dictionary debuts

February 1, 1884

ON this day, the first portion, or fascicle, of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), is published.

Today, the OED is the definitive authority on the meaning, pronunciation and history of over half a million words, past and present. Plans for the dictionary began in 1857 when members of London’s Philological Society, who believed there were no up-to-date, error-free English dictionaries available, decided to produce one that would cover all vocabulary from the Anglo-Saxon period (1150 A.D.) to the present.

It took over 40 years until the 125th and final fascicle was published in April 1928 and the full dictionary was complete — at over 400,000 words and phrases in 10 volumes — and published under the title A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles.

February 2, 1977

THIS day, the singer of “Waka Waka” (“This Time for Africa”), as the biggest selling World Cup Song of all time Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born in Barranquilla, Northern Colombia.

Her name Shakira is taken from the Arabic word for “thankful.” The singer can speak several languages such as Spanish, Portuguese and English (and also some Italian, French and Catalan). The oldest high IQ society in the world revealed that Shakira has an IQ of 140 (100 being average).

The world-famous singer and songwriter is also an international UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and a devoted advocate for children. She is also the founder of the Pies Descalzos Foundation, which provides displaced and underprivileged children in Colombia with access to quality education.

February 4, 2004

ON this day, while studying psychology at Harvard University, Mark Zuckerberg founded the online social networking website Facebook. A keen computer programmer, Mr Zuckerberg had already developed a number of social-networking websites for fellow students. Within 24 hours of its launch, 1,200 Harvard students had signed up, and after one month, over half of the undergraduate population had a profile on it.

The network was promptly extended to other Boston universities, the Ivy League and eventually all the US universities. It became Facebook.com in August 2005 after the address was purchased for $200,000.