Daily Almanac for Thursday November 22, 2024

By Penny Bancroft

Actress Scarlett Johansson turns 40 today. Here she is speaking at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. By Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, https commons.wikimedia.org

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (/ˈhænsən/; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress and singer. The world’s highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has been featured multiple times on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2021. Johansson’s films have grossed over $15.4 billion worldwide, making her the highest-grossing box office female star of all time. She has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, a Tony Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards and five Golden Globe Awards.

Johansson first appeared on stage in an off-Broadway play as a child actress. She made her film debut in the fantasy comedy North (1994) and gained early recognition for her roles in Manny & Lo (1996), The Horse Whisperer (1998), and Ghost World (2001). Her shift to adult roles came in 2003 with Lost in Translation, for which she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress. She continued to gain praise for playing a 17th-century servant in Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003), a troubled teenager in A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004) and a seductress in Match Point (2005). The latter marked her first collaboration with Woody Allen, who later directed her in Scoop (2006) and Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008). Johansson’s other works of this period include The Prestige (2006) and the albums Anywhere I Lay My Head (2008) and Break Up (2009), both of which charted on the Billboard 200.

In 2010, Johansson debuted on Broadway in a revival of A View from the Bridge, which won her the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play, and began portraying Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Iron Man 2. She reprised the role in eight films, leading up to her solo feature Black Widow (2021), gaining global stardom. During this period, Johansson starred in the science fiction films Her (2013), Under the Skin (2013) and Lucy (2014). She received two simultaneous Academy Award nominations—Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress—for the respective roles of an actress going through a divorce in the drama Marriage Story (2019) and a single mother in Nazi Germany in the satire Jojo Rabbit (2019), becoming one of the few actors to achieve this feat.

Labeled a sex symbol, Johansson has been referred to as one of the world’s most attractive women by various media outlets. She is a prominent brand endorser and supports several charitable causes. Divorced from actor Ryan Reynolds and businessman Romain Dauriac, Johansson has been married to comedian Colin Jost since 2020. She has two children, one with Dauriac and another with Jost.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

Question of the Day

What is the process for amending the U.S. Constitution?

A proposed amendment must pass Congress with the support of 67 percent of both the House and the Senate. Then it is referred to the states, where each state legislature must pass it. (Generally, the 67 percent rule applies there as well.) When 75 percent of the states have passed the amendment, the Constitution is altered. The founders of our country designed the system to be cumbersome so that it would be very difficult to change the original document and to ensure agreement among the majority of citizens.

Advice of the Day

It is unlucky to bring an umbrella aboard ship.

Home Hint of the Day

Old whitewash, a liquid plaster made from slaked lime, is best removed with a combination of vinegar and elbow grease. Brush on the vinegar, then scrape with a putty knife.

Word of the Day

Bollix

Make a mess of, destroy or ruin.

Puzzle of the Day

What is the geometrical form of an escaped parrot?

A polygon (Polly gone)

Born

  • René-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle (explorer) – 
  • William Evans (Irish-born Canadian agronomist) – 
  • George Eliot (author) – 
  • Charles de Gaulle (French general, writer, & statesman) – 
  • Wiley Post (first pilot to fly solo around the world) – 
  • Rodney Dangerfield (comedian & actor) – 
  • Geraldine Page (actress) – 
  • Gunther Schuller (composer) – 
  • Robert Vaughn (actor) – 
  • Terry Gilliam (actor) – 
  • Billie Jean King (tennis player) – 
  • Jamie Lee Curtis (actress) – 
  • Mark Ruffalo (actor) – 
  • Boris Becker (tennis player) – 
  • Scarlett Johansson (actress) – 

Died

  • Blackbeard (pirate) – 
  • George W. G. Ferris Jr. (inventor of the Ferris wheel) – 
  • Jack London (writer) – 
  • C.S. Lewis (author) – 
  • John F. Kennedy (35th U.S. president) – 
  • Mae West (actress) – 
  • Henry Hampton (documentary filmmaker) – 
  • Mary Kay Ash (entrepreneur) – 

Events

  • British clipper Cutty Sark launched– 
  • Actress Lillian Russell debuted at Tony Pastor’s Theatre, New York City– 
  • Statue of Liberty began role as first U.S. lighthouse to use electricity– 
  • Humane Society of the United States founded– 
  • President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, and Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th U.S. president– 
  • Margaret Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom– 
  • Race car driver Jimmie Johnson set a NASCAR record by winning his fourth consecutive championship– 

Weather

  • The first flakes of a storm that left 56 inches of snow in Randolph, New Hampshire, began falling– 
  • Erie, Pennsylvania, received 26 inches of snow– 
  • A storm caused a deadly mudslide in Prince Rupert, British Columbia– 
  • Santa Ana winds from Oxnard to San Diego and inland parts of southern California made airborne rubble a hazard– 

 

 

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