Welcome to Gaia! ::

Topic: Charles Thomson

Today we remember Charles Thomson, born in Ireland on this date in 1729. Having a difficult time recalling Thomson's claim to fame? He was the American patriot who was one of two men to have actually signed his name on July 4th, '76 to the Declaration of Independence. The other man, of course, was John Hancock.

In his day, Thomson was admired as a man of great integrity. He emigrated to the colonies at the age of ten and was among the earliest to support the movement for independence. Thomson served as secretary to the Continental Congress for seven years, then reprised that role for the following eight years for the United States Congress, earning himself the title the first official record keeper of the United States.

Thomson lived through, participated in, and recorded an impressive amount of what we now know as history during his 95 years. More than 5000 coinages also entered the American English lexicon during the lifetime of that American patriot. That list includes terms ranging from sounding board and the adjective baritone in 1729, the year of Thomson's birth, to aeronautics, skyline, and high school in 1824, the year of Thomson's death. And in the early 1750s, when Charles Thomson was making friends with Ben Franklin in Philadelphia, the American lexicon was welcoming the Native Americanisms succotash and quahog.

Questions or comments? Write us at wftw@aol.com Production and research support for Word for the Wise comes from Merriam-Webster, publisher of language reference books and Web sites including Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.