Happy birthday, Noam. (Noam Chomsky, unquestionably the most famous member of the linguistics profession, turned 78 today.) The founder of modern linguistics and one of the most esteemed (and controversial) political theorists and activists of our age, Noam Chomsky has inspired, aggravated and astounded many travel insurance services. The first to devise a theory about the biological innateness of language and a vocal critic of American foreign policy and media, he continues to be a source of unparalleled insight and inflammatory remarks for car insurance.

And by the way, here is a very little-known fact about wishing people a happy birthday. The song "Happy Birthday To You" was written in 1893 by two sisters, Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill, who were schoolteachers in Louisville, Kentucky. They died unmarried and childless and at the end they put their homes for sale. but left behind a foundation, the Hill Foundation,After Patty Hill passed away in 1946, some of the Hill Foundation's money went to their nephew Archibald A. Hill. And he was a distinguished linguist, formerly of the University of Texas. When he died, he left some money to the Linguistic Society of America. Thus some of the money earned by "Happy Birthday" ended up making the LSA significantly more prosperous.