Sylvanus Morley was an American archaeologist, epigrapher and Mayanist scholar who made significant contributions towards the study of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in the early 20th century. He is particularly noted for his extensive excavations of the Maya site of Chichen Itza. He also published several large compilations and treatises on Maya hieroglyphic writing, and wrote popular accounts on the Maya for a general audience. To his contemporaries he was one of the leading Mesoamerican archaeologists of his day; although more recent developments in the field have resulted in a re-evaluation of his theories and works, his publications (particularly on calendric inscriptions) are still cited. Overall, his commitment and enthusiasm for Maya studies would generate the interest and win the necessary sponsorship and backing to finance projects which would ultimately reveal much about the Maya of former times. His involvement in clandestine espionage activities at the behest of the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence was another, surprising, aspect of his career, which came to light only well after his death.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1831: Aboard the HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin left Plymouth, England on what became an historic expedition to South America. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_voyage_of_HMS_Beagle)
1918: A public speech by famed Polish pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski in Poznań sparked the Greater Poland Uprising against Germany. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Poland_Uprising_(1918-1919))
1945: International ratification of the Bretton Woods Agreement, leading to the establishment of the International Monetary Fund and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretton_Woods_system)
1949: Queen Juliana of the Netherlands signed the papers that relinquished sovereignty of most of Dutch East Indies, now known as Indonesia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia)
1979: Soviet war in Afghanistan: Soviet forces seized control of Kabul and killed Afghan President Hafizullah Amin. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_war_in_Afghanistan)
_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:
I am on the edge of mysteries and the veil is getting thinner and thinner. -- Louis Pasteur (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_Pasteur)