A Voyage Round the World is Georg Forster's report on the second voyage
of Captain James Cook. Georg's father, Johann Reinhold Forster, served
as naturalist on the voyage, with his son as assistant. They sailed on
HMS Resolution with Cook, circumnavigating the world, and discovering
islands, cultures and species previously unknown to Europeans. On their
return, there was disagreement about the publication rights. After plans
for a joint work between Cook and Reinhold Forster failed, Georg began
writing Voyage in July 1776. It was published on 17 March 1777, six
weeks before Cook's own narrative. Forster wrote it as entertaining
literature, focusing not on the nautical aspects of the voyage but on
scientific observations and on the cultural encounters with the peoples
of the South Pacific. Critics praised the writing, especially in
contrast to Cook's book. Voyage is regarded as a seminal book in travel
writing and has become a classic of travel literature.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Voyage_Round_the_World>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1829:
Sati, the Hindu funeral custom of a widow's self-immolation on
her husband's pyre, was prohibited in parts of British India after years
of campaigning by Ram Mohan Roy (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sati_%28practice%29>
1909:
The Montreal Canadiens, the oldest professional ice hockey club
in the world, were founded as a charter member of the National Hockey
Association.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Montreal_Canadiens>
1949:
Duncan Stewart, the British governor of Sarawak, was fatally
stabbed in Sibu during his first visit to the colony.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_Stewart_%28colonial_administrator%29>
1971:
The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force, an Ulster-loyalist
paramilitary group, detonated a bomb at a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast,
Northern Ireland, killing 15 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGurk%27s_Bar_bombing>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
status symbol:
A visible possession that is a sign of one's personal wealth or social
status.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/status_symbol>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
What we become depends on what we read after all of the
professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a
collection of books.
--Thomas Carlyle
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Carlyle>