Francis Willughby (1635–1672) was an English ornithologist and ichthyologist, and an early student of linguistics and games. At Trinity College, Cambridge, he was tutored by the mathematician and naturalist John Ray, who became a lifetime friend and colleague. Willughby, Ray, and others including John Wilkins were advocates of a new way of studying science, relying on observation and classification, rather than the received authority of Aristotle and the Bible. Willughby and Ray undertook journeys to gather information and specimens in England, Wales, and continental Europe, visiting museums, libraries and private collections as well as studying local animals and plants. After Willughby's early death, Ray completed the works they had jointly planned, publishing books on birds, fish and invertebrates that included innovative ways of classifying animals. Carl Linnaeus relied on Willughby and Ray's books in his Systema Naturae, the basis of binomial nomenclature.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Willughby
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1911:
The M1911 pistol, developed by American firearms designer John Browning, became the standard-issue sidearm in the United States Army. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1911_pistol
1982:
Queen Elizabeth II granted royal assent to the Canada Act 1982, which ended any remaining constitutional dependence of Canada on the United Kingdom by a process known as "patriation". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Act_1982
2010:
Islamist Chechen separatists detonated two bombs on the Moscow Metro, killing 40 people and injuring 102 others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Moscow_Metro_bombings
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
chaotic: 1. Filled with chaos. 2. Extremely disorganized or in disarray. 3. (mathematics) Highly sensitive to starting conditions, so that a small change to them may yield a very different outcome. 4. (role-playing games) Aligned against following or upholding laws and principles. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chaotic
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
We do not need presidents who are bigger than the country, but rather ones who speak for it and support it. --Eugene McCarthy https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eugene_McCarthy