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>
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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>
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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>
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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>