Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, and biologist. He is known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural selection. Wallace did extensive fieldwork, identified the faunal divide called the Wallace Line, and was considered the 19th century's leading expert on the geographical distribution of animal species, leading some to call him the father of biogeography, or more specifically of zoogeography. An account of his adventures in Southeast Asia, titled The Malay Archipelago, was published in 1869. He worked on warning coloration in animals, and on reinforcement, a way that natural selection could contribute to speciation by encouraging barriers against hybridisation. He was also a social activist, critical of the social and economic system of 19th-century Britain. He was one of the first prominent scientists to raise concerns over the environmental impact of human activity.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Russel_Wallace

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1889:

American statistician Herman Hollerith received a patent for his electromechanical tabulating machine for punched-card data. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Hollerith

1936:

Reza Shah issued the Kashf-e hijab decree, ordering Iranian police to remove hijabs from any women in public. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashf-e_hijab

1972:

Following Pakistan's defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War, President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto released Bangladeshi politician Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison in response to international pressure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh_Mujibur_Rahman

1991:

Jeremy Wade Delle killed himself in his high-school class in Richardson, Texas, an event that inspired the Pearl Jam song "Jeremy". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_%28song%29

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

noodle: 1. (transitive) 2. (chiefly jazz) To play (a musical instrument or passage of music) or to sing (a passage of music) in an improvisatory or lighthearted manner; also, to play (a series of ornamental notes) on an instrument. 3. (US, informal) To ponder or think about (something). 4. (intransitive) 5. (chiefly jazz) To play a musical instrument or to sing in an improvisatory or lighthearted manner; also, to play a series of ornamental notes on an instrument. 6. (US, informal) 7. To ponder or think, especially in an unproductive or unsystematic manner; to muse. 8. To attempt in an informal or uncertain manner; to fiddle. 9. Often followed by about or around: to mess around, to play. 10. (usually in the plural) A string or flat strip of pasta or other dough, usually cooked (at least initially) by boiling, and served in soup or in a dry form mixed with a sauce and other ingredients. 11. (by extension) An object which is long and thin like a noodle (sense 1). 12. (informal) Short for pool noodle (“a long, slender tube or rod, extruded from buoyant foam and usually brightly coloured, used as an exercise tool or toy in swimming pools”). 13. (archaic) A dumpling cooked by boiling and served in soup; a knaidel or knödel. [...] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/noodle

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Honorable beginnings should serve to awaken curiosity, not to heighten people's expectations. We are much better off when reality surpasses our expectations, and something turns out better than we thought it would.   --Baltasar Gracián https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Baltasar_Graci%C3%A1n