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
_______________________________ 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
_____________________________ 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
___________________________ 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
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